Quick can I have some advice please

[doonhamer]

Contract review coming up. The original contract stated that I would only have the mindees when their dad was working, but it turned out to be Monday to Friday 8-5 regardless of wether the dad was off or not.

The mum now wants me to change the contract to 07.30- 5.30 Monday to Friday - so that's what they pay me and that way they get the full amount of those hours from tax credits, but she assures me that it won't be every day.
So, what I want to know is, can I say that I will do the contract for those hours on the understanding that it won't be every day that i work those hours, and that if it starts to be every day, then I reserve the right to review the contract before the 3 month review?

What I do with shift workers is list maximum hours a day e.g. 7 - 7 but in the additional notes write hours within these times to a maximum of 40 hours so maximum cost is

40 hours x hourly rate

etc etc maybe you could do something similar to cover yourself then it states you are not prepared to work those 50 hours but she can use 30 or 40 for example.

Ok tomorrow is the day we sign new contracts.
DH wants me to somehow word it that I will be contracted to look after the childrenw hen the mum/dad are at work - he feels that she is going to take the piss too.
On Thursday for example, she bought them round at 7.30a nd told me that she'd pick them up when she finished at 5.30. yet I saw her going home at 2.30 and then she turned up at 5.30 in civvvies and said that she'd "just finished" and had ran home to change.
In 7 years of childminding I have had a lot of shift working parents - and these 2 are the only parents I have come across who send their children to minder full time 5 days a week even when one or both parents are off. 2 weeks ago the dad was off for the whole week because of the way his shifts patterns were, but still he got those children up and dressed and at mine for 7.30am!
But these 2 parents don't mind/care because the whole lot if paid for them by tax credits

What I was going to do was jsut charge them for the hours the midnees are here (usually 08.30- 5pm) but I worry because the mum wants the contract signed from 07.30 till 5.30pm so that she ccan get extra money from tax credits. Will tax credits contact me?

Lesbianmummy - I am not sure I understand how you've worded your contracts?

I get £50 towards my £300 childcare from the tax credit people. It is worked out on what the parents earn and reduced accordingly. Have never got 80% even when my childcare was £660 a month

I would just do the contracts for a full time space and charge them accordingly.

What they do during that time and whether it is paid by them or tax credits wouldn't make any difference to me.

If you don't want to work full time, then you need to set them a maximum number of hours per week.

The mum is admaant that they will get more than 100% of their childcar epaid - she says it's because they were getting tax credits last year when teh dad didn't work at all, and therefore it was based on her income (£35,000 approx) alone. She also said that when they are renewed, she will still get 80% of her monthly bill paid because the dad will be working full time - and their combined income will be £46,000 before deducations.

I don't know, I've never claimed them or had parents claim them before so not sure how it works. I just worry that she's doing something illegal by getting me to sign a contract for 10 hour days, which she may not use every day, and also that if she doesn't for some reason get what she thinks she will from tax credits then she might stop paying me.
yes I know i cna get the money through the courts etc but have done that twice in the past and it's no fun
This is just the latest in a long line of issues that I've had to dealw ith

Reality - theya re lying around eating biscuits I just find as a parent, it hard that someone would pay a CM to have their pre school age children for 10 hours a day while the parents were off for a week/10 days etc. I personally wantd to spend time with my children at that age,
The poor wee souls go to bed at 6pm, so they see the parents for max 1 hour a day! I jsut feel sad aobut it, thats my opinon

It's very strange as there is a couple across the road, both a rank lower (military) than the mum, paying out £900 a month childcare for youngest baby and £150 a month for older child and they get nothing from tax credits towards childcare yet their combined earnings are around £36,000 a year - so quite a bit less than mindees mum yet they keep being told they aren't entiteld. A neighbour is the boss of the couple above and he looked into it for them (as they are really struggling)and was again told they don't earn enough to qualify for childcar help.

how? How can a couple earning more than £45,000 get (allegedly) more than their monthly childcare bill paid yet a couple earning less than them can't even get a £10 towards theirs?

it really doesn't make sense to me at all

From april we will lose our tax credits totally as earn a touch over 41K, she cannot be right. And from next yr tax credits will be stopped for those earning 30K, or so I read on direct gov

As a CM myself, I am...

(a) Not concerned in the slightest whether they are working/lazying about/running/having coffee etc. when I am looking after the kids. That is my job and it has nothing to do with me what the parents do when I am looking after their children.

(b) Going by the history of this couple, I would NOT sign for anything more than the hours I am supposed to be working.

So if you only wish to work 8am to 5pm then never sign a contract stating otherwise, as it binds YOU as well as THEM.

They sound dodgy and lazy. I would never wish to deal with people like this myself.

Jenni - I know however it is very upsetting for the children when they see their mum in my next door neighbours garden playing on the trampoline with neighbours Dses.
Or when she comes in at 5pm and says what a great day she's had at soft play area with her friend Y's and y's DDs.
Or when its been snowing for 3 days and mindees and I are housebound as we cannot get buggy down path and she's out having snowball fights and building snowmen with other people's children, who live on the street and mindees can see from the window.

it also angers me whens she sends me a text ssaying "I'm at x's house next door to you could you shut your curtains and keep mindees in the house because if they see me they'll want to come too"

I wouldn't work with this family at all. It isn't your business that they do if they are paying you to look after their child but it clearly bugs you and will only cause bad feeling.

I would never 'normally' care less what parents were up to whilst I'm paid to look after their child BUT I know all about this family, what you've been through and for these parents I WOULD care what they were up to considering it upsets their children as they can see them (and aren't we supposed to look out for these mindees as well as accept payment!!). I also think asking you to shut your curtains is shocking and well, everything about this family makes me wish you didn't carry on with them :( I certainly wouldn't do a contract for full hours unless you are prepared to work ALL OF THEM - you know what they're like!!!

I think because I feel like I am being taken for granted and (as DH says being treated like her personal nanny) (sorry I know I not meant to discuss things with DH but this affects him too)
And also I've not been well for a while, have had the most horrendous cough and breathlessness and wheezing, and I think my fibromyalgia has flared up a bit. Also am so very tired, this coughing and I have apain in my chest too.
The older child has, IMVHO anyway, some form of SN. I ccan't pinpoint what exactly, but it's so very very tiring - 10 hours of non stop running tlaking and yelling wears me down. I am not getting a break at all,a nd I've always worked within the military environment where parents have always done shifts etc,and those parents have never used my services when they have been off, or have picked up early when they finished early (Fridays) and I do, if I'm honest find this whole "oh lets go to a soft pay area with a friend and her child then tell my own chidlren all about it" attiude weird. Sorry but I do.

Well that as a waste of time. No contracts signed bebecause we had to conduct the whole affair with 16 month mindee climbing and screaming and 3 year old standing at table talking and talking and talking and if asked to shssh just started running aorund scremaing and yelling.

So now they won't can get done till the 12th a mum away!

I can't believe you are still going with them.