Childminder wanting to still be paid 70%!!!!

[BusyBeeMummy1]

Hi all,

I am a keyworker and so is my husband. My Childminder has remained open for Keyworkers children but I am lucky enough I am able to wfh until things go back to normal.

I told my childminder that DS won’t be going back For April atleast. She told me she was advised by PACEY (A childminder body) that she can charge on a child by child basis and as she’s open for keyworkers its our choice to keep him home and she wants 70% of her usual monthly pay.

I pointed out to her that as she charges monthly she has also been paid in full for the week coming and that the childcare vouchers I pay her with had already automatically been paid to her (inadvertently) and FURTHERMORE the govt are meant to be paying self employed 80% aren’t they!

Please can any childminders or other parents using a childminder advise me on this because I don’t think it’s right.

Thankyouuuu

Why is this any different from normal? I choose to keep my child at home, I still pay in full. Appreciate there are good reasons why you’re choosing this course, but can’t believe you don’t seem to have any awareness of she just wants to survive the next few months and stay viable as a business. Childminders I know aren’t sure if they will ever open again. Maybe you can just work from home with your children home with you for the next couple of years.

I don’t understand why some of you keep banging on about this 80% self employed business help.

She might not be entitled to it. It’s just something you seem to be spouting to justify your choice not to pay people you have contracts with... but you don’t know her financial position or if she’ll be entitled to it - you’re just presuming that’s she is.

I know a child minder who’s been open just over a year and she’s not entitled to the support.

At the end of the day if you don’t want to pay her OP then don’t... but don’t expect her to keep your child’s place. You can’t have it both ways.

What's interesting about this is how it's suddenly different to "normal".

If your child had chicken pox the advice, which you would have to follow, would be not not send them to nursery or the child minder. Would you demand a discount for that week because it wasn't your choice your child got chicken pox?

Actually currently you could still send your child if you had to, although I agree it's the right thing to do not to.

What's interesting about this is how it's suddenly different to "normal".

How is it not different to "normal". If my child had chicken pox I know that at some point my child will return to the cm & I am unlikely to lose my job. I could pay for the next 2 months & be hospitalised next week. Should I still pay when on a ventilator? What about if I die, do I get a refund?

Thank god the parents I work with have cared about my family and I and how we’ll get through it.

Until yesterday we were uncertain as to how we would stay afloat and for some we still are, especially if you haven’t earned a lot over the past three years.

Most parents have said to me “We’re lucky enough to be in secure jobs and receiving our pay so we will continue to pay” because, they appreciate us as a family and know that we do not earn much at all compared to their earnings.

MN always supports cf childminders though

If we leave the CFs out it's worth supporting the decent ones as they do an important job, but I just wonder why they're considered such a special category
It's easy to cry "pay them!!" and "they're human!!" when it's someone else's money, but what about all the other self employed who are struggling - tradesmen, shopkeepers and all the rest? Should we give them all money too, for a service we're not getting, just in case they're "no longer there next time we need them"?

Mn always supports cf childminders though- I suspect a lot Of childminders are on here instead of looking after their charges as they should be
I think most people tend to support and respect childminders and their role just like most people tend to value teachers and their role, but there's some who can't help but decide to have a dig.

There's a minority of people who seem to think nothing of deciding lots of childminders don't bother doing their jobs properly, just like there's a minority of people who have a chip on their shoulders about teachers.
There's a weird mentality when it comes to people who work with children where for some it's all too convenient to decide that those in those lines of work aren't doing their jobs properly/are lazy/are wanting paying for doing very little, almost like those working with children are just useful bodies to babysit their children but not worthy of proper professional recognition.

@LolaSmiles

Very accurate

Exactly @Puzzledandpissedoff, I will pay my childminder just not 100%. I was getting a new bathroom in the summer. I'm not still paying the plumber. My exercise classes have closed & Im not paying them unless I do an online session. My future deliveries with Sainsbury's have been cancelled & i'm not paying for that. My daughters birthday party was cancelled & my deposit has been refunded. I need my highlights touched up but I'm not paying for that & my May holiday has been cancelled but I've not been asked to pay the balance.

