Charges for full hour/part of hour - WWYD?

[PenelopeGarciasCrazyHair]

I'm fairly new to the CM game and have a new child starting after school on top of the regulars I have been minding for the past few months.

New child's parent has asked me to invoice for part of an hour, e.g. 3.5 hours rather than 4. Originally I thought this was reasonable, but I have since had a think about it and it seems unfair on other parents who have always paid me for a full hour even when only using part of it.

My T&Cs state that parents pay £4.25 for an hour or part thereof, but I'm wondering if I'm being unfair insisting on this when the parents will only use half of it? I based my fees and terms on those of my first customer (and friend)'s previous minder so I don't really know what the standard is for this situation.

FWIW my regular parents pay for 5 days even though they only use 4, so that I am available if they ever do need me. They also collect early one day a week, but still insist on paying for the full session, so I feel like maybe I am being spoiled by their generosity because they are friends! Now I feel bad that I'm being grasping by expecting payment for a full hour.

TBH, an earlier finish would be easier for me, especially on the days when my DCs are at their dad's as I usually go out. Charging the full hour may result in the parents collecting their DC at the end of the 3rd hour rather than go for 3.5, so I would miss out on the whole hour of extra pay (& half an hour's work), but would have my evening to myself.

What is the usual etiquette for this situation? I don't want to fall out with the parents before we've even started!

You've already set your pay scale and everyone else is happy with it. I'd be wary of people who try to pennypinch you, given your rates are reasonable. just tell them that half hours are charged in full. If they want to quibble they could find another childminder.

I agree you don't want to upset them before you begin, however, you also don't want to start doing something you aren't happy with- would you accept this from a parent who had been in your care for two yrs? If not, then you need to say to this parent now, this is how I charge and this is what I do for everyone. Having said that you do sound very spoilt with generous parents at the moment, I think it is very unusual for parents to happily pay for hours/days they don't use.

Providing they are fulfilling their side of the contract, I don't think you can expect all parents to be that generous.
Why should you charge for hours that you don't really want to work?

Maybe you need to have a think, do you want them to do 3.5hrs or 4, what's in the contract? Start as you mean to go on.

It depends whether it would be a deal breaker or not?

I would rather have children paying for 3.5 hours than having nothing because they go elsewhere to avoid paying the extra half hour.

I would just explain that those are your Ts&Cs and they are set for all parents. Tbh id worry that trying to get you to amend tthe Ts&Cs just for them already is an indicator.of things to come.

Thanks all, a mixed bag then! Tbh I don't think they'll go elsewhere, they'll probably just stick to 3 hours and collect the DC on the way to get their younger one from nursery rather than on the way back, which suits me better anyway.

Wrt to the other parents paying me for a day they don't use, this was their suggestion, a kind of retainer in case they do need me. I've probably only been needed twice in a year, but they know I'm always there if they do need me, much like CMs being paid a holiday retainer or being paid for the hours a LO is at pre-school (another contentious issue I know!) because they can't fill such a restricted slot.

The retainer for being available another day is fine.

I charge a whole day, regardless of hours, so it's up to you if you want to be available up until the end of the last hour or not. If they are paying for it, they may well use it.

Decide what you want your terms to be and stick with them.

I charge everyone a session fee for after school, regardless of whether they say an hour or three. In practice, it means everyone tends to stay for three, except possibly when they have a special occasion or appointment, but that is fine by me. I hate parents turning up half way through a game or during a meal! If I wanted to finish earlier, I'd probably still have sessions, but have shorter ones.

I'm a cm, but if I were a parent looking for care, I wouldn't be happy to pay for half an hour care I knew I would never need. I also wouldn't have this as my standard practice. But you have chosen to, so they need to either accept it or find someone else.

Our childminder charged per day 8-6 and because we needed 7.30-4.30 she charged us SAME for 7.30-5 as obv before 8am was an enhanced rate. I always collected 4-4.30 and didn't expect a reduction n when my work hours changed we renegotiated basically husband collected at 5 05pm for past 3mths n dropped off at 7.45 but we have never been late n never taken the mikey he was there 2.5yrs n had last day yesterday. It's a 2 way relationship n needs some give n take to make it work

This is why myself and most other CM's I know also charge per day because it can become quite difficult in situations such as these.
The problem is if you give in to their demands now - it could be only the beginning of many more issues like this to come. I'm speaking from experience!
So you either tell them there is no change as it states in your T&C's that you charge hourly or you tell them that it is not usually your practice but on this occasion only you will change their contract to 3.5hrs. You get to finish half hour early and if they collect late - they will be charged late fee. But then what happens if they ask for extra hours or babysitting for example and they arrive 15mins into an hour..........will they be asking to only pay for the 15mins instead of the half hour?
At a nursery they would have to pay for a full day or half day fees - maybe that's something you should consider doing.
Be careful with your decision and just make sure you stand firm!

Good luck

I used to charge for full hours but then I had a parent needing an extra 10 minutes and it seemed mean to charge for a full hour so I changed to half hourly. My rates are £5/hour and £3/half an hour. So for 3.5 hours I would charge £18. You could always offer a sort of half way compromise, 3.5 hours at £4.25/hour works out as £14.875 and 4 hours works out as £17 so maybe explain that you usually charge hourly but on this occasion you are willing to let them have it for £15.50 or £16 or something like that.

That's a good idea thanks Busy. Forrest, that was my concern, that if they are already calling the shots before we've even started, am I going to end up having to bend my T&Cs in other ways.

I'm already providing dinner free as it's a later finish than all the other DCs, but as I haven't done a food hygiene course etc, I didn't want to make it all official, so I just said I'd do it like an after school snack, all included, but would give them a proper meal. (The parent is a friend from school, not a close friend, but someone I have sat at the park and chatted to in the past and is good friends with other friends of mine, so they are happy not to be all official.)

TBH I was uncomfortable invoicing for anything which involves half pennies - it just devalues what I'm doing in my mind. I have another P/T job which pays about £20 an hour, so suddenly quibbling over £2 & some pennies just seemed a bit trivial, but I suppose when it adds up with 2 DCs over several weeks then it's a decent chunk to me and to them. I need to look at it in the wider context of what I'm earning for looking after 4/5 DCs, not per child.

We have settled on them paying the full hour, but in their mind they are paying me for half an hour childcare and the rest is for dinner. If they run late (which they are confident that they won't do) they will pay late fees. Everyone is happy with this agreement, but for future contracts I may have to make it clearer before we start.