Advice on mindee cutting hours

[chel86]

Just a quick one to find out what you childminders would do.

I mind 3 siblings and am due to have all 3 of them full time throughout the school hols. But the mother has told me that, as tax credits only reimburse her the fees she pays me in arrears, and I require payment in advance, she can't afford full time care throughout the hols. Instead she wants to reduce the days to 4 days a week, and on those 4 days reduce the hours to just afternoons. Working this out it would mean I would only mind for a total of 2.5 full days. I can't afford to take this pay cut and the hours are such that I wouldn't be able to fill the spare hours with another mindee.

I have reduced my fees throughout the school holidays as they are siblings and told her that I sympathise and I am happy for her to pay what she can in advance and then the balance when she gets paid by tax credits in arrears, but that I can't agree to reduce to the hours she wants as I can't fill the place. Am I being unreasonable? I have pulled out all the stops to try and make this easy for her.

YANBU but you need to be prepared for her potentially to take her child elsewhere and for you to find a new mindee

YANBU
She may be better with you doing two full days and finding relatives etc or using her holidays to do the other two days.
You are running a business, not a charity don't forget!

I know I run the risk of her taking the kids elsewhere, however she would need to find a childminder with space for all 3 of them, which would be difficult in this area, or the alternative would be nursery, but the reason she took them out of nursery and came to me was because their fees were too expensive for her.

All I can do is wait and see what she says I suppose.

stick to your guns

I had 3 booked for last year and they did a runner on me only 2 weeks before the holidays - I picked up bits of work

Remember if they don't come to inform the Tax Credits people

Set a minimum number of hours to qualify for sibling discount?

Set a minimum daily or weekly charge?

NB Does she realise that if she reduces the payments she makes to you then her entitlement to this benefit will also be reduced! She can only ever claim up to 80% of your bills anyway.

I had a parent who seemed to think the payments she got should cover all her childcare bills and kept reducing her hours with me when they didn't. Obviously, I had to give accurate info to the tax office when they asked me about her and her credits got reduced. And so she reduced her hours again. And again... Eventually she decided her 10 year old was mature enough to be home alone.

That's a good idea ayla99. I'm still waiting for her to get back to me since I've told her I can't reduce the hours to what she wants, but reduced my fees instead. tbh the rates I've reduced to are extremely fair considering I'll be having all 3 of her kids for nearly 10 hours each day throughout the holidays and all their meals B, L & D) and small outings are included in the price!