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?

She didn't ask for payment on 1st Dec. She asked for payment on or before 1st Jan for Jan's contract.

Brilliant. That's how I think it should work 🙂

If there's one thing I hate in life is chasing money I'm owed, feeling like a beggar...
set up a standing order.
I most likely would have given a warning, or charged extra for chasing, but take it as a lesson learned, Pay on time 🕰️

Ah ok. We've always paid at the end of the month for the childcare we've used.

What does it say in your contract about late payment? You are paying her in advance as well? If so understand correctly she hasn’t started to work for you yet? Work is usually paid for afterwards. I’ve never come across payment before a job is done. Salaries are paid at the end of the month.

@YellowPixie but payment wasn't due on 1st December - that's just when the invoices were sent out.

Payment was due on January 1st for January's bookings. That's very normal for many industries.

I'm really surprised by that? All childcare here whether it's nurseries, childminders or wrap around care needs paying for in advance. Even kids clubs like football or gymnastics are paid for at the start of each month before they've happened.

I'm all for compassion and understanding...but I do think it really depends on the reasons that OP was late with paying. Also, whether she had messaged CM ahead of the deadline to explain these reasons and give a firm date for paying/catching up paying the invoice.

e.g. my dentist will charge a fine for missed appointments (i.e. where you don't show up and don't let them know ahead of time). 6yrs ago - for the first time ever - I did not show up to an appointment that I'd booked for myself and 2DC. Why? My lovely Dad had died the night before and I was a mess. Dentist surgery contacted me at time of appointment to chase situation. I was mortified that I'd missed the appointment and not contacted them. I explained situation and they were very kind and understanding (and didn't fine me).

We have had our childminder since 2018 and I have never paid her late we value her far too much. I do get how these things happen but perhaps you can apologise and promise it won’t happen again. Alternatively sort out some temporary childcare until you can find a longer term solution again! Good luck 🤞🏼

I have a bit of admiration for the CM... not taking any nonsense.

However surely it would have been less hassle all round if she had mentioned the non payment when you saw her last week.

I have forgotten to pay nursery before (only a couple of times). They send invoices out really early in the month, I think “I’ll pay that later” and then completely forget. In fact this thread led me to log into my online banking to check I had paid the January invoice (I had) as with everything going on over Christmas I couldn’t remember 🙈. When I’ve not paid before nursery has sent me a reminder and I’ve paid straight away.

For me whether YABU depends on whether you’ve had a settling in sessions or whether they were due this week (I’m not clear from your OP). If you’ve had the settling in sessions then that should have been the trigger for you to remember you hadn’t paid. If you’ve had an invoice on 5th December then no sessions, no communication, no reminders then I can see with the chaos of Christmas how you might have thought “I’ve got ages to pay that, I’ll do it later” and then it slipped your mind.

I think if I was your childminder I’d have sent you a reminder and if you’d paid straight away I’d have given you another chance. If she’s got a constant supply of potential clients she could have terminated after a second month of non payment just as easily and without missing out on filling the spot, but been more justified in doing so.

Eugh, some very unforgiving statements here which don't make for nice reading. My take- Yes, you should have been on the ball. Yes it would have been good idea to send a reminder. Yes if you didn't pay pretty darn soon after the reminder they would be well placed to refuse services.
Maybe they have a full time child they want to prioritise?

True, but she is issuing invoices a month ahead of doing the work and expecting payment in full before any work is done.

I'm not sure why childminders are so different and special to all other self-employed people, not just this payment before work business, but also expecting payment when they are on holiday, or when their clients are on holiday. They all do it though, and parents have no choice but to go along with it.

People can take the mickey if you allow it. I used to run an at home business where I let people pay as they went. If they cancelled, and they did regularly because they just couldn't be bothered that night, then I didn't get any income. So I changed to a system of pay ten weeks in advance with 48 hours notice for cancellations. Much more secure income as people didn't cancel when they had to pay anyway.

You give an inch then people will take advantage.

Do you have to chase your employer for your salary?

There's nothing in the OP that suggests the child was only going to be attending part time. The childminder is prioritising parents / carers who actually pay on time.

Probably the power of demand and supply being in their favour.

The biggest thing here is likely that it's the very first payment. It's probably got them worried about reliability overall.

I cannot think of any reasonable excuse for not paying and also (I assume) not communicating to her why you were not paying on time and discussing if she would accept a late payment.

Childminders are a business and, especially good ones, will have a waiting list and can pick and choose clients.

I agree. I'm self employed and would have done the same thing. If I have an established relationship with a client I'll send a reminder but I won't spend my time chasing new clients who haven't paid.

Payment at the start of the month for services to be received that month is completely normal. She will need to pay for clubs and classes, will need to stock the pantry, will need to make sure she has her own bills covered for when they drop in the month.

Paying them when you are on holiday is payment to keep your place. Why would they take a week of no income from you because you've decided to go to Spain? They could give away the place to someone else and then where would you be? You still pay your rent or mortgage when aaway on holiday!

But thats the same throughout education... childminders, nurseries, dance lessons, sports clubs, tutoring, private schools... you pay for the space in advance

You should have paid her. It's shown her that paying her isn't a priority for you and she's decided that you're not worth the bother. It's also massively disrespectful - would you expect to have to remind your work to pay you if your wages didn't appear in on the day they were due?

Childminders don't really get to "fuck up". We have strict regulations to follow and rely on reputation.
Understanding goes both ways, where is the understanding for my bills that need to be paid.
I personally would send a reminder on the 31st. But I wouldn't have to. And I would have expected payment immediately on receipt of the reminder. But I also charge a placeholding fee for this reason...

so she was looking for her January fees more than a month in advance? My kids are older now but I used CMs for years. I don’t think those were typical payment terms. She
may have been messed around in the past but she also sounds a bit of a CF if she’s been paid for work over a month in advance she now hasn’t done.

my guess is she’s had a better offer eg someone with 2 children or a child older than a baby so she’s used this as an excuse.

Are you paid in advance on the first day of the month for your months work?