Is this normal? New to this

[ipredicttrouble]

Just started search for a childminder and am very new to this (first DS).

We've already found someone who we're happy with in every respect except there is one niggle.

She states that if we decide not to send DS for any reason e.g. we are on holiday then she will charge a 50% retainer fee. I'm ok with this.

However, the niggle is that during the holidays that she takes then we will still have to pay the 50%.

This doesn't seem quite right to me.

What do other people think?

Thats quite normal as she has decided to do 50/50. Personally I charge 100% fees if your child is ill or on holiday and no fees if I take a holiday.

Its all swings and roundabouts.

For example I charge full rate when your on hols and no fees when I am on hols.

50/50 seems quite fair

All childminders charge diffrently,
for example I DONT charge when I have to take time off if I or my family are ill or when Im on holiday, However I do charge yoiu in full if your child is ill, or when you are on holiday, or you take an occasional day.
Simply because it would be extremley hard to fill that space.

Hope that helps a little

We used to have to pay 100% if we went away. And 0% if the childminder went away.

Suppose it depends which you think is more likely to happen.

I wouldn't sign up to that. I would, however, be willing to pay 100% whenever I didn't turn up. The reason is I wouldn't want her to be able to take hols because she could still get 50% pay and not have to work.

I would also take this opportunity to have a look at her sick policy and any other time she might expect to get paid and not work.

YOu need to check how much annual leave she will be taking and how much notice you will get. Ideally you take your leave when she takes hers which then saves you money....

Personally I prefer to pay 100% if I don't send and pay 0% when cm isn't working whether through holiday or illness.

Also check her sickness policy regarding how sick is too sick for your child to attend because these will be days you didn't show up.

And if she has children herself who are sick or she is sick then you will still have to pay half even though you can't send your ds there.
I'd prefer the 100% pay if you don't use her and 0% pay if she cancels or goes on hols myself

Think yourself lucky, we paid 100% BOTH WAYS, our hols and hers! We tried to make them co-incide but there were a few occasions when it didn't...

fine.

as long as there is a clear limit on how much holiday she can take per year.

and it is clearly stated how much notice she must give you.

Best to thrash all the above out before you sign your contract otherwise you wont have a choice.
Read the contract thoroughly before you sign, asking questions if you not sure about something,
Ask to see her sickness polices etc

I personally put all thats been mentioned above a lots more in my welcome pack,

i charge 1005 whgen parents on holiday or child off sick but no charge for my sickness or holiday.. all different.. seems like a good deal to me BUT check how much annual leave she takes just in case!!!

Make sure you check about bank holidays aswell! Some CMs will still class this as a work day as they 'could' have your child if you wanted, so will still charge you even if you don't take them (understandably).

My CM doesn't however so will generally take BHs off as she has a DH and her own kids so likes the chance to spend an extra day with them, as I do with my family. So we don't pay on Bank holidays.

Seems fine to me.
I pay my childminder 100% when we take our DD out ie holiday or sick, but pay 0% when Childminder takes time off for holidays or sick.
My childminder takes 4 weeks holiday a year, always 2 weeks in August and a few days over Christmas, then the other odd day here and there, however she must give us 2 weeks notice.

Best to work out how much holiday the cm will take and work out your annual costs. It can be cheaper to pay someone through their holidays than to pay a higher rate to someone who doesn't charge during the holidays (and charges a higher rate in order to keep some by to ensure they can pay bills during the holidays). If the childminder charges for their own holidays there is usually a maximum time stated in the contract. I have up to 4 weeks at half pay, parents tend to book their holidays at the same time and are happy to do it this way.

I've found that some childminders who say they won't charge for their holidays don't actually book much, if any, time off - waiting for parents to book their time off at full fees and booking their own holidays at times the parents have chosen to book off first. So check how much holiday the childminder plans to take, and when. Some have the same weeks off every year, some can be pretty random and there are big differences in how much notice you get from each childminder.

BTW Just because a childminder is closed doesn't mean they are actually on holiday having fun. Please be aware that your fees should also cover a considerable amount of childminding work outside of the childminding hours you have booked. And I've never had a holiday without at least one parent emailing/phoning or turning up on the doorstep without warning and require a substantial amount of my "personal" time.