Bank holidays.

[Elliea123]

I am fairly new to childminding so my first lot of bank holidays will be coming up over Easter. I will not be working on these days, but just looking through my contracts (NCMA ones), I'm a bit confused as to what happens with the fees. I only look after one full time child at the moment and they pay me weekly in advance for 9.5 hours each day(Mon-Fri). In my contract, I ticked the option that said YES payment for statutory holidays is included in the weekly amount. But now does that mean that they still pay me for those days (ie, Good Friday and Easter Monday), or not????
Please help as I want to have it clear in my head before I get asked!!
Thanks.

Sounds as though you will be paid for the bank holidays, but is your contract very clear that you are not available for work on those days? That's the key.

I think it's clear the fees include bank holidays but if you don't want to work them it also needs to be clear that your service is not available regardless of the fact that parents are paying for it.

I don't know the answer alas... I think you get paid but the bigger problem I see is that the parents who signed the contract probably don't have a clue as to the situation. I feel a tick box is not sufficient as a way of informing service users as to when they are expected to pay for a service they are not able to use.
Plus as flowery says, it also isn't clear as to if you will be working that day or not.

I feel you need to draw up a Holidays Policy and provide that to all service users, to let them know of your policy with regard to what you do and do not charge for.

I was advised to charge for bank holidays if I was happy for parents to send their children. However you may want to charge an additional fee for these days or simply not be open. As I would prefer them off I don't charge but I do state that I am closed on these days.

I agree that a holiday policy would make this clear for both you and your mindees parents.

I'm curious as to why you wouldn't charge? All the nurseries I've known charge - and they are closed on those days. Most of the parents who utilise your services would be paid for those days anyway, wouldn't they?

I charge half price for BH's but I am not available for work, all my parents know this.

I also charge half price for the additional days between Christmas and NY and again am not open, (But I live on a Army base, and all the parents are off at that time so do not need additional cover).

I don't charge at all for two weeks holiday in the summer.

And Parents get 4 weeks at half price for their holidays.

I don't charge for bank holidays and I don't work them. I know one childminder in my area who does charge, but she is prepared to work.

My CM doesn't charge me for bank holidays. She doesn't want to work them. She also doesn't charge Christmas week if she doesn't have the mindee, but charges if she does.

The rest of the year she charges 50% retainer when I am take holiday/DS is sick and she has 2 weeks holiday in the summer for which I am not charged.

i charge, but i seem to be the only one in the area that does, i'm also willing to work them. i've had a couple of pp get annoyed when they see it in the sample contract i hand out, but at the end of the day, the parents get paid for them, they would kick up a fuss if they didnt, so why shouldnt we.

I think charging for Bank Holidays is only reasonable if you charge pro-rated for parents whose children are not with you full time, and happen to choose a Monday as one of their days. My DS is with a childminder 3 days a week, including Monday, on which most BHs fall. I wouldn't be very happy to have to pay for every one.

SadMarge - my employer gives me pro-rated bank holidays in hours, which means that I have to make sure I have enough time to take the BH off, or use a few hours of annual leave to make up the difference.

I does state in my contracgt that I will not be working on the BH's, my question was simply if I charge or not, which it seems that according to the contract I do.
Good point about the nurseries, my dd used to go when I was employed full time and one her her days was a Monday, and yes I paid for every bank holiday even though the nursery was closed.
Thanks everyone, I think I have it sorted now.