all my mindees were collected about 15 mins late today.

[ekacpuc]

What do other childminders do about that ? Do you charge late fees ? They all blamed the bad traffic which is true but it's a bit annoying.

when ds1 was at nursery it was £10 per 20 minutes late per child.

That's really unfair to charge on that occasion!!

bad traffic is a pain but not your fault

same as if my mb misses her train/it doesnt move/wet leaves on the line etc etc etc then i get paid overtime - its not her fault either but she is late

nannys have overtime in their contract and so should cm

i like the £1 a minute rule, sure that would stop a lot of them

yes you get the odd gueniune emergency but a lot of it is laziness, like when my friends mb rings her and asks her if it is ok to say late as she is still at the office at 6pm, when she should have been on the train at 5.30

no it is not ok, but do we have a choice? no - as cant leave the child so have to stay there till home at 7pm when should have been in at 6.30 and if need be ringing and groveling at 5pm when still at the office

ekacpuc - def write in a late policy and give to all

I'm just in the middle of updating my policies and trying to decide whether to change this bit to:

£5 per 15 mins (as is now) but with a note saying it's rounded up i.e. will be charged after even if 10 mins late (not sure how to word)

or

£1 per minute late

Opinions???

the only thing about the £1 a minute thing is, you may get parents arguing that your clock is fast etc and you end up not charging. if it is a parent who is regularly late, 4/5 minutes could easily add up.

looney - why not have both so £5 for first 10mins late then £1 minute afterwards so if 15mins late you get £10?

booyhoo - that's exactly what I thought! I think I'll put a huge digital clock on the roof of my house - JOKE of course!

Blondes - that's fab, I'll go with that (thanks again :)) Hopefully this will prevent people risking even being 5 mins late, just in case!

welcome - with brains and beauty i should be a cm instead of a nanny

I have a clock by my sign in book, the parents have to sign in and out themselves, by the time on my clock, if late they get charged £5.00 per 15 mins, if they dont ring to say they will be late £10.00 per 15 minutes.

(but must say I have brilliant parents and have not had to charge for a very long time, but that is because, they often pick up half a day early or dont bring them in at all because that is the way their job works (all Army), so as long as they ring to say when they are coming I dont tend to charge.

But it is in place for anybody that kicked the arse out of it.

shoshe that is a great idea.

i was going toask if your parents found it strange to have to sign tehir dcsin and out but then i read on and see they are mostly army parenst so i supposed used to clocking in and out. is signing in and out common practise for most CMs?

I started 4 years ago doing it this way (in fact 4 years worth of signing in is in one HUGE folder, I really should start anew one in January.)

I have had Civilian Mums sign in and out, because they do it from the start, they just do it, it is right by the door.

Thanks so much everyone, it's a difficult one if you hate any confrontation or are a soft touch, like me.

I was thinking of charging £1 per every 5 mins late, payable at the end of each month.

I don't really want to do it at all because one of my USPs is I think that I'm so easy about it but a couple of parents are now taking the p*ss so I think I might give them notes saying that I might start charging late fees after soon if I feel the need.

Thanks all

I am a naany not a childminder and the parents getting home are often late, sometimes being late because of traffic cannot be avoided. I would not dream of charging them for a quarter of an hour its all give and take. You are in your home so not as bad as me surely it does not make that much difference?

I never minded so much if had to stay at work a bit longer for whatever reason BUT this is my HOME, my whole family is affected by the lateness. It's not a case of me not being available when I should. My husband doesn't like to come into the lounge and settle until I've finished work (understandable as I chose to do this job, not him). My own children have had to watch me prioritise all the other children from 7am - 6pm so I think it's only fair that I'm there for them when I say I will be - they get upset if I finished too late as it means less MUCH NEEDED one to one time, time for homework etc. Plus I've got my house to clean, tidy, hoover ready for the next working day and tired children at the end of the day doesn't really mix with me doing that so my daily tidy up at the end of the day starts later, impacting my family more. Sometimes I have to leave straight away to attend courses and can get charged if don't attend etc. So yes, if they are regularly late I DO CARE!!! I'm pleased you're not bothered by it but I'm afraid a lot of us are. Being service providers, we can choose to do what we want to to deter people. LOTS of people unfortunately DO take the mick if you're too soft, I know this for a fact.

p.s. does give and take mean they sometimes let you off early? If so, this isn't the same for us as we work with many families.

