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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Urgent Question for childminders...

54 replies

lottiesmummy · 09/02/2007 09:40

I am a childminder
My little girl had chicken pox this week, the mother of the baby i look after chose not to bring her as she didnt want her getting it... she's assuming she won't have to pay, it was her desision not to send her... what do you do? do you still charge?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

quietmouse · 09/02/2007 12:09

I can't believe she's actually agreed to pay you!

I do think it's quite selfish to expect her to put her baby at risk and then expect to be paid on top of that tbh.

charmedhay · 09/02/2007 12:48

The problem with you still expecting her to either bring the baby or get paid for it are , when her baby gets it which is probable then you will have to have her or not get paid becoz you came across as it shouldn,t have been a problem for her to bring her baby into contact with your sick child so why can't it work the other way round !! My policy is i get paid if i'm available and don't get paid if i'm not !!! oh the joys of self employment !!!

crace · 09/02/2007 12:55

Actually that is a good point -do you have an illness policy of what is an accepted as an highly infectious disease or what they will be turned away for i.e. vomitting etc?

You may have gotten yourself in a tangle of having to turn them away when the mother will have remember this incident.

I am not sure you should charge really.. only thinking of your future relationship with this parent.

quietmouse · 09/02/2007 13:10

that is very true. Now you are in a situation where you have to take children whether they are ill or not.

If her baby had caught it and she had kept her off, then she would have paid you for that time, but now she will expect to bring the baby and for you to care for a sick baby (as she has probably already been exposed to it) or she will not want to pay you full fee as she's already had to pay you for your own child's sickness.

What does it say in your contract?

star1976 · 09/02/2007 13:12

I wouldn't charge, even though I would be perfectly happy to have the child whilst my child had chickenpox, can totally understand the mum not wanting to send her.

In my opinion I would rather my child get chicken pox when young and not older as makes them more ill when older, but every parent is entitled to do what they think is best.

MrsMuddle · 09/02/2007 13:22

If I was a mindee's mum, I'd resent paying half fees to you. Presumably, she had to get some other care for her baby, and she'd have had to pay for that. Sorry, but I think you're wrong to expect her to pay half.

StrawberrySnowflakes · 09/02/2007 13:31

my contract states what i ask when chidren are ill ie: vomiting diarhea etc..chicken pox states something along the lines of ..should any child come down with chicken pox but not require one to one attention, i will be available to care for that child and all others, if you choose to exclude your child when i am available to work, this time will require payment as normal..its in my contract and signed by all.

StrawberrySnowflakes · 09/02/2007 15:05

just read through posts..you 'need' something in your contracts to avoid problems in future, do you want a list of my t&c regarding illness? inc periods to be kept away and what illness can the children definatly not come with???

Original poster

lottiesmummy · 09/02/2007 16:18

I don't see what you are getting at, my child was contagious before the spots came out, so the chance of her getting it was just as much as afterwards...

I am not money grabbing at all

OP posts:

Original poster

lottiesmummy · 09/02/2007 16:21

the mum said she'd work from home when she decided not to bring the child so no other minding fees

OP posts:

BuffysMum · 09/02/2007 16:29

TBH you are most infectious the few days before the spots appear so her baby may well have caught it anyway!!!!!!!! Glad sorted!

Greensleeves · 09/02/2007 16:35

I do think it is wrong of you to have charged her. Too late now though I suppose.

StrawberrySnowflakes · 09/02/2007 16:52

lottiesmummy, you are not money grabbing at all
every cm i know takes children in when they have c.pox and also states in contract.
its one of those things thats not nice to have esp babaies but they will get it sometime(my mum and friends used to have c.pox parties where wed all sit in same room when one had it so we all got it out of the way!)and you 'have' said you were happy to work..same applies if parent had day off unexpectedly and rang to say they wern't coming in, you are available and fit and well enough to work.
sicknes and diarhea, conjuctivitus etc are different, but c.pox imo is just one of those things

StrawberrySnowflakes · 09/02/2007 16:52

dd had scarletena and tonsilitus before christmas and i had both mindee's here!

Original poster

lottiesmummy · 09/02/2007 17:04

thanks for that StrawberrySnowflakes, I'm only trying to support my family.. I hope your DD is well now

OP posts:

StrawberrySnowflakes · 09/02/2007 19:56

yeah, shes fine thanks.
i could see it from your POV lottiesmummy, as i already have it in my t&c as someone warned me about it prior to me starting up.
Tricky one, but if you have your friends contract to hand, ask her round/you go to her and just start the convo by saying, can i just speak to you about xxx's contract, i feel awful as we are friends, but this is what we agreed on...and take it from there.good luck.

