Lateness from parents driving me mad!

[Samthenanny]

It’s pretty much every day, either 10 or 15 mins sometimes with a message to let me know and sometimes not.
one day a week a parent works from
home and more often than not I have to send a charge up so I can leave and that’s never on time either!
I work a long day 11hrs but the children are at school and I think the parents think ah it’s fine she’s had all day to herself kind of thing but that’s their choice!
1 parent will get home literally within seconds of my finishing time then won’t stop talking, giving me a list of things etc and I can be standing at the front door and it’ll just carry on.
I’ve asked to finish on time and I’ve sent a email which worked for a week and now we’re back to lateness.
I’m pregnant and all I want to do is get home at the end of the day as I’m shattered.
Apart from asking and sending emails what else can I do? 🤦🏻‍♀️

I’m sorry but I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about

Charge

my after school club charged and it was £10 per quarter if an hour

are you a nanny? I don't understand either

Are you a nanny?

I’d start charging them for the extra time. Be very specific that you need to leave on the dot of 6pm or whenever and so if they want to do handover it needs to be completed by then. Otherwise your time is chargeable in increments of 15 mins.

But be nice about it, working an extra 5 mins a day isn’t something I’d usually care about and I think you’re probably more bothered by the lack of respect they’re showing you.

You charge them for collecting late. You'll be amazed how much better their timekeeping gets.

I’m guessing your a nanny?

I think all you can do is request a meeting and talk about it.

Are you a child minder?

You could charge, but I have read studies somewhere that it has the opposite effect, in that people now feel entitled to be late because "they have paid for it". It only works if the charges are punitive, and you would need to send out advance warning of the change. Is it always thr same parent? If so, just say you aren't able to provide care anymore?

I think you should do what ASCs and Nurseries do and charge for lateness.
But also consider an X number of lates in period Y and you'll withdraw services as otherwise they'll feel they are paying for the extra time.

So maybe £5 for every minute, and only 1 late per term except in extreme extenuating circumstances?

Charge

I'd start charging (a lot)

An, apologies. I thought you were talking about your own parents and I couldn’t make head or tail of it. You being a childminder/ nanny makes much more sense.

By a 'charge' she means a child. I think she is a nanny who works in at the home of a family and the family are always late home. I would start adding late charges to your bill.

I presume you're a nanny and on salary? Which makes it difficult to charge. Buy t you could add up the extra time you've worked each week and ask them to pay you overtime. That'd make them think about the cost of their rudeness

Sorry yes I’m a nanny, forgot to add that. Tbh if I charged they’d probably be fine with that but I want to finish at 6:45 as my contract states, so I can actually get home at a decent time.
I totally get sometimes you can’t leave the office on time, there’s delays etc but that’s not every day.

Oh, I read it that you were a childminder, but it makes more sense if you are a Nanny.

I think you really need to sit down with them and either agree different hours or TOIL (in 30 or 60 minute blocks for every lateness) or leave.

If the shoe was on the other foot and I was late every morning I reckon I wouldn’t have a job, it’s just lack of respect but quite common a common problem for nannies I think

@TeenPlusCat if my circumstances were different I’d leave as I have done in the past for the same reasoning but I’m 6 months pregnant and can’t be out of work atm.

Could you ask for a 'health and safety' review now you are 6 months pregnant and stress that not leaving on time adds to your tiredness and stress?

@TeenPlusCat thats a good idea, I could definitely do that

Tell them this! They are taking the piss.

As you see them arriving go and stand in the drive, maybe even sit in your car. And leave immediately.

Good idea. Write any handover notes on a paper pad for them and just walk out. If they start talking to you then don't be afraid to get blunt, sorry but I'm finished for the day, you've already kept me late.

I'm a nanny and I feel your pain OP, it is very common unfortunately and to me and a lot of other nannies, it just comes across as a lack of respect, like our time isn't as important as theirs. The one that particularly drives me crazy is when you get a message saying "I'm going to be half an hour late, is that ok?" It'll have to be ok won't it, I can hardly go off and leave the kids on their own! Saying that, I'm not sure what else you can do if you've already spoken to them, I guess you just have to persist.
I've actually left a job before because of the parents constant lateness, when I handed my notice in, even after I'd explained why, the dad said "is it the kids?" I said "no, it's you" 😃
Btw, for those mentioning it, when the OP says she sent her charge up, her charge is a child she's 'in charge' of.

@Bonjovispjs yup they’re the worse messages because as you say we can hardly leave.
today the mum was working from home and left at 6pm to go get her nails done and said I’ll tell dad he needs to get back for you. He came back at 7:05 20 mins late 🤦🏻‍♀️
they’ve had pretty much a extra hour from me this week.

@Samthenanny It's infuriating isn't it? Your mum boss sounds pretty similar to mine, off getting her nails done, massages, lunches out etc, while I look after her kids, that's fine if they take over on time (although I'd rather she worked full time like she did when I first started) Are you otherwise happy in the job? If not, maybe it's time to move on.