I changed my contract from pick up at 3.50 to pick up at 4 for this very reason this year. I'm a teacher and it's too unpredictable with traffic leaving school or if a parent wants to ask/discuss something quickly at the gates...etc. I'm usuallystill there for 3.50 and cm said no big deal if you're sometimes a few mins late, but I just wanted it in my contract to reflect this so I wouldn't be taking the Mick! There are usually kids there for a couple hours after my ds anyway, so I guess that's why it's not such a worry for her.

cinpin it mightn'y bother you that much to be kept late but hwen you work from home it is very important to be able to clsoe the door, so to speak, on your job and stop work for the day. when your work spills over onto your own time and encroaches on the time you get to spend with your children and your partner, and even just yourself then i am sorry but the parents should be discouraged from this. having other people's chidlren in your home affects your whole family.

I am not talking about really late I am talking the odd 15 minutes, and yes i do have children and a husband to get home too. 15 mins would not make a huge differenct to one to one time, of course I am bothered going home late, but understand if there is bad traffic there is nothing anyone can do about it. I would be less understanding if there were delayed for not a good reason, I have to travel home for half an hour and then do my housework, and then make my childrens tea and keep an eye on homework. By the way i nanny for two families so rarely get of early but it is always a bonus to only have two children instead of 5

well if it's only the odd 15 minutes late then it's only going to cost them £5. nurseries do it, i don't see why CM, or nannies should be expected to keep mindees late for free. regardless of who is at fault.

Being 15 mins home late from work and being 15 mins late closing in your own home is different. I presume your family can carry on in their home as normal whereas our family have to wait until everyone has gone to be free to do what they want in their own home. Also, if you have a half hour travel and you're still making your children tea when you get home, I guess your normal finish time is earlier than our closure times?

On top of OUR family, this is hard for the mindee. Some can get quite upset when all the other parents come and they expect to be picked up but they haven't arrived yet (as my current mindee does whose mum is often late - they are fine all day but they KNOW when it's pickup time and do get upset and then I spent that 15 mins reassuring them they will be here soon)

yes its give and take esp in nannying - yes my mb can be late due to trains etc,but i am never late,as if i was late to start work, she would miss her train and be in work late

agree the odd 15mins here and there doesnt matter, but there are many nanny mb's who are often late and dont think anything of it

and yes i think often nanny employers forgot that after their nanny does a 11/12hr day that they still have to travel home and has been up 30/60mins before they start work to get up and drive there, so often can be a 14hr day by the time they are home

agree in a cm home that their families have to wait till all mindess have gone home and i do believe that charging top premium will stop some parents from taking the piss

Yes I agree blondes but the thread started with everyone being 15 mins late because of traffic and a bit mean to think of charging every one. If i was charging that much i w
ould hope they would be late.

if a cm has a late fee then they need to decide whether to charge if all are late ie huge accident on motor way/water pipes burst etc

its a tricky one, its not the parents fault but then then again the cm is still working and not her fault and ekacpuc cant get on with her own children/life etc till all mindees have gone

we agreed with our cm that we will always pick up between 4:30 and 5

however we always pay her until 5 whether we pick up before then or not because we need that flexibility and it would not be fair to her otherwise

i think you have to see whether the lateness is a regular thing and renegotiate accordingly

I wouldn't charge in the Op's situation (I think I mentioned something in an earlier post), I didn't charge when a parent arrived at 9pm instead of 6pm because that was due to flooding and not their fault. If everyone was late due to a problem on the roads etc. I wouldn't charge either. BUT, I have those charges there to stop people taking the mick (which I'm afraid some do). I know the OP mentioned that all were late that day but if you read on, I think it was previous things that had annoyed her and this all being late just made her think about maybe having a late fee policy.

I think we can all agree that nannies and childminders have a long day (i.e. I may only work 11 hours, unless have an overnighter, but it's all the hours of prep work, paperwork etc. that makes it MUCH longer than that). But then I guess many have long days too. My point was more about trying to stop it affecting my own family (me doing this from home has caused many marital problems including finally breaking up with dh in August - we're back together now and it's great but it's hard to explain what stress this can put on your family, even though I do love my job).

So most of us who have a late fee in their contracts are probably doing so because we've been taken advantage of :)