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.

Absolutely! I’ve not known a private tutor do anything other than this….

Omg such aggressive replies! What's wrong with people.
I've used all manner of tutors from totally flexible as and when, pay as you go, and one with a contract for a short time.

This exactly as we have with our tutors. Any extra holiday tutoring for exam prep is done outside of normal payment blocks and we pay per half term.

People who say it’s like paying your cleaner during the hols.
What about your physio you see every 2 weeks, do you pay them when they’re on hols or you are on hols?

It’s called being self employed. 🤷‍♀️
If you’re asking for payment session (which is what I’ve always seen first tutors) then you dint get paid when there’s no session. Up to you to plan around the hols/adjust your prices etc….
Or review the type of contract you have with your clients.

Also if one client makes the majority of your income, that’s a really unsafe place to be as a self employed person. You might want to review that too.

What does your contract say? Do they have to give a months notice?

You are being unreasonable to mainly work with one family. I would not want to pay for tutoring in the holidays. It would put me off having you back. I suggest you get a temporary summer job to cover your shortfalls. There's lots of temp work around in many places.

Exactly this!

make your mind up.

why didn't you sort this out after what happened last summer.??

Unfortunately OP, if you don't have a contract you don't have a leg to stand on with regards to charging a retainer. Everything needs to be set out clearly when you first start tutoring a child and not making it up as you go along.

If you don't currently use contracts, you could start using them from September for current and new clients. Explain that you need to make your business financially viable and that clients will need to sign up termly. Or whatever conditions you want to impose.

What does your contract say?
Our tutor is every Wednesday in term time and £28ph so £56 a week. There are 39 weeks in the term and we are given the option of paying weekly (£56) or monthly (56x39 /12 making £182 over 12 months). Monthly is our tutors preferred method.

I think it's fair to explain the situation that you'd love to continue working with them etc. But it leaves you in an unfortunate position of not being able to accept other clients and rejecting other work holding the gap for them and you can't promise that youll have the same availability in September. Explain that other clients pay for the missed sessions to hold the space and you can also do this for them if they'd like or they can see your availabilityin september. If you had a cleaner who cleaned every Tuesday and you went away for 3 months i'd not expect that cleaner to be available when i return for every Tuesday. Why would you be any different

Why aren’t you being paid per session? No other arrangement makes sense in this scenario, surely?

I work in a similar field. I send an email to my clients offering two options. Either continue over the summer (Albeit on a reduced schedule around holidays etc) to guarantee their space in September or take a break over the summer on the understanding that I may not be able to hold their space. Totally reasonable and fair.

It’s mind blowing to me that children/ teens would be tutored over holidays!!!

I work in a similar field. I send an email to my clients offering two options. Either continue over the summer (Albeit on a reduced schedule around holidays etc) to guarantee their space in September or take a break over the summer on the understanding that I may not be able to hold their space. Totally reasonable and fair.

Why would you assume they’d want to continue once exams are over??

Another former tutor here who agrees with this - you get paid for the hours you do. I don't know why you'd expect to carry on over the holidays if your primary role with this family is homework support?

Also I wouldn't have thought that it was too late to find new clients for the summer - it was always my most lucrative time as a tutor anyway. So many families want intensive tuition or tutors to go away on holiday with them. And then I'd pick up with my regular term time clients in September.

You never answered the question about what kind if contract you’ve sign with them. I assume it’s a per session thing right? With little or no warning of stopping session? I get it’s worrying when people talk about stopping and it’s your main income. But fear is never a good advisor when it comes to business.

1- you need to clarify what’s going on with the parents, not the child
2- you need to review T&C. It could be asking to for agreeing for a month tuition each time.
3- have more variety in your client base!
4- please do not put lressure on those people to carry on using you. That’s the best way to make them run away!

Lots of kids need to catch up or will just forget stuff if they stop. Kids revising for 11+ or 13+ will often be flat out in the summer.

Thank you, this is a good point, I think I’ll address it this way

YANBU, you should add this to your contract.

The evidence is you CAN get clients who are happy to pay for the summer holidays so you should push for this.

Dd has two tutors. One for literacy and the other learning an instrument. Both one lesson per week.

I can't remember the exact details in the contract for the literacy tutor but the sessions are term time only. They are sometimes offered for a few weeks in the summer, but that is an extra. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. Towards the end of term (so anytime soon) I will be asked if we are carrying on next term and we will sort out lesson times.

The music lesson has a new contract for the start of each half term. It specifies the start and end dates and number of lessons. If the tutor has to cancel we are either refunded that lesson or offered a different time. Again lessons are sometimes offered in the holidays, but as an extra. Sometimes we do them, other times we don't. In a few weeks we will get the contract for September and will sort out lesson times.

Neither of then expect to pay for lessons on the summer because the contact is term time only. If it us our fault that we miss lessons the no refund or extra lessons are offered. If I know in advance I let them know in advance because they may be able to offer the time to someone else. If they do, and get paid twice for that time, then bonus. Not their fault if we cancel so still expect to pay, because that is the terms of the contract.

I think you need to either check what you put in the contract, or if you didn't have one, or one with much detail, then get a new one drafted for next term.

Thanks to those with the helpful comments, I will speak to the parents this week regarding a retainer fee, otherwise I will need to take on new pupils and this may continue from September onwards.

Having tutored for 20 years, I can safely say that the summer period is always a challenging one. Sometimes, you are lucky and have work over the summer and sometimes you do not. You cannot just ask for holiday pay, as a self employed person, that’s not going to work, unless, you have a contract that stipulates that pay will be expected 52 weeks of the year. If that is what you need to occur then, moving forwards, you need to include it in a contract. I think if you raise this issue now, you will
lose them as it sounds cheeky. Equally, I suspect that whilst the child might like to stop classes now, the parents are likely to want it to continue until
the end of term. If they stop that abruptly, without warning then I would suggest that they are not reliable clients and you would be advised to look elsewhere and I would also raise the fact they had not given warning. A retainer is an option but it’s unlikely they will go for that option. Another option would be to increase your hourly rate for September, giving them warning and incorporate an amount that will, in effect, pay you over the summer. If you want to keep these clients, asking for holiday pay would not be the way I would go.

They never give proper warming and it’s the pupil who tells me (parents let her decide)
I understand if they don’t want to pay over summer, but the abrupt announcement from the student that lessons would be done v shortly and not the end of term is not very fair, imo.

What do you teach? The 11+ is in September so a lot of families in grammar areas will likely be looking for a summer tutor