Childminder and bank holidays advice needed

[Pickie]

Our DD goes one day a week to a childminder and this is on a Tuesday. Got letter yesterday asking for payment on the 25th and 1st January as she legally has to charge us those days.(her words not mine)

Personally I am put of that this was done by letter sneaked into DD changing bag and sort of demandingly written.

What is normal pratice? I have no problem with paying this as am self employed and so is she BUT normally this is included in the hourly rate to cover for those days I would have thought?

Any advice very much appreciated.

is your dd full time or term time only?

term time only children i dont charge
full time child i charge half fees for the week or so i'm off as this is part of my holidays

ask your childminder if she would mind having dd on 1st Jan as you will have a hangover

she only goes one day a week which is the Tuesday The 1st is also a Tuesday (and a bank holiday) so am paying for 2 weeks and dont get anything

Its not a legal requirement , although if you have signed a contract that states that BH are to be paid for it is a contractual requirement,, check and see what your contract says.

Its a very grey area I'm afraid. And also one that causes a lot of friction on here! It really is a personal thing. I cm and I cover the cost of bank holidays by having a higher hourly rate, others choose to keep their rates down and charge.

Either way, its still a bit off, the way she demanded the money imho.

I personally charge for bank holidays. It's in my contract. I dont know of any CM's near me who dont charge for bank holidays. I think generally most people in most professions get paid for bank hols.
Not very good way of telling you though. She should've put it in the contract.
Perhaps she assumed you would pay her for these days then realised you wouldn't?

shoshaliteupthetree put it how I would. I don't charge for bank hols so not getting paid for that day.

I'm leaving now because I can see this getting out of hand like all these threads do!!

Yes the more I think about it the more annoyed I get. She does charge a higher hourly rate which I am fine with as she is very good.

Last year she only charged half the charges plus was happy to change days. Phoned her earlier and she coulnt swap Tue for Mon but when I see her in person I will ask (politely ask why the sudden change and all done by letter. See what her thinkig behind this is, face to face much better.

Check your contract before you go, just so you are fully aware of what you signed up to.

Agree with Mo - if it's an NCMA one there is a section very clear about Bank Hols - if it's ticked that she gets PAID Bank Hols then there's nothing you can do as that's what you signed for. If however it's not on there - she's VERY naughty!!!

o dear no need for it getting out of hand. Just wondering what common practice was.

Will check contract (hmm where did I put it!)and see what is what.

Still miff it was all done by letter though ,didnt even give it to me in person.

I have in my contract full fee for bank hol's so do check your contract and see what it says. I also wouldn't swap my days of work just because one falls on a bank holiday either though.

I think it's all down to what's in the contract.

In principle, I do think it's a bit cheecky for a small business to charge for bank hols. But, I also accept that this is pretty much industry standard for a childminder. So I would just pay the bank hol. It's the only time I'd pay a childminder when she is unavailable. I wouldn't pay her for her hols or for her sickness. But, I would for Bank Hols.

Regarding thwe wording of the letter, if it is in the contract she may have thought it was simply a reminder and then i would regard the wording as less rude. If it is not in the contract and this is the first you've heard of it then I would 1- consider it quite rude and 2- wouldn't pay it.

Basically I think it is fair game for a childminder to charge fees for bank holidays IF THEY PUT IT IN THE CONTRACT.

Totally agree with everything GloriaInEleusis said, I do letters like that but they are formal reminders and I'd be upset if I thought a parent was upset HOWEVER if this was not discussed on on the contract, I'd be FUMING!

thanks for your help and advice! all is sorted now and we are doing the same as last year, (bgof).

well i charge half-rate for bank holidays and nothing if i'm ill and it's all on my contract

TBH reg the letter part of it, i am forever 'reminding' my parents of important things for them to forget almost every single time, so now, even tho i also chat to them all at home time, if im telling them something important, i reiterate it by typing up a 'newsletter' type note reminding them again, i have just done this for the 4th time!!! to remind them of my hols over christmas as im still getting asked what they are!..4 newsletters have said the dates! and i have said them myself!

and reg pay, i charge normal rate for bank hols, double time if i work them but reg christmas day boxing day and new years day i dont want to work, so im a little fairer and just charge 1/2 fee that week/day, all other bank hols are charge normally

my contracts state bank hols are charged full fee but not worked.