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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To delay paying childminder

301 replies

Harmonyrays · 12/09/2018 05:47

On day two of my ds being with his new childminder I receive an invoice for the entire month. Is this normal? I'd expected to get it at the end of the month. I've only just gone back to work and don't get paid until then.

AIBU to delay paying until the 30th?

OP posts:
Namechangeforthiscancershit · 12/09/2018 06:40

Isn’t childcare always paid in advance? It’s not wages it’s payment for a service. You wouldn’t pay nursery at the end of the month would you?

Check your contract but I really wouldn’t risk losing the place if it’s a nice CM and the set up works for you

NashvilleQueen · 12/09/2018 06:43

I never paid my nanny up front and I doubt others did too. Most of us as ‘employees’ will also be paid in arrears. So it’s not necessarily so naive of someone to assume the same with a CM.

However, this is the sort of thing that should have been discussed at the time of securing a place. How she wanted to be paid and when. She is self employed and entitled to set the terms. If you don’t like them then you have the choice to go elsewhere or put up with it.

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 12/09/2018 06:44

Billing a public sector organisation in arrears is a totally different thing to billing an individual for what is probably one of their larger outgoings. CMs are not companies with cash flow. They don’t have time or resources to be doing credit control, and there are tons of posts on here where they have been owed so much money by parents.

NerrSnerr · 12/09/2018 06:44

We pay our nursery fees in advance. If you was going to struggle you needed to discuss this with the childminder beforehand,

nannynick · 12/09/2018 06:45

Not all childcare is paid in advance. A nanny who is your employee is still typically paid at the end of the week or end of the month. However even nannies find that sometimes they may do work, the agreement breaks down and they are left chasing money.

newdaylight · 12/09/2018 06:49

We pay nursery fees in advance

blueskiesandforests · 12/09/2018 06:49

bruffin you certainly pay for your supermarket shopping before you eat it, and before you receive it if you order on line. You pay for your petrol before you use it to drive, not for the tank you've just used up.

Childminders fees are not only the wage but also cover all the out of pocket expenses the child minder has to pay out in advance in order to provide your child with the service you expect - often including meals, petrol to take them places, regular fees for music group or whatever you might have signed up for.

Plus the fact many childminders have been burnt by non payers who think it's fine not to pay if they've signed up for an used a service that they cannot actually afford, or spent the money on something else.

EricTheGuineaPig · 12/09/2018 06:51

As others have said, it's pretty standard for Childminders and Nurseries to ask for payment in advance. If you're going to struggle please speak to her. I've done weekly payments before now for parents if they are going to struggle with monthly.

londonrach · 12/09/2018 06:54

Of course you pay ahead. Its a service. Dont know any you dont. Yabu.

Fatted · 12/09/2018 06:55

Every childcare provider I have used has asked for payment in advance. Simply because too many people have taken the piss, had their child with them for the month and then disappeared off the face of the earth without paying.

It's standard practice IME and every childminder I've spoken to has brought this up in my first meeting with them. It was also mentioned on signing the contracts. I'm very surprised and frankly find it hard to believe that you were not told about this.

zzzzz · 12/09/2018 06:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Gizlotsmum · 12/09/2018 07:01

I can see both sides and it really should have been discussed before contracts were agreed. Our Childminder was fab and because they took a security deposit they only asked for half of the first months wage up front. I then set up a monthly direct debit and they worked out if I was in debt/credit every few months. ( I had childcare vouchers too so overpaid in case I needed extra hours). If you talk to them they might be willing to come to an agreement for this month but you do need to have that conversation. Could you pay anything now?

AnnieAnoniMoose · 12/09/2018 07:05

It’s ‘the norm’ with childminders & I don't blame them, getting payment from non payers is incredibly difficult for them.

However, she should have made that very clear.

Speak to her in person and see what you can arrange, or see if you can borrow the money from parents or the bank or whatever. Once you’ve paid this first lot it won’t make any difference and it’s good to know if the shit hits the fan you’ve got the coming month’s childcare paid for.

