to be unhappy with a childminder

[heartmoonshadow]

My child goes to a childminder who in the main is very good. The problem I have is that I rely on the fact that she takes holidays in the year at which time I do not have to pay her.

I understand that I have to pay her on retainer whilst I am on holiday and I am not disputing that but this year she has not taken any holidays at all, although I do know that she has been away during my holidays therefore I am effectively paying her holiday pay. This is not in the contract although neither does it stipulate that she has to take holidays. What I am asking is an I being unreasonable to say to her that as I am off 20Dec for two weeks and that she will also be off during this time (and she will not have the other children anyway) that I would consider this her holiday and therefore not have to pay her?

I'm a teacher and pay half-rate in the hols but evened out so it's the same amount each month. No way would I pay full whack in the holidays - if I was, then I'd be using them for a few hours here and there - not to be bloody minded but to take advantage of the service I'm paying for, e.g not dragging dcs shopping. As it is, my CM has children of her own & it suits her v well to have the school holidays just with her dcs. I could also used a CM who charges nothing in the hols

Do you know what other local CMs charge for comparison?

Honestly, I think it's a bit bizare of you to have a problem with this. It seems like a perfectly reasonable arrangement.

Where I lived in SW London, good CMs were in demand. Most charged 3/4 weeks paid holiday if they were working with a family full time' but then gave out the dates for holidays at the beginning of the year, and tried to fit in any specific requests.
Bank holidays were not paid for if the children did not attend and the setting was closed.
Teachers are quite difficult to accommodate for some CMs - they are often charged a retainer for the long periods of absence that are quite hard to fill with other children, so their income is not too reduced. So for example, a full time CM not needing to be off over the summer would be looking at, say, 50 pc of her normal income for that child.
No, CMs are not 'entitled' to hols being SE, but they do work a very hard job usually, and deserve to have paid hols like most other people. If it was laid out in the contract, then, really, YABU.
Rates between parent could differ due to some paying an average monthly total, having different aged children, different requirements,has funding, or simply that you joined the setting after the others and the rates were therefore higher. She is probably a nice person who has tried not to screw over longer standing parents by raising rates all of the time to keep up with market rates.
When you interviewed the CM in the beginning, did her rates, hols or policies seem unfavorable to the other 3 or 4 you should have seen too?
Just playing devil's advocate!

If she is not on holiday then you should be able to ask her to mind your dc for the odd day or half day over the christms break.

Ask her if she's able to do a couple of dates.

Seems fairly clear that if this is her holiday too then you have an agreement that you do not pay.

If you don't have to pay for her holiday and you are both on holiday at the same time, then you don't have to pay for that time. She was not available to you and if your contract shows that you don't have to pay when she's not available, then don't pay.

"I understand that I have to pay her on retainer whilst I am on holiday"

It's none of your business if she's on holiday or not while you are away.

It is her business if the agreement is that she pays nothing for the times when the childminder is on holiday and therefore no service is available.

Are freelancers entitled to paid holidays?

I thought they just had to make sure they made a good enough income over the year to be able to afford their own time off work.

I can't comment on the particular problem, but I'm slightly baffled by the problem of filling holiday spaces.

When dd went to a childminder the CM was always full to bursting in school holidays, (and usually took on extra staff to help) as lots of people with school age children needed holiday childcare.

I think that this raises an interesting question: if the parent is on leave, but paying the CM, is the parent entitled to request childcare during that time? I would say Yes. The place is being paid for in full and should therefore be available.

However, if the CM is not available, then no fee should be paid (if there was an agreement that no fee is payable when the CM is unavailable for whatever reason).

I cannot understand, by the way and a bit off topic, how a CM who works full time, does not take leave.

I am crawling my way to the 24th when my leave starts. And the reason I take leave is to recharge,to spend time with my DS and Dh without having others around, and to ensure that I am not going to be called upon to provide childcare. for a few weeks in the year I am Not Available

I agree what a few PPs have said: call her bluff and while YOU are on leave, tell her that your DC will be going to hers. If she is then not available, surely no fee is payable (in terms of your contract).

But if it really is damaging the relationship then rather move on. Good luck!

Fanjolina, it is her business if she is paying for a service that is unavailable. Especially if the contract states 4 weeks unpaid holidays to be taken by the Cm.

Can you renegotiate for term-time only if that is all you need?

If the CM said that she would be taking 4 weeks off unpaid, and not taking them, then I agree, she is in the wrong. In SW London, most CMs have paid leave, and some mix this in with further weeks of unpaid leave.
The details will all be in your contract - why not just have a civil conversation with her rather than brewing.
Takver - not all CMs want to take on extra temporary children during holidays - it can be quite disruptive to the routines of the current children, or not possible due to age/ ratio restrictions.
I agree, if she is not taking contractual unpaid lit her either ask for a refund or ask for child minding on extra days to make this up. But you can't really stipulate that she must take her holidays at the same time as you. This kind of thing should have been sorted out at the beginning for the best result.

My contract / agreement with my CM is fairly simple. I am charged a weekly rate (hourly now she is at school so only needing before/after school care). The CM is entitled to three weeks holiday where I do not pay her. I am entitled to three weeks holiday where I do not pay her. Planned right, that gives me six weeks of not paying any fees. But thats her choice to have that in the contract. And rare, from what I can gather from friends who use CMs

That's fair enough, LoveRedShoes - I guess my CM's holiday children were all previous regular mindees (and often still had siblings with her all the time), so just kind of slotted back in. DD went to her a couple of days a week for the first few holidays after starting school.

I pay half rate as a retainer (also work in a school) but CM made it clear to me that when I am paying a retainer, she is available to me on those days - which I used one day in the summer so I could pack for our family holiday without DD distracting me. She didn't actually charge me extra to top it up for that day and has occasionally had DD for longer on days meetings overrun and she isn't picky about charging extra - but she has every right to.

I asked about 2 weeks hols (I didn't work in a school originally) but she said that doesn't apply as DD is TT only - which I understand.

In fairness, my CM is very flexible with hours, DD is very happy so I am happy. Definitely look around and be clear about arrangement.