Childminder charging for travel time to school?

[FlyingTigger]

Advice please and if this is the norm?
Childminder wants to charge travel to DC school (so when going to collect). When we signed contract I’d already included 15 minutes grace in case it was easier for her to collect DC earlier but this is NOT required by the school. Contract includes this 15 minutes.
childminder is charging for an hour, then changes this and said it’s 30 minutes. School pick up 3pm but her timesheet starts from 2pm. Journey takes 10 minutes by bus and 15/20 minutes walk.
is this the norm? For CM to charge travel to school when the child isn’t with them? Says she’s always done this.

Well, I and others have tried to explain it taking into account the information you have given @FlyingTigger , but it is becoming clear that you really need to sit down with your childminder and work out the issues with her and get a proper arrangement in place with starting and finishing hours laid out, travelling times negotiated and charging expectations agreed on both sides.

I only hope you still have a childminder at the end of your discussion.

You’ve skipped past my first point!

and I’ve literally said I will be asking (not demanding) about reducing time from one hour to 30 minutes as it takes her 20 minutes max.

We’ll agree to disagree.

@FlyingTigger

I haven’t “skipped” past your first point.

I have suggested you need to work out your arrangement with the childminder

I am pleased you are going to do this.

I am leaving this discussion now.

If you agree till 6 in contract you pay her till 6 even if you pick up early

if you need her from 9 then again you pay her from 9 even if you don’t get there till 930

she can’t stay in bed /go to shops etc at 9.15

But you are factually incorrect.

She is a childminder. Her place of work is her home and children she minds are dropped to her home.

As the OP also requires a pick up, the CM is then doing additional work task - leaving her home, specifically to collect her minded from school and escort him back to her home. This is a tast completely linked to the minding of this child. It is not a commute.

I am not “factually incorrect” we have a difference of opinion in what constitutes a place of work. I am self employed, I still cannot charge my travel expenses to the office - my contract is negotiated with my client not dictated by the beliefs of anyone, it’s all entirely discretional.

Oh my word. Can you not appreciate that your and her self employment is different? Collecting a mindee from school is not a commute.

Most people charge per hour, therefore if you use them for half an hour they would still receive the hourly rate

Yes this is how I thought of it too but it seems like it’s different for CM. I know someone who’s a carer and really struggles with not being paid for travel time.

Can you not appreciate that the term “commute” taking its ordinary meaning does not discount travel to collect a child? I don’t see the circumstances which you assert to be “fact” documented anywhere which suggests it’s open to interpretation and the application might differ.

It’s all different isn’t it, I can see why a carer might expect to be paid to travel around. If a Nanny were collecting your child and taking them to activities I’d expect them to be paid too. This is different imo.

If I needed the childminder and the cost wasn’t prohibitive I wouldn’t query it - ultimately she sets the terms and you decide whether they’re acceptable to you.

Sorry but no childminder collecting a child from school would call it commuting. Same for any nursery providing wraparound care for school children would call collecting the children as commuting.

Are you a lawyer? Love how you’ve worded this 😂

Yes I am. Which is why I’m careful not to assert opinion as facts.

Yes, with carers they’re literally driving from person to person but my understanding is some don’t get paid. Even if it takes a couple of hours combined

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 love it!

@FlyingTigger it boils my piss when people tell you an opinion is wrong 🫢

Ah, but is she already working during that time or does her work really start when she collects the girl?

Her opinion is not an opinion though she is saying "it is a commute" - it's not.

The childminder works from home. At home. No commute.

If a parent needs their child collecting by the childminder then that is a task they need to pay the childminder for!

Carers tend to be gig workers rather than ‘proper’ self-employed people able to set their own terms. The lack of travel time is a major issue.

If you’re a self-employed contractor going into the client’s office to work it will probably be inside IR35 and treated as quasi employment— so no, you won’t charge travel time.

But if like the childminder (and me) you work from home, of course you charge for time that a client requires you to be out of the home. And as a self-employed person, one can set their own terms minimum charge time at whatever level you want. If the client doesn’t like it, they can attempt to negotiate or simply take their business elsewhere.

What do you pay in total OP? Most childminders charge for the day, not hour, so you pay for 8am-6pm.

We drop off around 8.30am and pickup at 5pm. Still pay the full day rate. Some days I collect my DC at 3pm, some days I drop off as late as 9.30am - again I still pay the day rate as me taking up that day space means she can't offer her time to another child.

I'm baffled you think you should get an extra half an hour off for dropping your DC at 9.30am. That's not generally how childminding contracts work - it's about her reserving the space for your child for that full day, which is what you pay for.

Of course she’s working. At that time she has no choice over what to do.

Driving to collect the girl is her work. She starts work from home.

OP should definitely be paying for travel imo

But ultimately OP, if you don't like her terms it's also your choice to go elsewhere. Ultimately, she sets her terms and pay - which I think are v reasonable - and you choose to use her or go elsewhere. So it's really your choice