Is paying for childminders holidays normal?

[kermit123]

My little girl has been with her current childminer since she was 5 months old. She is approaching her 2nd birthday. We are very happy with the care that is provided, however, there is one thing that is causing us concern.

The childminder asks that when WE are on holiday we pay half fee's for the time we are away. Fair enough...

Shje also then askes that when SHE is on holdiday we pay half fee's. Is this normal as it seems strange. I understand that when we are away we have to pay to'hold the place' but if she is away we have to arrange time off work (which is not easy) and also pay half fee's for a place that is not even there to hold!

please let me know if this is normal, if not, what do I do and what are my rights to complain?

Some childminders insist on 52 week contracts. The child minder we had insisted on 4 weeks paid holiday.

Hence I use a day nursery and an after school club.

I think paying my cm when I have holiday is completely normal and reasonable. Paying when she is on holiday and I am not and I need to find alternate childcare and pay for it is not reasonable (to me). I can't choose my own holidays (teacher) so no chance of me arranging them to match cms. Fortunately, my cm doesn't charge for her holidays. Sensible IMO.

I think that if childminders expect paid holiday then they need to become nannies!

My CM charges when we choose not to bring dc for whatever reason, or can't because he is sick. She does not charge when she chooses not to work, that is, holiday/time off or if she can't work because she is sick.

She gives us enough notice for us to time our holidays with hers!

Our 'thing' is that I work Mondays, but have to pay for bank holidays!

But she was clear about all of it from the beginning, I really liked her, so I just sort of worked it out over the year and worked out how much it would cost and decided it was ok. And it is worth it because she is brilliant.

I charge full for parent's holiday because I'm still working the same hours but would get far less money if I didn't and as others have pointed out spaces are very limited.

I charge half fee for my holidays as I need time to re-charge my batteries for the welfare of the children as well as mine and I also use time off to do things like decorate the house, do accounts, sort toys, deep clean etc this job is a lot more than the hours I actually get paid for. I do give my holiday dates out for the year in January so that parents can either try to match mine.

I haven't put my prices up for 4 years and in that time the cost of petrol, food, toddler groups etc has increased. Also imo I offer more than some childminders who charge the same rates.