If mindees make me ill should I charge?

[SueBrom]

I was thinking of adding a clause in my Pol& Proc that if a child makes me or my DD's ill and unable to work, they should pay for loss of earnings from all other mindees. Do you think that is cheeky or will it stop them sending the nibblers when they know they have the lurgy?

[ladyoflincoln]

just a thought, but how would you know/prove that a mindee had 'made you ill'??

[piglit]

V V Cheeky imho.

[hertsnessex]

think you would get alot of people not brigning their children to u. i wouldnt.

[fireflyfairy2]

Very bold if you ask me!!

I'd ask you to prove how my child had made you ill!!!!!!

[Plibble]

I think it would be virtually impossible to enforce. How would you know which child to blame if you pick up a bad cold or something? Unless you (and your children) never leave the house and only have contact with your mindees, then you could have caught the lurgy from anywhere.

[piglit]

A lot of illnesses are contagious before the dc have any symptoms. And you'd also potentially have all out war between the parents of your mindees - "your Bertie gave CM the lurgy so she couldn't look after my Cedric. I had to take a day off/pay another CM and it's all your fault. etc etc"

And surely catching all the lurgies is part and parcel of working with dc?

I'm afraid I think it's unworkable and daft. Sorry.

[Saturn74]

Hard to prove if any of them made you ill.
And such a policy doesn't look very welcoming to prospective clients.

[Soapbox]

Would you mind if your mindees parents didn;t pay you when they caught something from you or your DD (or the other mindees) - that would only be fair if you were charging them when they spread germs.

Impossible to prove in any case and would make you sound like a fruitloop when touting for new business. I'd run a mile tbh

[mrsflowerpot]

Would you pay for the parent to be off work if a mindee was sick with something they caught of you or your dd? Think it makes you look unreasonable from the start tbh.

I think it would be fine to say that you will not accept children who arrive ill though.

[oops]

Message withdrawn

[Hulababy]

I think it is unenforceable.

I also think picking up bugs and viruses from children you mind is just one of those things - hazard of the trade.

[smeeinit]

i sympathise with you sue,i really do.
it is sooo frustrating when mindees are sent in with bugs that you know they should be at home with and all they can do is lay on the sofa spreading the germs to you and other mindees but when you are ill you cant work while laying on the sofa!
but unfortunatly i dont think a clause that you are suggesting would work. shame tho ay?!!

[DaveMcDaveODaveOfDavilleIdavo]

Catching lurgies from children is a hazard of the job.

I once knew a childcarer who seriously thought she deserved a dry cleaning allowance because of all the snot, Marmite, Ribena and fromage frais her wool jumpers suffered.

Lunatic.

[smeeinit]

pmsl @ dave!

[WigWamBam]

If you're not prepared to put up with the illnesses that children get, you ought to be reconsidering your choice of career.

[dejags]

Occupational hazard.

If it is such an issue, I'd rather put my fees up by 25p per hour to cover sick days.

This calculates at 20 quid a week extra per mindee, which should be more than enough to cover your sick days, as and when they occur.

PS: what would happen if you passed on an illness to a mindee and the parents asked you to pay for their day off? Could be quite costly

[MrsGoranVisnjic]

you sound mad

[Eleusis]

Are you going to in return pay out to parents when there child is made ill by attending your childminding business. Keep in mind that the parents hourly charge out rate might be more than yours. And that if yo uinfect three children from three different families, then are going to owe quite a lot.

I can't believe you are seriously considering this. It is really a disturbing level of greed. Children get sick and it is just a fact of life. If you work with children or have children then I tink you have accept that it is par for the course.

My DD is now home with Chicken Pox. Should I sue the nanny for exposing her to it?

[TeetheCeeofDavedom]

Oh! If my mindee had that in her clause I wouldn't use her. Kids get ill, they pass on the odd sniffle, it's life. I don't charge my DD's school for loss of earning if my DD picks something up whuie she's there and passes it onto me and I take time off. What an odd thought!

[ksmum]

I met a CM when looking who said this and it put me off right away, and I also thought how could she prove it.

[itsmeNDaveP]

I'm with dejags here, occupational hazard.

If my childminder had this clause I would have looked elsewhere for alternative childcare

[kslatts]

Surely when you became a cm you realised that you may from time to time catch something from the mindees.

What if you gave something to one of the mindees, would you pay parents loss of earnings so they could stay at home with their child.

[MerlinsBeard]

this is the most absurd thing i have heard in a long time! No you shouldn't charge - hazard of the job i'm afraid. Wher would it end? teachers charging? playgroup leaders charging? bus drivers start to charge even more because some snotty child got on the bus and possibly gave them a cold?

[KaySamuels]

I understand your frustration here, but I think the best thing you can do is to never ever accept a child with an infectious illness, always enforce your sick child policy.
If a child turns up ill say "I'm sorry xx is clearly ill and I could get in trouble with ofsted if minded for you today", or if a child becomes ill while at yours then get parents straight away and ask them to come pick up as soon as possible. I have a family who can't be contacted at work so I insisted on two alternative contactswho I could phone if needed.
Unfortunately I think we have usually caught it by then anyway as you are often infectious before showing signs of illness so just a hazard of working with kids really!