Do you pay your CM when they are on holiday?

[Lucy1977]

Hi

I'm looking at a couple of child minders as well as some nurseries. One childminder says on her fee page that when she is on holiday I still need to pay full fees and when DD is on holiday I still need to pay full fees. The one I'm looking at tomorrow says I don't pay fees when she is on holiday but have to pay fees when DD is on holiday (fair enough).

What about your CM? Or the CM on here - what is your policy?

I don't mean to sound tight or anything, I'm trying to weigh up the pros/cons of each of them and the individual CM.

Thanks

Lucy

DS has 4 weeks hols at 1/2 price
CM has 4 weeks hols at 1/2 price
If CM has extra time off or is sick that is not paid
If DS has extra days off (and he always does) or is sick then I pay full

current cm is 4wks off unpaid. she gives me at least 6 weeks notice.

previous cm was 1/2 fees for her hols and 1/2 fees for our hols - this worked better for this cm as she preferred weekly payment.

half fees for my hols no fee for my sickness and full for any abcense or hol of child..everyones different and charge what they feel appropriate

i'm a childminder and charge half fees for my hols (which are printed up in december to december)
childrens time off for hoildays/sickness are full pay (but all my parents book the same weeks as me off)
if i'm off sick no fees are paid

hope this helps

Hi

Thanks for your replies. If DD goes to nursery I would be paying for 51 wks of the year so I am fully prepared to pay the childminder for 51 wks also if I go with a CM. After your replies that CM that doesn't charge fees for her hols is going short IMO as her email said she takes 5 wks a year.

Thanks
Lucy

Yes but I am aware that some childminders charge an hourly rate at an amount that covers their holidays. Therefore they don't need "holiday pay".

I don't charge for my 4 weeks holiday as I am not available to provide a service. I give notice of my holidays in Jan each year.

hth Lucy

I would not pay a CM to be on holiday. She's not available to provide a service, nor is she available to take another child on if you didn't pay iyswim

The term cheeky cow springs to mind.

my dh gets paid for hoildays so do my mindees parents
to give the best possible care time off is needed and if i didnt get paid when i was off (and it is only half fees) i prob could not afford to be off
i dont get sick pay so i think i should get hol pay

You might want to add up all the pros and cons and work out the cost on an annual basis. For example, one childminder might not charge hols but have a higher hourly rate. And another might charge half hold and half for bank holidays. So, assume say 4 weeks hols on both sides (yours and the CM's) and see what the annual cost is.

Another thing you might want to ask is if they can arrange another childminder to step in when they go on hols. My old childminder (now have a nanny) used to do this and it was such a huge wonderful service. Really made my life easier.

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For wht it's worth, this is what I would accept if I used a childminder again:

Full pay for my holiday's
Full pay if my child is sick (or doesn't show up for any other reason)
Full pay for bankholidays
No pay for CM holidays and expect at least a month's notice and a max of 4 weeks per year -- a big plus of she can arrange alternate care but this seems to be rare)

A childminder is self employed and provides a service. You are her client, not her employer. Also, ask her how sick is too sick to bring the child to her. (fever, vomiting, highly contageous are fair game in my opinion -- unless the fever is due to teething). I would expect the childminder to look after a teething baby, but one who is contageous or so sick that he/she requires one-to-one attention.

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at first i thought why should you pay them when they are not looking after your child and you would have to pay someone else to look after your child?

but then i realised i get holiday pay so i suppose it is just the same.

I did 1/2 for mine and 1/2 for theirs for 3 weeks. Anything beyond that for me is nothing, and full for them.

In essence, it's full pay for them for theirs and none for mine but makes it easier for us both I think.

I charge 1/2 pay for my holidays and 1/2 pay for parents holidays. We try and work our holidays together but it works best for both I think. It's how I used to pay my childminder as well which I didn't mind, because if I had to pay her full while I was off I would never have been able to afford to go on holiday!

I don't think it's cheeky that the cm charges, as long as it's reasonable and works out the same as charging the parents full.

MY CM doesn't charge for her holidays but I do have to pay full rate for mine.

Mine charged full fees for public holidays and when her mindees were on holiday. She didn't charge for a) the "staff weekend", when she, mother, her MIL (who both helped run the child minding business) and her sister went away for a long weekend and b) for the 2 weeks she was shut over Chrsitmas.

Becasue there were three of the who did the childmdining, she was able to go on holiday on occasion herself without it affecting her mindees, so I suppose her case is wee bit different and more like a mini nursery.

I pay my childminder for a week of her holiday in August and a week at Christmas. All other holiday that she takes is unpaid. But we do get to choose 2 weeks a year that we don't pay her for, so overall I suppose we don't pay for her holidays.

This seems a much fairer arrangement than nurseries where you have to pay even when you're not there. However, I do have to find alternative cover for when she is on holiday.

I'm a cm and dont charge if im off (and always give at least 4 wks notice) and i charge full fee when child is off. most parents take holidays to coincide with mine for 2 wks in summer and xmas hols etc. I also don't charge for bank holidays when i'm off....the several childminders i know locally roughly all have the same charging policy and rate.

I would not pay holiday pay to a childminder.

Childminders are self employed (as is my dh). Self employed people are not entitled to holilday pay. They charge to provide a service. If they are unable to provide that service they should not be paid for it.

if dh is sick and can not teach, or if he goes away on holiday for 2 weeks he can not charge his students for a leson they are not having.

Employed people getting holiday pay is a totally different thing. Their holiday entitlement is built into their salaries.

Hi

Sorry for late reply. Thanks for all your replies- especially Uwila, excellent advice.

I suppose fees might also be more expensive when the CM is qualified as opposed to just registered? I need to be careful and make sure I know the full package with each CM and nursery as I'm getting a bit confused between them all.

Thanks

Lucy

What do you mean about whether childminders are qualified as opposed to just registered? All childminders have to have done a basic level of training, plus a paediatric first-aid certificate, to be registered in the first place. There are other courses we can choose to do, but are not compulsory (yet!!)

Hi TP - maybe I misunderstood , but during a telephone conversation with Scottish Childcare I asked about whether a childminder needed any training or qualifications and was told No. Then I asked if they needed a first aid certificate and again he said No.

Do you think it varies on area to area? I was surprised that you didn't need training but thought they would only let you register if you could convince them you had ample experience if you weren't qualified?

Lucy