Parent asking me to reduce notice required to leave ie reduce her bill, what would you do?

[Pesha]

Have been minding a child since January and we always knew he would be leaving once he starts full time school as its a school I can't cover. The mum gave me his hours in July, he was going to be half days from start of term for 5 weeks so I would be collecting him lunchtime 4 days a week (I can do midday but can't do end of school as my children finish at the same time, plus its too far to walk and too many children to fit in my car).
Yesterday the school sent home a letter saying actually they will now be full time from Monday so she will no longer need me to have him (she has family who can have him after school).
Payment for the 5 weeks was due Monday (she'd requested I add the oct week onto this month's bill) but she hasn't paid yet, she had told me, before she'd seen the letter, that she will pay me Monday. But she has now rung me and asked if I can reduce the bill as she resents paying me for 4 weeks that she's not using at all and can't even use me for a couple of hours after school because I can't get him then.
It says quite clearly in my contract that I require 4 weeks notice and I have budgeted on having that money. But then again I actually feel quite bad about taking 4 weeks pay for doing nothing and its not her fault that she's not given more notice.
Really, I want all the money! I will be earning more money than normal this month anyway (doing lots of evenings and weekends) so I could cover my bills if I reduced it but I also have debts, 4 dc of my own and Christmas and birthdays on the way plus a whole heap of work stuff in my amazon basket just waiting for me to pay for it!!
But I'd feel like a bitch if I charged her full price, she's always been very nice and we do have a good working relationship.
So, I'm thinking maybe offer to drop the October week so she just pays me 3 weeks notice, this would save her/cost me £76. What do you all think, what would you do?!

A contract cannot be breached as you are entitled to the notice agreed on it OR full fee in lieu..it does not matter which type it is...NCMA, your own or otherwise... as long as both partied have signed it it is legally binding !!!

If the parent does not pay you you will need to deduct from the refundable deposit you hold....hopefully you have a deposit ?
A contract is worth nothing if parents can change it at will and we are worried
about losing money....
Hope this helps

See I know legally I am entitled to the money and I'm pretty sure if I said I want the whole lot she would pay me (I have a £50 deposit which I've already deducted from the final bill).
It's morally I'm questioning it, I'm trying to be nice but am I being too nice?!
I already reduced her bill by nearly £50 over the summer holidays as there were some contracted days she didn't send him so I charged her standard term time rate rather than school holidays rate because I was trying to be nice and appreciated her keeping him home as it gave me a bit of a break (my ds2 tends to squabble with the boy if they spend too much time together!)!

Can you go halves, she saves and you still lose, but she's way more likely to tell everyone what a nice CM you are

Sounds like you have already been more than generous.
She has signed up to a contract, so she knows that she should pay you the full amount.

It depends very much on how your working relationship has been with her and whether or not she can genuinely afford to pay you as opposed to begrudging you the money you are owed. Saying she resents paying you what was agreed during a perfectly reasonable business arrangement is very unfair: her resentment should be directed at the school, not you.

I have, in the past:

Waived notice period altogether when it is clear there are unforeseen financial difficulties.
Agreed to waive only if I am able to fill the place
Agreed half fee in unforeseen circumstances for parents who had never had a problem and had to move away unexpectedly.
Refused flatly to waive any part for parents who tried to invent a complaint and threatened me with OFSTED.
Pursued full payment from a family who messed me about for the duration of the contract, then tried to withdraw child with no notice.

I hope any one of these scenarios will be helpful in making your decision.

You sound lovely, OP. :)

Whatever you do, I think it's reasonable tbh. The parent has clearly been messed around by the school and it must be very frustrating for her, so if you can afford to waive a week's fees, that's a very kind gesture and hopefully a positive note to end on. On the other hand, she will not have to pay any more than what she had originally budgeted for, so it isn't actually costing her as such, and if you can't afford to take the hit, it's probably fair enough to enforce the terms of your contract.

Sorry, not very helpful really.

I think I would do as you suggest. If you offer to waive fees for the October week, I think that is more than fair. She should have budgeted for paying you all you are due, and it's not your fault the school has in effect decided to look after him for free for some of your hours. I would explain that you will probably be out of pocket for some time because most people will have sorted their childcare for the term before now, so it's not a case of giving you something for nothing, it's more a case of giving you some compensation for being ready to provide the service she thought she needed at the time when it was quite likely not in your own family's best interests. I would incidentally be quite cross is someone suggested they "resented" paying me what I was due.

...or you could say that if she knows someone else who would like to take up the place instead, you would refund her fees from when they start.

Don't let her pressure you! It's in your contract, you are entitled to it and you are NOT being a bitch by requiring her to fulfil her end. Stick to your righteous guns.

