CF childminder

[Poetryinaction]

I can only find one person who will collect my ds from preschool. She looks after ds after preschool and his younger sister full time.
It's term time only as I am a teacher.
She keeps asking for paid holidays in term time, which is odd as she has school aged children. I guess she takes them away and pays any fine with the money we pay her. It's tricky as then I have no childcare. She often lets us doen when her kids are ill too.
She has recently asked us to pay for meals on top of her hourly rate.
Now she has told me she can't give my dc dinner one day a week as her dd has a swimming lesson.
I am annoyed as I thought she was paid to look after my dc, therefore not available for swimming lessons?
I have looked at alternative childcare but feel stuck now as my ds love preschool and it feeds into his school so I really need someone for that pick up.
I don't suppose I am looking for solutions, just to see if people agree she is a CF??

Anyone who changed t and c after getting you to sign a contract is a CF

If its term time childcare only i would have expected her to book holidays outside this time.
Not giving your child tea because she is taking her child swimming is prioritising her childs hobby over her job.

But things like this are the pitfalls of using a childminder (I know there are benefits too). I think therefore you need to accept it or pay more and put them in nursery

All of this is fine if in the contract, and informed before signing.

Changing the terms is not fair though.

It's actually quite common for childminders to ask for paid holidays: I agree this is at odds with being self employed, but it appears to be the norm. Part of the rediculous cost of childcare in this country.

Ahnowted she charged £5 per hour. I haven't used her for 3 years as my dcs are too old now.

I'm a childminder, i charge £5 p.h, that includes all food (breakfast/snacks/lunch)children privide own dinner ehich i will heat. i charge if parents are on holiday but no fee if im not available to care for your child, that is what all childminders around my area charge.
My kids go to some classes that are local that i can drop them off and go, so having no impact on childminded children, unfortunately with any working parents, childen can't go to things that dont fit around your job.
She sounds like she's changed the terms after you signed the contract which isnt on without giving suitable notice and giving you all the information.
Maybe after school club/nanny share or other childminder might meet your needs better.

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted

I think what the poster meant is that Childminder's want the flexibility of being self employed but also many also want holiday and sick pay which has historically been the preserve of the "employed" rather than the "self employed"

Holiday and sick pay is the preserve of all self employed people. Nobody works seven days a week 52 weeks a year. Other self-employed professionals such as accountants and builders build this into their hourly rates, which are far higher than Childminder's who are usually on minimum wage. Childcare is very poorly paid so they have to find a way to pay for their time off, it's not cheeky fuckery unless you'd prefer hourly rates to increase to bring them in line with other self employed professionals

You're going to have to keep looking I think

This reminds me of the childminder we used to have. She was paid for the entire morning and afternoon sessions even though she only had my DS from late morning onwards after nursery. On one occasion the nursery had an inset day - I gave her 3 weeks’ notice but she refused to have DS because she’d made herself a dentist appointment. Even though we’d already paid her for that time slot. 🙄

I think that it depends on what your contract says re paid holidays.

I think that one of the downsides to having a childminder is that your dc will be juggled around other dc's activities, just like they would be in a family. But the family environment is also the upside iyswim. I don't think it is the end of the world to have dinner after pick up.

Changing terms about meals is not ok though.

Some good points, thanks.

Look into nanny share

The swimming is not on, & neither is charging for meals now the contract is signed.

When I read things like this, I feel so lucky that I found my childminder.

She takes 4 weeks holiday, at set times each year. During school holidays. I don’t pay her for any of those.

I pay an hourly rate for before & after school. A day rate for during school holidays. All include meals.

I pay half for our holidays, (but we tend to go away at the same time as she does to make it easier), & pay full if my kids are poorly on a day they were due to attend.

Some childminders do seem to take advantage of parents, & your CM seems to be doing that.

"I think what the poster meant is that Childminder's want the flexibility of being self employed but also many also want holiday and sick pay which has historically been the preserve of the "employed" rather than the "self employed""

That's not what she said. She said that childminders had decided as a group. It's not true.

I’m also a teacher, I recently returned to work PT after mat leave. The childminder has baby DS all day and also collects my older three DC from school. She is term time only so I don’t pay during the school holidays (why would I pay for a service I didn’t use?!). I send baby DS with food, reusable nappies and wipes and my older DC take snacks in their bag to school. Generally collect them around 5:30 so no need for dinner with the CM.

