Childminders - what is reasonable please?

[winkywinkola]

My 2.5 year old ds3 was throwing up on Sunday night. I texted my childminder that evening to let her know he wouldn't be coming to her on Monday. She said she would still charge me for that day.

I texted her on Monday afternoon to let her know he wouldn't be coming in on Tuesday either as he was still peaky and not eating.

She said she would still charge me for Tuesday.

What is reasonable notice to give a CM so that they don't charge, please? I mean, I know illness happens out of the blue often but I would like to know what is reasonable.

I think that if your child is sick you still pay but if the cm is sick you dont pay, but do check the contract and talk to her directly to see if she is willing not to charge.

You need to check what your contract says but every childminder I know, including myself will charge when a child is off sick no matter how much notice you give.

We always had to pay - it was in our contract. We didn't pay if the cm was ill or unavailable.

Also if your child was throwing up on Sunday night, if your childminder is following guidelines, she wouldn't accept your child back on Tuesday anyway. Usual exclusion period is 48 hours after they were last sick.

Of course you would expect to pay. You pay to reserve a place, probably a regular day or days each week. She can't give your son's place to somebody else. Nor is she allowed to take sick/infectious children.

Yes I would expect to pay if my child was sick or I took him away on holiday.

You'd just have to pay, they can't just agin a child to fill the space for that day and earn the money. They need to earn a living!

I would exclude for 48 hours following sickness and expect to be paid for it as per my contract.
If I'm ill or can't open due to my own child's illness then I refund the session.

Every CM we've used charges when your child is ill. We only didn't pay if the CM wasn't available - if she was, and we weren't using the place for some reason, we still paid.

You usually have to pay still. That slot can't be filled by another child, same as in nursery or with a nanny. You would still pay a nanny for example if child's sick. If a little sick nanny will still come in and look after, but if more ill and you stay home you still pay them as they were booked for day mon-fri

You would get paid by work if off sick in most places

Artacando - I agree OP should pay, but many people do not get paid if they are off sick. The majority of people are employed in very small companies, usually without sick pay.

I charge regardless of notice given since I do not run a 'pay as you go' service. You pay for the spot which is held and available to you during all weeks bar those I take annual leave for. These weeks are given in January and no exceptions.

Don't you have a contract? It would spell out her policy in there.

However, there isn't usually a reasonable amount of notice for not paying your contracted hours, as the CM shouldn't be out of pocket whenever you decide not to bring your child for whatever reason.

If you were able to choose when to pay or not she'd end up missing out on money you are contractually obliged to pay her. Child feeling a bit peaky, don't pay. Got a day off today and fancy a lie-in, don't pay. Want a day at Alton Towers, don't pay. All of those are times she is relying on your fees to pay her bills, so you can't just decide which days you will use/pay for once you are contracted.

However if she is ill and unable to look after your child then you don't usually pay. Sending in a sick child is more likely to infect the CM (and her other children, mindees as well as her own) so as well as being good manners and standard practice to exclude a sick child, you are protecting the health of the person you rely on to look after your DS by keeping him away.

Thanks all.

We can't speculate because we don't have your contract. Mine clearly states full fees when off sick.

But morage almost all CMs don't get sick pay either as when they are ill they don't charge parents.

I felt dreadfully sorry for our CMs (husband and wife team) whose own children fell proper sick one after the other resulting in 10 lost days. Huge amount of money to lose.