If you offer flexibility on a breach of contract then you will not be seen as professional...explain you are legally bound as she is

Deposit should not be refunded to parents until ALL FEES for the notice period have been settled...then you refund separately, (I usually do by cheque so accountable through books)....
these are not my words but those of my solicitor when he checked through my contract and backed by my accountant !!!
A deposit should be for 4 weeks so parents will be more compliant as they need that money back and give appropriate notice...

if your contract does not cover this clause add it as Terms and Conditions
Sorry but we must stand up and be respected and not messed about every time parents choose to change their arrangements

You are entitled to the money, but you can offer a discount if you want to. Don't be bullied into accepting a reduced payment if you don't want to.

You knew he would be leaving but you had budgeted for the leaving date which you were notified about. School has changed the date, so no fault of your's or the child's parents. Would school reimburse for costs - I highly doubt it, but maybe local press would like to know about how the local school makes it hard for parents to find affordable childcare (Government seems to like this affordable childcare concept at the moment - even when it doesn't exist) due to them changing when that childcare is needed. It could be argued that you will now have to pass on any losses to other parents of children you currently mind, or mind in future. As a business you make profits and incur loss - but should Schools be changing plans at late notice causing that loss? Is that what DfE feel is appropriate action by the School?

The whole staggered entry to primary school is a huge problem for many parents and I would say it increases the cost of childcare or makes it impossible for parents to go back to work. Schools should ditch the staggered entry system... bet the childcare commission isn't looking at that!

If you are happy to accept a bit less, then I feel you can offer her a settlement figure to end the contract. If she refused to pay and it went through small claims court procedure, you would need to be making a settlement offer anyway I feel. So you can do that now... though do document it so that if she does not pay the settlement figure, you can show that you did make the offer.

I'd feel like a bitch if I charged her full price, she's always been very nice and we do have a good working relationship.

Situations can change and in the future you may be in a position to collect this child from school, not this school perhaps but a different one. The mum may well talk about you to other mums, advertising via word of mouth can be great. It's just hard to put a price on that... they are things that may or may not ever happen.

As you are considering dropping it to 3 weeks, I would make that offer, subject to the payment immediately. Plus ask if they will be a reference future users of your service can talk to.

I would also offer to stop charging her if/when you fill the space do if she knows anyone please let you know.

Agreeing with other posters.....

I would do as you have suggested but say that, if you can fill the spot you will refund her some more (not all) of the money. Ask her to help you fill the space if possible.

Remember that you are running a buisness.

Good luck, let us know what happens, please

You may be interested to know that if she does breach the contract by giving you insufficient notice then in law you are required to try and fill the place (the legal term is "mitigation") and can only recover damages for any part of the notice period you are unable to fill.

If you are charging in advance there is no reason you should hold a deposit IMHO.

But anyone who believes that the words of a contract are more important than reputation and relationships is IMHO a bad business person. I would offer a compromise - I like Tanith's scale of measured generosity.

Thanks so much for all your replies. I was all set to charge for just the 3 weeks but I have another parent having trouble paying (she has recently returned to me after a 2 month absence- lost her job but now has a new one), I told her I would wait for payment until tax credits paid her because I know she couldn't afford it otherwise and was always a very prompt payer in the past. But tax credits are taking a lot longer than she expected. When I agreed to wait it was because I knew I would be getting the months payment from the other child's parents, I'd hoped that if tax credits were paying her when they'd initially said I could drop that week for them but as they're not I just can't.
So anyway, I texted the boy's parents (was working weekend so much easier to text than ring) and said unfortunately I couldn't reduce payment, they said they were only prepared to pay £250 (amount due is £350), I said you have to and they said ok but £250 this week and £100 next week which I agreed to (have summarised significantly!). She finished it off by saying 'bloody money is an evil thing!!' and although it got a little tense at one point it's all sorted now. She brought the first lot of money round last night and apologised and basically said it was her dh being an arse! So I'm feeling very relieved, I really didn't want to fall out with her but just cannot afford to effectively give away £100.
Wrt deposit, I ask for payment in advance so the deposit is more to cover a little unpaid fees but also because I have previously had a child who was forever wetting himself, rarely had a change of clothes and so I often ended up putting him in my own ds's clothes and a lot of them were never returned so the £50 is more to cover for that or any toys or things they might sneak home and not return!
A lot of the people I mind for are receiving help from tax credits and work in fairly low paid jobs, they have struggled to get me the upfront fees and £50, I don't think there's any way most of them could or would pay a 4 week deposit! As much as I'd like to ask for one I think I'd be shooting myself in the foot and they'd just go elsewhere.
Thanks again for replies, I find it so hard because I chat to the parents (quite a lot sometimes!) nearly every day and we become friendly which is good in some respects but it makes the business side of it a bit tricky I find.

Sorry that's a bit garbled, trying to be quick cos mindee is having a little nap but it won't last long!

Glad it was resolved.