Is it cheeky to ask to be paid over the holidays?

[Dogswimmingcompetition]

I work as a tutor. I work for three different families.
Over the summer holidays, one family like me to keep working, one family don’t have tutoring at all over the summer, but pay me year round. The final family is the family I work with the most, I’ve taught their child for almost three years. For the first year it was year round, last year they went away last minute for summer (I didn’t realise this was the plan) and I wasn’t paid all summer. I get the majority of my income from them and found it a real struggle for a couple of months.
Their child finishes their exams in a couple of weeks and mentioned something about our last lesson being in a couple of weeks (much earlier than I expected) This will leave me without pay for 3 months, which will set me back a lot.
I’m unable to commit to other families who have asked for tutoring as they would want all the time, not just in the holidays.
Would it be cheeky to put this to the father and ask if there’s any way they can pay me over the holidays and explain the situation?
I enjoy working with this family and would rather stay with them if possible, I know that i’m valued there also as the mum has told me in the past that they’re keen to keep me/continue with me.

Four/five more

I think you need to go back to the drawing board with your business plan, right down to the fundamentals:

• how much income do you need - day to day living, pension, sick pay, holidays
• what are your business expenses - insurance, equipment, travel, tax
• what is your working capacity - how many hours per week, how many clients can you reasonably fit in, peaks and troughs

The combination of these factors will result in an hourly rate, and a set of terms and conditions will make sure you can plan more securely for your income.

The amount you reach might seem high at first, and you can vary it by working more hours/diversifying/offering specialist services etc.

Unfortunately you can't really just go self-employed on a "I'm good at this and want to work flexibly" basis - you need to take responsibility for the cashflow.

I've never heard of a self employed tutor being paid holiday pay.

Tutors I have encountered charge for single pay as you go sessions or require a block booking of X amount of sessions. In addition they offer holiday sessions to get children ready for the next academic year which are open to everyone, not just clients already on their books.

You are lucky to already have one family that pay you when you're not actually tutoring as this is definitely not the norm.

You keep ignoring the many, many contract questions so I'm assuming you don't have one which needs to be resolved asap otherwise this issue is the least of your potential problems.

It's not too late to introduce a contract to your current clients . In fact the end of the year is probably the perfect time. Just say you're formalising your way of working and planning for 2025/26, share the contract with them and ask them to confirm for next year.

I feel sorry for this kid who has been tutored every single year for their entire school life from how it sounds. What a sheltered life - can't see them going very far in a workplace environment.

We pay our tutor for the hours he does. If he cancels or we cancel we do not pay him.
Same as the cleaner.
Cash in hand jobs are like that.

Can I just reiterate that these are not exams, the child is too young for formal exams, but likes to achieve high class test results and help with homework and assessment projects (which last until the end of term)
The pupil told me she is tired & fed up of school now and wants to be on holiday. I totally understand that, but the end of term isn’t for weeks yet.

If this is a yr11 child you were quite naive to think tutoring would continue beyond their exams!

Really every September you should be setting out the weeks that academic year in which you are teaching and you should be clear with parents from the off how many weeks they are expected to pay for. You should also set out a clear notice period eg 6 weeks. It sounds like you haven't operated very professionally - if you had done the above from the start the confusion would not have arisen.

Tutors generally charge high hourly rates of £30-£40 per hour, this reflects the fact it's insecure work and is factored in to the cost.

They aren't wrong, though.

And if you're bothered about language, stop writing GCSE's with an unnecessary apostrophe. It doesn't inspire confidence in your ability to help with homework tutor.

You are at liberty to set your own terms&conditions.
Your customers are at liberty to choose a different tutor if they don't like your terms.

What would be reasonable would be to say - "Obviously you have decided you don't need my time as a tutor over the summer. I am sure you understand that I still need to eat and pay rent over the summer so I will be doing everything I can to recruit new students. That means I can't guarantee that I will have time in my schedule to re-start tutoring with you in September. It might be that all my time is booked with new students. If you want me to hold your weekly slot for you to guarantee you will be able to resume in September, then you'll need to pay a 50% retainer over the summer. If you choose not to do that, that's fine but you'll need to take your chances and contact me when you are ready to resume and I'll let you know if I have any availability."

