Parents of childminded children - answer me a question....

[malovitt]

Would you prefer a higher hourly rate (say £1 per hour more) and only have to pay for when your child was actually at the childminders? This would mean no fee payable by you for your holidays, childminder's holidays, bank holidays or child's sickness, or any day when for example granny was visiting and wanted a day with your child, times when you finished work sooner than expected and wanted to pick up a few hours early etc? You only pay for the hours you actually use.

I realise that this would be impractical for most childminders but wanted feedback from parents.

Thank you.

My childminder worked this way it was fab! She had it all worked out on a planer

I liked it as I knew I was only paying for his child minding whilst actually there.

Not sure it's the best business wise though as how would you budget? My work can give lots of early finishes. Depends on you're situation I suppose - but brilliant for the parent.

Oh she didn't charge £1 extra though! She actually charged less than nursery £3.

God I wish I still lived near her!!

Umm no I would not want a higher rate as then when I did work a lot in a month it would be loads and be hard to budget for.

Sorry to give two conflicting posts!

I would rather pay more per hour.
I feel strange about paying for CM's holiday.
I don't mind paying for a place when I am on holiday (but CM available) or my child is off ill, or if I pick up early/drop off late.

I had a CM who basically announced (well in advance) when she would go on hols & we didn't expect to pay for those weeks, which was fine by me.

I would like this way of doing things, as me and partner both work shifts. And yes, I'd be willing to pay a little more because I know overall I'd still be paying less.

Yes that would be great, especially as I work shifts.

I only pay my childminder for term times.

I pay her during her holidays if she takes them in term time and if my child is sick but not if she is unavailable for whatever reason. If I choose to pick up early I still pay her fro the number of ours we agreed for that day. I guess that is a fairly normal arrangement?

However, I pay her £4.50p/h and would happily pay more for the same conditions because a brilliant childminder is gold dust.

'I had a CM who basically announced (well in advance) when she would go on hols'

Not sure I understand this 'basically announced' comment? A CM can take her holidays whenever she wants, unless specially arranged, like only being a term-time CM for eg.

I pay £4.25 ph term time only. Works great for me as a teacher. I don't pay if she's on holiday or cancels for her own illness but I do if my son is sick. I have a time booked but if I pick up early I still pay - I like the flexibility. I like all these arrangements.

Is it normal to pay for the CM's holidays? We have signed the standard contract drawn up by the local council and it says we don't pay for her holidays and we pay half price for our own (2 weeks a year). We pay half for sick days too. She charges £4.50 an hour, which works out about the same per full day as the local nursery, but we only looked at the nursery and her place so I'm not sure whether that is expensive or not as not got much to compare to.

Currently I pay £4.50 an hour but my holidays and the CMs holiday are paid at half rate up to 4 weeks each a year. I pay if my DD is ill but don;t pay for my CM's sick days. It would cost me much more to pay an extra £1 an hour for the times I use her than to just pay the holidays and sick.

I think this is a good idea in principle as parents want someone flexible and to keep costs to a minimum however as a childminder myself I have offered this kind of service to parents who want it but dependant upon how many children you mind it can get really tricky and time consuming working out your ratios and the flexibility can then get tricky as you can't always guarantee the hours they want.

I'm happy to pay CM for my holidays and DD's sick days - not her fault plus she could have taken another child if she wasn't keeping the space open for mine. I have to pay for around 2 weeks of CM's holidays at the moment which I think is a fair balance. Surely a higher rate would prove more profitable for the childminder and more expensive overall for me?

I have a term time only contract and pay whenever childminder is available and don't pay anything when she is not. I'm happy to pay when we don't show up because of hols, or when DS is ill, etc. I wouldn't pay a higher rate for this priviledge.

As for not paying when we choose not to show up, whilst I would appreciate the sentiment, I think that would potentially destroy the financial viability of your business. Parents could keep their child home whenever they fancied reducing their bill, and you would have no control over suddenly losing incoming you may have been depending on. I don't think childminders operate on the kind of margins that would allow sudden drops in income.

I suppose this arrangement may suit shift workers. Or people who just use ad hoc childcare. And they might be willing to pay a premium for this. But, I don't think it will work out for you.

@ DontFreekin...Turkey

I don't recall any more exactly how it worked any more (8-9 yrs ago). I guess what I'm saying is we had only an oral contract (old-fashioned CM?) & no expectation about how many weeks hol CM would take or when they might generally happen. So she couldn't/didn't ask for holiday pay: I think she preferred that flexibility. She was lovely with the kids, I had known her at tot groups for about a yr before she took on DC, was very popular & had no trouble keeping clients. I was happy with no written signed contract, btw, I hate the modern penchant for heaps of paperwork. I know it's driving CMs out of the profession.

