Should childminders cease to be self-employed and become employees like nannies are?

[islandofsodor]

I wondered what people's thoughts on this is. Would childminders prefer to be employed directly by parents, thus receiving the benefits of sick, holiday and maternity pay?

Should childminders be able to choose which way they work?

I don't see how this could work - if you knew the MAJOR different between sets of parents I have, you'd totally understand how it would be IMPOSSIBLE to do things the way each of them wants - therefore a service is offered and if they like it, they come to me but things are done my way.

As for the pay side of things....it's been done, done and done again and I can't be bothered to enter that side of the conversation. As I said on the other thread, I don't charge but I personally think people are totally justified in doing so if they have a lower hourly rate! I did once get paid half my holidays because a PARENT INSISTED that I get paid, that I deserved it blabla and after me saying no, no, no....others don't pay, we eventually agreed to half. And guess what.........she didn't work!

One more thing......if a childminder starts up in an area where the norm is to charge x (approx) an hour but to charge hols, they'll find it very hard to get business if they have a higher hourly rate but NOT charge for hols etc - at the end of the day, a lot of parents start off calling those with the hourly prices they are happy with that are being listed on Childcarelink etc. They don't know about the ins and outs til they meet them.

Off for that cuppa now

its so nice to be appreciated in this business isnt it!...unsociable hours, well below minimum wage, deal with all the sickness/problems, crappy weather from umpteen school runs/afterschool clubs/early picks ups last minute care, late/non payments, no notice of hours/days, no respect frmo parents, have to solve all the problems some of them cant be botherd addressing etc etc etc...

What is it a full moon today cos the wolves are most certainly out!

oh and not to mention the paperwork and nit picking from ofsted ..easy job this, think i might start doing it for free cos all i do all day is sit with my feet up watching trisha and let the chlidren eat sausage rolls

Snowflake you have lost me. The thread is about how childminders prefer to work and provide their services, not about sick children and parents.

I do sympathise over late or non existnet payments, OFSTED, rules and regulations etc, I deal with those sorts of things myself, but that wasn't my question.

Don't quite understand why you're asking this island. Surely if someone wanted to be a nanny, they'd be a nany, ad if they want to be a cm, that's what they do! Are you a cm, or do you use one? While being an employee might work in my case (I only work with (did you notice that with) one family, so technically they could employ me I suppose) once I started minding children for different families it would be a nightmare. Tas and NI become sooo much more complicated when you have two employers, and more than that would just get silly!
That's why the Revenue like people to be self-employed.
Not to mention I like the control it gives me.

you'd also be shifting the balance of power from the childminder to the parent, which in the long term wouldn't be very helpful i imagine.

I believe Sodor started this thread because there is another thread wher some of the childminders are expressing a desire to be treated more like employees.

I personally think the whole difference between nannies and childminers is the difference between employee and business owner.

In return for paying my nannies tax, NI, giving her holiday, etc. I expect to have more control over her day. I expect to choose DD's after school activities. I expect to have some say in when she takes holiday. I expect her to work the hours I require (and are agreed in the contract), and so on. These are things I could not reasonable expect from a childminder, so why as a parent would I want to take on being her employer?

my point was made as im fed up of hearing people telling cm's how they should run THIER business, with no thought as to how much hard work we put in, we're seen like money grabbing fat arsed lazy gits whenin actual fact (Apart from the fat arse) it couldnt be more further from the truth with me and it annoys me that there are so many threads saying as much

Snoflake, with all due respect, I think you are taking all of this very personally. Where really it is merely a business discussion about customer preferences and business owner decisions.

No one has accussed you of half the things you mention. No one has suggested you earn less. It's just how the pay is structured. And I personally think you could be a bit more customer focussed. I certainly hope you don't say to their faces the things say about them on here. Not really sure who "people" are: I'm guessing they are your clients.

Eleusis, yes i prob am, but this is the umpteenth thread questioning our ways and motives and im getting a bit sick, plus im having a bad day as a cm today which makes me hyper sensitive

You could move to Twickenham and charge everyone £6 per child per hour. Surely then you wouldn't need to be paid for hols!

Anyway, I didn't mean to upset. The OP wanted to know what parents felt so I shared my view. I think it's valuable for a business to consider how customers will really feel about their policies -- even those who don't say so.

At the end of the day, what matters is your annual income. And if parents in your area are happier to pay a bit more perhour and not feel like they are being taken for a ride on your holiday then you will probably have happier customers (and make more money) if you stucture your fees that way.

In no way does any of this translate to me (or anyone else) thinking you are not worthy. Please don't take it personally. These child care cost debates are always more about parents budgets than they are about how much parents value the childminders. Payng for childcare is very difficult for most people -- even with most lovable childminder in the world.

Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

My view is that childminders will not prefer to be employed directly by parents. A major benefit of being a childminder, is that you dictate your own terms, and your customers either put up with those terms, or go elsewhere. It also gives flexibility, as a childminder can choose when they work.

oh my god why oh why oh why would you start this thread ?

Surely tho' if we would like to be employed by our mindees parents wouldn't we be nannies instead???

Interesting idea but if I decided I wanted to be an employee, I'd have 8 different employers at the moment. Actually 16 as I've got no single parents at the moment. Can't see that working.

Part of the attraction of childminding is not being an employee.I'm now the proud owner of a successful childminding business and I don't have the slightest desire to become an employee again.