This ^

The OP seems reluctant to let us know what is in the terms of their contrcat regarding notice, retainer, pay rates etc.

From this reluctance I suspect they don't have a proper written contract covering those areas and are relying on some vague oral contract that allows them to be exploited.

They need to get proper contract terms written up covering eg notice periods, sickness, holidays, annual/term/session rates and then make sure their clients comply with those terms.

OP might need to pay for some professional legal and costing advice...

? I’ve been with them for three years, pupil is secondary age, I don’t think they were tutored in primary. They go to school, but have help after school, I don’t think that’s unusual?

The language to use is that you need to offer the slots to others for the rest of term and summer.
I would not expect to pay a tutor over summer but I'd not be at all surprised if they filled a slot after I cancelled or stopped needing them, especially if there was no contract.
I'd only pay someone as a retainer, for work they aren't doing, if there was a contract in place or they were absolutely overbooked and essential to me. I guess I'm cheap that way compared to others.

Then all the more reason why you need a proper written contract otherwise this family are going to do you over every summer!

[Edit you need a formal written contract that you've drafted for the provision of your services]

You need to make it clear in your contract that they pay a retainer over the summer even if no lessons, or potentially forfeit the space in September. Equally if income is important all year round perhaps offer short term sessions or workshops in summer to other children to be “school ready” or maintain progress to offset the loss of individual lessons.

This too ^

Plus I agree with other posters that you need to suggest to this family that if they don't want you over the summer then you will have to find other clients to replace the income lost from them, and may not be available to them again after the summer - unless they want to retain your services for a fee...

I can only speak from back when I was the student but we always only paid as needed - my tutors charged by the hour, got paid by the hour, if they weren’t needed there were no hours to be paid.

I don’t see how it makes sense unless you have a contract and are exclusive to these students? Might be different nowadays.

Thank you, what percentage would the retainer fee usually be? Would this be paid every summer holiday?

How can you not know that tutoring will end when the child has done exams?

Never rely on one family for main earnings. As PP have said, the hourly rate should cover holiday pay, prep, admin etc which is why it seems a lot to people who don't understand how many unpaid background hours there are.

Talk to families way in advance and book in summer sessions. If they are away, then you can't get them to pay you. But if they book a session and then don't use it, because they go off at the last minute, they need to pay. You can also explain that to ensure they can get a slot with you once summer is over, they will need to pay a retainer, otherwise you have to accept new clients and your books might be full. That is only fair!

Plan for quiet times by advertising summer catch up sessions and group workshops for children who are falling behind. Send these to your existing clients. They may spread the word among friends.

You need to be way more proactive in how you generate work. Good tutors have long waiting lists.

When I tutor I charge for the sessions I am providing and the price includes planning and marking. I charge if they cancel without 24 hours notice but do not charge if they have a week's holiday for half term. Most have continued some tutoring over the summer break from school but if they didn't then I wouldn't charge them but would let them know the time and day they currently have may be filled and they may have to have a different day and time when they return.

You can ask them to pay some kind of retainer but they may say no and take their chances on their return
I have all this sorted when I discuss tutoring with them and they sign an agreement.

They aren’t exams

I don't know. I'm not you and I'm not your accountant.

I don't know what your annual business and personal costs are and I don't know what your income is from your three client families.

Only you can work out what you need, but professional help from an accountant would help you.

[Edit plus I don't know what the going rate of your competitors is and what your market will stand]

(I've always worked as an employee as I had no desire to lead a precarious self-employed or freelance career. But if you wany to do that you need to work out what your costs are and how much profit you want to make)

You keep saying this, but your opening post said
"Their child finishes their exams in a couple of weeks"

so you should be able to see why people refer to them!

Everyone I know who uses a tutor agrees upfront :

1. If lessons are term time only or year round
2. Whether lessons are for a fixed period (eg until GCSE, 11+ exam etc)
3. Cancellation period if the student can't make a scheduled lesson (usually 100% fee if they cancel within 24 hours of the lesson, 50% within 3 days or nothing if further out than that).

That's the clearest way for all concerned.

Please answer the questions regarding the contract you have. If -as I’m starting to suspect- you don’t have one I’m not surprised you are so unorganised.