To think that childminders take the piss.

[perfectshadeofgrey]

I think that some childminders take an advantage of parents. The last childminder I saw demands 24 days of paid holiday + paid bank holidays + paid Christmas + 6 days paid sick leave. We would also need to provide the food, nappies, wipes, bus fares etc. WTF?
I don't agree with this. For a start, she's self employed so why should I pay for her holidays and when she's off sick.
AIBU to think that this is not right?

YANBU.

Most of the CM I have come across where I live charge at least £55 per day (8-6) and want full pay for holidays (4 weeks plus BH). Food is included but wipes/nappies are not. I never signed up with any of them so don't remember what the sick pay was. Was very about the holidays being paid for as far as I am concerned self employed means I shoudlnt have to pay for someone's holiday.

I think that back in the old days a cm was basically just someone who babysat your kids and did whatever they felt like doing, but now it has become a highly regulated job, with a cm being expected to keep proper written records and be responsible for education as well as care. So now they want proper salaries and holiday pay and sick pay etc to reflect the changing nature of the job. That's fair enough, but unfortunately it means that parents have to earn a lot more to be able to pay them what they are worth.

I dont know anyone that charges this much it is usually 3 or 3.50 (4 if it is at the extreme high end), with no leave or paid holidays. I also live down South

Yabvu.

That childminder like you is trying to earn a living. Childminders get paid ridiculously low rates of pay for a very invaluable, responsible and demanding job, I know I certainly wouldn't do it for that kind of money!

You could always use a nursery. Average here is about £50-£60 a day, including days when the nursery is closed for bank holidays or bad weather and days when you don't send your child because they are ill or you are on holiday. You will probably have to supply nappies, wipes, creams, medicines, suncream, etc. Some nurseries even ask you to provide food and drinks too.

My childminder charges £4 an hour. She doesn't work school holidays and charges half fees which doesn't suit me well as I have to pay another childminder while still paying half fees. I supply nappies, food etc. However she doesn't charge for playgroups, soft play etc., she is a fantastic childminder and I knew her terms before I signed the contract so I can't complain.

Im Hertfordshire
I charge £4ph, all my mindees (3 families, 4children) are after schoolers and term time only. I dont charge retainers or deposits to keep the space open.
I dont charge for snacks.
They dont have meals here as the parents prefer to eat with their child/children in the evening.
And at the moment dont charge for petrol. I have one child who wasnt sent to our local school, he was sent to a private school which is 3 3/4 miles round journey each day. (parents havent even offered to pay even a nominal payment)

I dont charge if Im ill or my kids are ill and I need to take time off, or for my holidays (parents are notified, so basically down to them if they send them or not)
If they wont/cant/dont want to send their child that day wether its illness/day off/holiday etc then yes they do pay as Im still open for business.

Oh and I dont work Bank Holidays so dont charge as Im not available

Honeypablo - I cant believe you have to pay your nursery for bank holidays and bad weather days that is surely bad practice.

Not a single nursery in our area does this. Also most nurseries supply all food including 2 course hot meal, 2 snacks, 2 course meal at night,nappies, creams, sun creams, wipes and it is about half the price you quoted, and still every moans it is a rip off.

I don't know of any childcare provider, CM or nursery, that charges for days when they are not actually available to provide care. The principal of a retainer for holiday etc is that they have an empty space which could in theory be sold to someone else. Charging for days when they aren't actually working is outrageous.

£5 per child with the possibility of having, what, 5 children after school is it? £25 per hour. I'd love a job that pays that rate!

You wouldn't necessarily have all 5 children full time though. And there's paperwork etc to do when children have gone home.

High chance though if you primarily deal with after school care. And excuse the lack of sympathy for having to deal with paperwork once the kids have left, at that hourly rate i would expect some 'out of hours' paperwork to have the be done!

I admire what they do but a large proportion of childminders take the piss especially when you consider the cuts the parents are now facing in terms of tax credits, pay freezes etc.

My childminder charges me for the hours used in term time as agreed in our contract. She is very flexible for me to change my days and hours weekly too. She doesn't charge for holidays and doesn't charge for her sick days and arranges cover if she has an appointment.

I always reward her well with red wine 3 times a year

yanbu as she is asking for alot more than usual

the norm is 20 days holiday, at agreed time

vote with your feet, or use nursery instead

YANBU

Maybe the answer is that they should charge minimum wage (£5.93) per hour for their services, so that then they could afford to pay their rent when they go sick, and could afford to have a holiday.

Would you prefer that?

NearlyMrsCustardsHardHat - how can a childminder 'take the piss' if she has told you beforehand what her terms are and you have chosen to use her service? No different to a dentist/mechanic/electrician/lawyer.

Also - what's stopping you being a CM if it's such a cushy number?

As a self-employed person, it is up to HER to make provision for her holidays, days off, sick leave etc... No different from any other self-employed person.

I can see that provision of nappies, wipes etc might vary from cm to cm, so that's fair enough.

However I do feel that everything should be made crystal-clear to you before you get to the point of signing the contract. The contract should not contain any nasty surprises that you do not already know about. A contract merely sets out what the agreement already is.

I personally would not place my child with a person whose main motivation seems to be her own comfort rather than the wellbeing of my child, and who is not fully upfront about her terms in advance. She should not slide the holiday entitlement etc anywhere obliquely. She should not even mention it as she should be making provision for it. Furthermore, she should have booked her holiday months in advance and be able to tell parents that far in advance when it is. And stick to those dates.

If she can't or won't do that, then don't use her.

Even if they do have 5 kids after school you may only have them for an hour nearly all of mine are gone by 5 so if you only do after schoolers that could be £25 a day, I only charge £3 and hour so £15 which is why I have kids in the daytime.

Also feeling very very grateful for DD3's wonderful £37/day nursery where they supply all home-cooked meals all nappies, wipes etc... Plus it's 2 miles away.

Most CMs have a set after/before school rate anyway. Apparently it doesn't work out cost-wise to charge that by the hour.

And yes, just after school isn't really full time - that was what I meant!

"Also feeling very very grateful for DD3's wonderful £37/day nursery where they supply all home-cooked meals all nappies, wipes etc... Plus it's 2 miles away"

They can afford to charge that by not paying the majority of their staff a salary they can actually live on.