Busy Bee Vouchers

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17 mth old ds has just started with his cm. dh is getting busy bee vouchers through work (i've read previous posts and know that they can take an age to come through).

can someone please explain to me how they work? do they get taken automatically from dhs salary? do they get paid automatically?

we are paying weekly by cheque at the moment, but obviously when the vouchers kick in, we can pay less by cheque.

also, i don't want our cm to think we aren't paying her, if vouchers are late? how long do they normally take to come through?

i was trying to find out online, but their website is down at the moment.

any info very much appreciated. i guess the reality of this might be different to what the website says, so i want to make sure cm isn't put in an awkward position and so i know as much as poss.

thanks!

they come direct from the income BEFORE you are taxed- that is why it is better for you. and then paid direct usually into the cm account- although busy bees are one of the worst companies (i am a cm) they do take a while and also do sometimes do paper vouchers that you have to give to the cm. s/he then phones up with voucher number- money in his/her account in 3-5 working days.

hope this helps

thanks dempsie.

it seems to have come out of dh salary ages ago and the cm hasn't had the bb payment yet.

i think i'll ask dh to chase them. i am a freelancer myself, so appreciate that getting paid promptly is important. i just wish we knew where we were with payments/when it goes in etc

thanks for posting.

Your DH will get a paper voucher - ours arrive 2 days after payday generally. You then give them to her. He can change over to e vouchers that then he pays her direct, but the first one has to be paper

thanks cmot, only thing is that he says its come out of his account and he gets paid on the 6th. weird, i am going to ask him to chase on this with work/busy bees.
thanks for posting

Do you want their number to call them ? I do remember that the first voucher took ages to come for some reason

There are HUGE problems with Busybees not honouring payments to CMs at the moment - and then parents having to be charged late fees through no fault of their own - check out www.childmindinghelp.co.uk/forum/search.php?searchid=1097185 although some threads are in the private part so might not be seen.

Can you use another voucher provider or is it too late? already set up with the employer?

I'v been paid through Busybees for one of my mindees for the last 15mths and hadn't had any probs till last month when they didn't pay out till almost 2 wks after parent authorised it - lots of other cms round here complaining too.

When it works ,parent authorises pmt, we both get an email and a remittance advice attachment (means don't have to write out receipts ), then money goes direct into my bank a few days later. Paper vouchers take too long to process.

A bit worrying their website is still down - it was the other day too .

our company seem to recognise the problem with BB - they've got burned a few times when a group of us headed off to HR demanding they paid our late fees! they did.

our company now process requests on the first of the month, send to BB and pay invoice around the 10th/11th of the month. The paper voucher arrives through my door around the 15th, long before I actually get my pay for the month. I can then hand over to cm as and when as the money is sat with BB ready to pay. I usually ensure that I pay 3 working days before the pay date on the contract and hope it goes through.

It's not just late payment fees for parents' it can also be bank charges for cms if payment is late! No-one pays those for us

busybees

I have been getting busybees vouchers for the last 2 years and today is the first time I have recieved the email to say the money is on the way into my account before the end of the month! other than this they have always been an average of 2 weeks late. Dec's didn't arrive until mid feb, when they paid dec and jan's in on the same day!!!

Mine are electronic and meant to be easy

Now very worried, I've just redeemed my first 2 vouchers (this morning) and was told they'd be in within 3-4 days. I hope so as they are making up 2/3 of this months fees.
Please tell me some good things about busy bees