Childminder terminating contract

[hoolahoolay]

Surely I'm not being unreasonable. So my son is due to start with a childminder next week when I go back to work after maternity leave. We have settling in sessions this week

So she sent the invoice for January out early December and she said to let her know if there were any errors, the due date on the invoice was 1st January. For one reason or another we haven't paid it and instead of reminding us she has messaged this morning to say she's terminated contract as invoice is 5 days late.
Surely she could have sent a payment reminder.

WTF can I do now?

The thing is, even if you think it’s not right for CMs to get paid for work not yet undertaken (and the reasons for this seem to be laid out pretty clearly in this thread), OP has agreed to that very contract. She knew what day the CM expected to be paid when she signed up, she knew it was just after Christmas, she elected to not pay her (or ask for some days grace)- she really doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
It’s unfortunate that she’s might end up without childcare, but if I were her CM, I had a waiting list, and this was her attitude as a client, I don’t think I’d be too keen either.

I’m with you, we seem to be the only 2 😂.
I get the needing to pay upfront given the nature of the work, but this is two weeks before the baby has even started , and it’s the very first payment! The least she could have done is send one email- I get the frustration if it becomes a pattern of late payment , but given the kid hasn’t even started I think it’s a bit ridiculous tbh.
All forms of self employment involve some admin- I’m self employed and if a client doesn’t pay I send an email. I also don’t get paid until I’ve done a hella lotta work…

I think the CM sounds incredibly rigid , inflexible and heavy handed and I would personally not want someone with that sort of attitude watching my child. I guess OP will have to grovel short-term but I’d be looking elsewhere asap.
Incidentally my baby is also starting childcare mid- Jan and I haven’t been invoiced yet- nor any deposit so not sure that this is a universal norm?

Well, I’d seen it from both sides, but now having read OP’s updates I’m firmly team CM.

If you actually said to her “communication would help” then you are effectively telling her that she can expect to chase you every month for payments. Who wants the hassle of that?

The only way forward would have been a grovelling apology and a reassurance that it wouldn’t happen again.

It is in the contract that day five means they can terminate
It's in the invoice to be paid 1st of month.

Dear me. This isn't making you look any better. I hope she's on mumsnet!

Why would you assume it has to be paid before your child started, when the invoice had an actual due date on it????

And she has abided by the terms of the contract.

This is totally on you and you're a complete fool not to be begging her forgiveness and coming across with this attitude, because she has you by the short and curlies at this point.

If I were you, I would double check you actually have a place. No deposit, placeholding fee or advance payment is very unusual.

😱When you talk to her, do NOT put any of the blame on her. Do not tell her paying her was not a priority. Not if you want to keep your spot. This is on you and only you.

Some businesses get paid up front because of what they have to put in place to do the work, food, equipment, insurance, H&S.

For me new clients pay upfront unless I'm working via an agency. Older clients pay for work done depending on contract.

As has been said lots of times, this is much harsher on the child to do it this way. And actually if a parent is going to muck you around month one, what makes you think they'll ever pay in time? You're just settling yourself up for reminding this parent forever and a day.

Very normal for small businesses. I pay my cleaner and dog walker in advance. They are in massive demand and the amount of horror stories from my cleaner around entitled people who are usually very well off but don't pay or withhold pay is scary. But if you don't like it, you can try to find another one.

You don’t understand why it needed to be paid on the 1st?

Surely you understand that she has a mortgage, bills, direct debits, needs to buy food. Childminding is her career, her source of income. I worked as a Childminder and whilst I earned okay money, I certainly lived month to month financially, I didn’t have lots of money in savings so that I could be blasé about people paying me two weeks later than contracted! I would have defaulted on my mortgage had I not had clear contracts and payment plans.

How would you feel if your employers just decided to not pay you until the 13th of the month? When they were contracted to pay you on the 1st. Would you just say oh well, I’m sure they’ll pay me by the end of the month when they are ready?

Actually, maybe you should tell her that paying her won't always be a priority.

So you were 5 days over and still hadn't paid. If the CM hadn't messaged you, at what point in time were you planning on paying?
CM has already sussed you out, that's why she hasn't chased and gone straight for giving notice. Well done CM.

She’s a childminder, she specifically said she wasn’t going to ask for a deposit because it was close to the start date and she was sure she could trust our agreement . It made me like her ☺️

Your childcare bill isn't a priority? Bloody hell. I thought for most working parents childcare bills were a high priority.

It’s not two weeks though is it. The invoice was still unpaid on 5 January which is when OP was dropped as a client. The settling in sessions are the week commencing 6 January before the baby was due to start full-time on 13 January.

Like I said, unusual.

Yes I should have paid it but the Christmas period is expensive and we've had lots on and it just hasn't been priority.

I actually can't believe you said this 😲 Paying your CM hasn't been a priority for you?? What has been? Christmas nights out? An extra bottle of Bailey's in the shopping basket?

In my experience employers do sometimes make mistakes with the first payment. It's happened to me more than once. It's the first payment that tends to be problematic, after that it should be routine. Yes it's annoying but I didn't stomp out of my job in a huff. I also once made a mistake with the first rent payment as thought I'd done the standing order but it hadn't gone through. I didn't get thrown out of the house - they just reminded me and I sorted it out.

Not a stupid first time mum…

I’m a first time mum as are many people I know and we all paid our childcare on time and understood how invoices work… between the two of us only only looks stupid and I’m not sure it’s the first timer….

The CM hasn't actually done any work for her yet though.

Yes I should have paid it but the Christmas period is expensive and we've had lots on and it just hasn't been priority.

Therein lies your problem, OP 🤦🏼‍♀️

That doesn't matter. The terms of the contract were clear, and the OP didn't abide by them and the childminder exercised her right, written in the contract, to cancel.

It is most certainly a significant priority for me!

Because the childminder has bills to pay?? If I was your childminder you hadn't paid and now told me I should have to remind you to pay I'd definitely be ending the contract first impressions count and none here are good!