Rhiannon13 · 12/09/2018 07:06

This is the childminders wage
Wages are paid for work already done, not for work you are going to do.

This is where a lot of misconceptions and problems start. When you hire a childminder you're paying for a service, you're not paying them a 'wage' (if you were you'd have to pay at least minimum wage, and I can't see that going down well).

Is the OP suggesting the already underpaid adult she's hired should pay for her child's food etc. out of her own pocket, then she'll eventually reinburse her? Or risk working a month for nothing? Non-payers are surprisingly common!

Rhiannon13 · 12/09/2018 07:06

*reimburse

NewYearNewMe18 · 12/09/2018 07:11

Wages are not paid in advance. I get my money at the end of the month not hefore ive started

That's your employer - the NHS pays on the 24 th of the month, schools (here) pay on the 15th of the month, my employer pays on the 25th of the month, DH pays on the 28th. I have never been paid on the last day. All of those employers I've listed pay a proportion of your salary earlier than earned.

yetanothernane · 12/09/2018 07:11

We pay ours in advance and this seems Standard across childminders and nursery's. So for September we get a bill mid way through August and payment is expected no later than the 1st of September.
The reason ours does this, is potentially you could use her for a full month and then never bother paying her if you paid for Septembers care at the start of October. The payment will also allow her to ensure she has the funds to feed, and entertain your child as well as reserving their space.
If she didn't mention this, it's bad form, but it seems universally the norm at the providers we looked at.
If you don't pay her at the agreed date, she may potentially add on late fees or cancel your space entirely.

MilkItTilITurnItIntoCheese · 12/09/2018 07:11

Let’s be honest here. The reason childminders charge in advance is because they have been screwed in the past with people not paying. Your childminder will have their own payment terms set and will have discussed them with you before you dined the contract. If you agree you agree. If you don’t then there will be another childminder down the road. Their pay is peanuts for all they have to do. Just abide by your contract terms and pay as you agreed to.

Mindchilder · 12/09/2018 07:12

Childcare, nurseries, schools, clubs etc are normally paid in advance but she should have been clear.

I would have taken a deposit and billed you to be paid on the first of the month.
I'd also suspend care and probably terminate the contract if I was messed around in the guest month.

Holidayshopping · 12/09/2018 07:15

I have never done a job where I’ve been paid in advance!

I’m not surprised that you didn’t know this either. I’m surprised the CM didn’t mention it, or show you the contract, before now though?

gamerwidow · 12/09/2018 07:19

As others have said you need to check your contract. That being said I pay my CM at the end of the month for actual hours worked rather than in advance.
I have to pay after school club in advance though so it really depends on the provider.

SoyDora · 12/09/2018 07:20

Was this not in your contract?
We pay for childcare a term in advance!
Incidentally, when I worked for a large bank I was paid 2 weeks in arrears and 2 in advance. DH is paid in the same way now.

tinstar · 12/09/2018 07:20

*When you hire a childminder you're paying for a service, you're not paying them a 'wage' (if you were you'd have to pay at least minimum wage, and I can't see that going down well).

Is the OP suggesting the already underpaid adult she's hired should pay for her child's food etc. out of her own pocket, then she'll eventually reinburse her? Or risk working a month for nothing? Non-payers are surprisingly common!*

^^ This. Service not wage

Quartz2208 · 12/09/2018 07:20

Wages can be paid in advance DH gets paid on the 6th for that month so pretty much all in advance and I get paid 15th so half and half. It’s becoming more normal

ProcrastinatingPingu · 12/09/2018 07:23

We don’t seem to be the norm as we pay in the 1st if the month for the month just passed and are invoiced on the 24th.
I’m pretty sure there is a late fee if £5 per day for non-authorised late payments.
However paying in advance seems like a good idea, as the nursery DD goes to has reports up to 6 late payments each month, in their newsletter.

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