I do term-time only with no retainer but I don't work in the holidays full stop.
I charge a higher rate and don't charge if I'm Ill or if my own kids are ill and I can't mind. But payment is up front and no CM will NOT charge if a child is off sick as we depend on having a certain income each month and if people just decided to not come in that day then it would be impractical.

Childminders have a business to run, they are not 'drop and run' creches.

I have seen a 'pay as you go' childminder near me. Excellent idea for parents I think.

My CM only charged when DD was there.
I paid by the half hour and for whatever reason DD wasn't there, I didn't pay, I didn't pay if I picked up early either.
It was great for me.
It was her who did it that way, not something I asked for.

lljkk, the paperwork is there to protect the child/parents and the CM. It is also a legal requirement. You are seriously saying that you would let someone care for your child who had no first aid training, no liability insurance, no business insurance on their car, had no CRB check, had an unsuitable house and took on too many children?
All of that just to save a few pennies? Look at your priorities, what does it say about your values and the safety of your DC(s).

There are still people out there who are 'good with children' but can't be bothered to become registered. Well to be honest, they are kidding themselves and they bring all CMs into disrepute and they should be dropped on like a ton of bricks by Ofsted, but all they can do at the moment is say ' Don't do it again' but if a registered CM so much as sneezes over a child, they are dragged through the coals and have their business destroyed, sometimes just because a parent did not fancy paying their fees.

Makes me sick ......(rant over!)

My childminder only charges for when DS is actually there. The one time she charged me when he was not there was one time when I overslept and so didn't let her know we weren't coming (which I felt was fair.)

She charges £4 per hour which includes all nappies, food, drinks and outings.

It's fab - I realise it wouldn't work for all childminders though. She is quite laid back and likes to stay under her numbers if possible so she can offer this very flexible service. I am guessing that they must rely on her husband's wage because she has said to me in the past that it's fine if I need to keep DS home one week to save money etc. (I'm at uni so short terms, and sometimes DP is around if he's not working)

I'd be happy to pay more for this flexibility, as long as it was still affordable. In fact it works out much cheaper than a nursery because you are restricted to half days or full days with a nursery.

Although I have to say - I'm looking for work at the moment and did some calculations based on potential pay. Minimum wage is just over £6 per hour, add in travelling time of an hour each way, once you've factored in traffic, getting there before starting and potential delays on drop off:

A 4 hour shift would pay £24.32
Requiring 6 hours childcare £24
@ £5ph £30

5 hour shift pays £30.40
Childcare costs £28
@ £5ph £35

8 hour day £48.64 (And tax & NI once you do more than 3 days a week)
Childcare cost £40
@ £5ph £50

Of course tax credits will help with childcare costs if you are on a low income, but it's something to consider. If someone wants to get back into work but their partner earns too much for the tax credit childcare help, the cost may put them off.

She was registered, Ripeberry, she had all that stuff (registered, suitable person vetting, liability, first aid), she just didn't hand me gazillion policies about every decision she might ever need to make. I had that experience with a later CM & I felt very sorry for her; it did not make me feel in the least bit safer about leaving my child with her; it made me feel like she had a ridiculous number of minor distractions, concerns & priorities imposed on her by Ofsted & insurers.

I have known registered CMs who presumably had all the right paperwork & I wouldn't leave in charge of my dog; I knew an illegal/unregistered CM I would trust with DC lives. Yes I do think gut instincts & innate character matter more than paperwork & liability insurance.

Well it's your decision in the end. But remember if anything happened you and the unregistered CM could be arrested for child neglect. Laws and paperwork are there to protect all parties and especially the child..always.

'Well it's your decision in the end. But remember if anything happened you and the unregistered CM could be arrested for child neglect. Laws and paperwork are there to protect all parties and especially the child..always.'

Agreed. And to be frank, if someone runs a business illegally that speaks MUCH of their character and honesty to me... and I could never trust that person with my child.

But remember if anything happened you and the unregistered CM could be arrested for child neglect.

Totally incorrect scaremongering rubbish.

I am not saying that unregistered childminding is a good thing, but the only penalty that can be imposed is an injuction on the childminder to stop. There are no penalties that can be imposed on the parent.

My CM did not charge if she was not available, didn't work bank holidays (unless by prior arrangement at a premium rate), so no holiday pay, no sick pay.

I preferred it like that, contractually it was easier and as she had all part time children she would offer alternate days etc when she wanted a long weekend away etc.