Anyway, the TV being on all day is terrible. You should seriously look for alternative childcare, the swimming lesson thing is a pisstake too.

why would I pay for a service I didn’t use

That's the case for most parents who use CM - we probably have 6 weeks annual leave per year but we have to pay for 4 of them full pay to the CM also bank holidays are all paid for

We were surprised at first but then found that's standard in our area and what's in our contract so it is what it is

CM in our area are HALF that of nurseries - without them we'd be in financial 💩- my colleagues pay more per day for their doggy day care than we do our CM so whilst i couldn't get my head round it at first and had a bit of a grumble Im very very thankful for CMs now just wish there were more of them!

The whole point though of working as a childminder is the flexibility it offers your own family. After taking off expenses (roughly a third of her income: insurance, resources, training, ICO fees, OFSTED fees, professional body fees, wear and tear, extra car insurance, extra car seats, playgroup fees, other activities) it's very likely that she's working for below minimum wage. She works hard for little income so that she can be at home for her children and take them to clubs. You could suggest that you send in a hot meal for her to warm up at lunchtime and then she does a pack up dinner on swimming days?

I only offer packed lunch type food and absorb that cost as part of my hourly rate. Food costs a fortune these days, so if people wanted dinner too on top of snacks and lunch, I'd be charging £2.50/child for dinner.

Holidays - I charge half fees for mine and half fees for theirs. The full fee for her holiday is a bit cheeky if she also charges full fee for your holiday.

It's common for term time only car to be charged at a higher hourly rate because many people can't afford to have no income for 3 months of the year.

For her child's sickness she is not allowed to accept mindees. She would be breaking the rules if she accepted your children into her home when her family is I'll unless it's a mild cold or something.

If you're unhappy, look elsewhere or hire a Nanny at a cost of approx £15/hour to include payroll, NI, TAX, plus sickness, hols and maternity leave.

@BlueRussiann

Absolutely she can go on holiday when she likes. But the OP doesn't pay her to do so.

However if the OP goes on holiday, she should pay the CM an agreed rate.

You're missing the point where she can charge as she pleases too. Did you consider that the OP is paying a lower rate and includes holiday pay?

Absolutely she can go on holiday when she likes. But the OP doesn't pay her to do so.

This surely depends on the contract? If we used our childminder all year round (we don't, we use her term time only and so have a different contract) we'd pay four weeks of holiday pay. That was clear up front, and if we'd signed that contract that would be entirely fair.

Incidentally our childminder is quite expensive for our area and has terms at the less favourable end (for parents). Having seen a number of childminders before choosing her, we were happy to pay the premium.

@56Marshmallow can you explain why you charge half fees to parents for your service being unavailable?

I genuinely can't get my head around this.

Lucie I charge half fees for my hols and half fees for their hols so it's not such a hit for parents when they or I am on holiday. If we coincide holidays (which I try to do) then the parents are only ever charged half fees which I think us very generous.

Another reason is that I have heard of instances that other CM have where parents book a holiday (paying full fees for their holiday). The childminder then decides to not work that week and the parents expect to pay nothing when they booked their holiday in first. If I charge half fees for both parties then it's clear for everyone that it's always half fees.

Incidentally, last academic year, I didn't book a single days holiday. Couldn't afford it! Only had time off when parents requested it (but then other parents were still using my service so not a holiday for me, just one less child!)

Of the 5 clients I've had so far, none of them have ever had a problem with my fees or charges.

I always try to be flexible and help parents out. For example, I don't charge late fees if they're occasionally late (would do for persistent offenders). If they need to swap days then I'll try to accommodate if it suits me.

There is one thing that I am very clear on - pay me on time. Nobody likesworking for free. I have bills to pay, like they do. Plus I'm buying food/resources for their children so they need to pay me. All of my clients respect that and, in return, they get a flexible childminder.

Anyone who tried to wriggle out of paying me would be looking for a new Childminder. I've only been messed about by two people. I subsequently found out that one had left two other childminders without paying plus her children are very badly behaved (I count my blessings every time I see them) and the other one refused to sign a contract, so I assume wanted 'ad hoc' care but never mentioned that during the 3 meetings we had. I wished them luck finding someone else but didn't take them on.