StrawberrySnowflakes · 09/02/2007 19:59

oops scrap last bit about friends, getting mixed up with threads..same thing tho', speak face to face about payments and terms and conditions..did you want mine emailing or did you already have it in?

ThePrisoner · 09/02/2007 20:54

All those of you who are happy to take children with chicken pox, do you all stay in all day? No nursery runs? No school runs etc? Don't you worry about passing it on to others (via children and parents?)

I had a mindee with an immune problem, and her parents were warned that she should avoid catching certain illnesses, and chicken pox was near the top of the list. It worries me that chicken pox is considered not to be a serious problem. I really do have to disagree with Strawberry (sorry!) - I don't agree that chicken pox is just one of "those things". (I won't regale you with the serious complications of chicken pox that my own family has had to deal with ).

I know you've already agreed payment with the mum, and I know what the NCMA have told you (and am surprised too), but I still don't think you should charge the parent. As others have said, you have set a precedent now that you don't have a problem with sick children. It might jump up and bite you on your bottom!

I wasn't going to post on this thread as I don't like to be too controversial (unless it's to do with Ofsted), but I dearly want to change the minds of all those who think chicken pox is some kind of minor complaint.

Original poster

lottiesmummy · 09/02/2007 21:36

what i find more amazing is that for a disease that has been around for 100's of years no 2 health proffessional agrre on it, some say its contagious 10 days before spots, others say 14 day, some say its airborne, others say its not.... its all to vague

OP posts:

quietmouse · 09/02/2007 21:37

yes, I agree. Chicken pox can be very nasty.

Aside from how serious it is, I don't feel anyone has the right to knowingly expose someone elses child to that risk.

No matter what kind of illness it is, it's all about parental choice. If a mother doesn't want her 6 month old exposed to it, then that's her decision, to then try and make her pay for making that choice is wrong imo

bambi06 · 09/02/2007 21:40

under OFSTED rules you wouldnt be able to care for any child while you or your children have any notifiable disease[chickenpox is!] and any contagious disease..however it is up to the individual parent if they wan tthere child to catch it or not but really you shouldnt have any other children..sorry

Original poster

lottiesmummy · 09/02/2007 22:23

Where does it say that about OFSTED? I've looked as I didnt know that

OP posts:

nannynick · 09/02/2007 22:48

Chicken Pox isn't notifiable, see HPA.org.uk

I can not locate any rules, or guidance that states what should happen if the Childminder themselves is ill. There are however rules for if a Child is ill, which I feel would include the childminders own children - National Standard 7.12, see Guidance, plus note the change in October 2005 Guidance, where Ofsted references HPA (see above) as being the source for details regarding if a disease is notifiable or not.

In this particular case, your child had Chicken Pox and should have been isolated from other children for the exclusion period. See HPA - Chicken Pox Exclusion Period

To charge or not to charge however is a tricky one. Come to an agreement with the parent on this occasion, and the come to some conclusion as to what your policy will be, and write into contract for future occasions. Personally, I wouldn't charge for the days that your child would have been excluded from daycare (if you hadn't been caring for her yourself).

TLC123 · 09/02/2007 22:48

chickenpox isn't a notifiable disease in England although I think it may be in Scotland. My dd (10) had chickenpox for the second time last week. I carried on minding all my parents were fine with it. DD stayed out of the way, all mindies had had it anyway although I did warn them it was my dd's second time, so it is possible to get it twice. If any of the parents had decied not to send their child, I wouldn't of charged them, as I had chickenpox in the household, and respect that they may not want to expose their child.

Ineedaholiday · 09/02/2007 22:53

Ive always taken children with chickenpox and so have all the other minders I know.
This week Ive spent most of my time indoors cos my 4 yr old mindee has them, the other parents are quite happy for their children to come so Im now waiting foer the spots to appear on the other two mindees and on my youngest son.
I havent done any nursery runs and the school runs were for my own children so I waited in the car with the mindees while my children came out of school. Half term started today so children dont start back till wednesday.
We all figured that they have already been exposed to the virus as mindee was already infectious so there was no point in keeping them off now. So as long as they are alright and just spotty not actually feeling ill then I dont mind watching them, but Im only charging for the hours they actually attend while they have cpox and not the actual hours they are contracted. eg mindee has only attended for about 12 of the contracted 20 hrs so will only charge for 12 hrs.

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