Parents extended holiday

[jellyjelly]

My parents are thinking about taking a whole months holiday to visit relatives far away.

I do charge for their holidays but not mine. I think they may try and collar me about this and try to negiotiate which i hate doing, i dont like having to confirm things on the spot which i sind they expect as i get flustered and end up backing down.

Any thoughts, i want to be prepared for the conversation.

[FoxyLoxy1]

Hi,

I hate the money side of it and negotiating too. I've got problems with the parents of my mindee too, which I going post about in a bit.

This will sound harsh, but your parents will still get paid so why shouldn't you? You'd need to word it a bit more nicely than this though.

Hope you get it sorted out.

FL.

[jellyjelly]

I think they said that they wil be taking the paid leave the goverment allows them to take but i dont know if/how it works.

[ThePrisoner]

How much do you charge for parents' holidays? Full? Half? Less?

[katymacracker]

Explain that to keep the place open they will have to pay (half/full/three quarters?) of the amount they owe.....however if they want to give notice, you might be able to fill the place.....but they'd have to find a new minder when they get home

[jellyjelly]

I charge full fee for their and not for my holidays.

[ayla99]

The point is you don't charge for your holidays so if they want to avoid this cost they can book their holiday to co-incide with yours. Its their choice if they take a holiday at a different time or for a longer period.

I would assure them that fees will be reduced/refunded if the place is used by another child in their absence, but otherwise full fees are due as per the contract they have signed.

good luck, I hate talking money with parents.

[ThePrisoner]

Jelly - you charge full fee if parents are on holiday. If they took one week off every three months, you wouldn't feel bad about charging them for each of those weeks. Therefore, if they choose to take four weeks in one lump, you shouldn't feel bad about charging for that either. I asssume that they are aware of what you charge, so it would be a bit unfair of them to renegotiate this.

[jellyjelly]

Thankyou, i wont feel bad then. I think they might say, well you wont be working so why should we pay you so much?. He would understand this but she doesnt seem to understand so much about the money side and having a bit of give and take.

I have a contract with both though.

i dont think i would be able to use the space just for one month so i will have to charge to keep the space.

[HellyBelly]

Agree with everyone else otherwise it will be their savings on childcare that's helping fund their trip which isn't right - you are due the money and that's that!

[jellyjelly]

I will stand firm and not offer a discount.

[HellyBelly]

Let us know how you get on!

By the way, you free at all next week to get together?

[thecattleareALOHing]

Point out that you have a waiting list and if they arent' able to pay you will regretfully have to offer the place to another child.

If their job was a bit slow one week they wouldn't expect their employer to dock their wages, would they?

[jinglinggoblin]

thought you might want a parents pov - i had a lovely childminder who was also very assertive. when i first met her she told me that if i wanted to take holidays then i had to pay full price because she was doing it to make a living, not as a hobby. she charged 1/2 price to keep the place over school hols because she was prepared for those and lots of her kids had that time off. however she was available to have the kids if i was still paying. to me this seemed perfectly reasonable, i have no idea why anyone would think it was ok to not pay. so dont feel bad about asking for money, if you were in a 9 - 5 job and the boss told you there wasnt enough work to do that day he couldnt just send you home without pay, dont see why it should be any different for childminders