The very personal and intertwined working relationship of the people caring for your children in their homes as a form of employment can’t be compared to other businesses.

If people want to say to others they think it’s fair to support them if you have the means to in a situation like this where they’ve been left helpless, what’s your problem?

I respect & like my childminder. I have just received a text asking for a 40% retainer including holidays. She will still claim eys funding for term time. I'm happy with this & have no qualms in paying it.

If people want to say to others they think it’s fair to support them if you have the means to in a situation like this where they’ve been left helpless, what’s your problem?

That's not what everyone has been saying though so what's your problem?

but what about all the other self employed who are struggling - tradesmen, shopkeepers and all the rest? Should we give them all money too, for a service we're not getting
Well, perhaps you have an ongoing contract signed with your butcher but that would be unusual. And most importantly of all, I don’t entrust my small child and their nurture and development to my butcher and shopkeeper. Having found a lovely setting that will provide my child with affection and care, I value them enormously. It’s a completely different concept.

What's interesting about this is how it's suddenly different to "normal"

If your child had chicken pox the advice, which you would have to follow, would be not not send them to nursery or the child minder

Omg because this isn’t normal!! During sickness the CM is open for business as usual. Right now CM are NOT open for business as usual. They are open for key workers who have absolutely no other alternative. Why can people not understand this! If you cancelled your holiday coz you were sick you wouldn’t get a refund. Yet we are getting refunds due to this virus. This is not normal circumstances!

Again I’m not saying she should or shouldn’t pay but I’m sick of hearing abut how the CM is open as usual and it’s the parents choice coz this is absolutely fundamentally not the case!

“ I suspect a lot Of childminders are on here instead of looking after their charges as they should be. ”

It’s Sunday

“ but what about all the other self employed who are struggling - tradesmen, shopkeepers and all the rest? Should we give them all money too, for a service we're not getting”

Paying the childminder, if you can, means that she can continue to pay others. That’s why companies, and the Government, are continuing to pay staff. It’s to keep the economy going.

perhaps you have an ongoing contract signed with your butcher but that would be unusual

Not with the butcher, no - although he's a sole trader who could doubtless use some help - but I do with a couple of tradesmen, and neither of them expect payment while they're not working

I'm the first to recognise the important job CMs do with folks' precious children and in fact I did, but I've still seen nothing to explain the uniqueness which some seem to feel they should enjoy when it comes to the practicalties of T&Cs

FWIW I've no skin in this game since I have no young children to send to the childminders I know. But it's the principle I'm interested in, and while it's true that individual choices shouldn't be a problem for anyone else it seems to me to become so when folk are insulted for making their own

Ha. My butcher delivers to us. We've still been using him....

So glad mine are older. My job has gone now and husband is elf employed but not guaranteeing the 80% at all. I just wouldn’t be able to pay at all.

Ha. My butcher delivers to us

Lucky lass right there though actually you've just reminded me that our local plant centre's doing the same, with payment by phone and absolutely no touching of anyone

Easy to understand I guess, given the amount of stock they've been growing ...

@zsazsajuju So why even ask if she is only happy to accept one answer? Anyways someone on the previous page calculated what the lady would be getting, and it's not loads.

Can I just ask, if parents continue to pay childminders the full amount , does that mean child minders will not apply to the government scheme to get 80% back for last 3months?

The sensible and decent (imo) thing for salaried parents who have suffered no detriment would be to keep paying and agree that any rebate from the 80% govt SE scheme is reflected further down the line.

I just think, if your income is fine, why would you seek to capitalise on someone else's misfortune? Because that is what you are effectively doing.

I will be in the same position if the nurseries open back up before June as I’m having a baby and not comfortable sending DS to nursery before then (and for some while after).

I think if they’re open and you’re choosing not to send your child, you should be coughing up 100% regardless. Nevertheless, since we’re still under a shutdown, I’m not being charged. I don’t know that I’d be happy to keep paying in your situation given that leaving your child there goes against government guidance. I guess it boils down to how happy your child is there and whether you want to go back again.

My childminder has said not to pay anything as she can claim the help from the government for both herself and her two assistants. She has remained open for key workers but has urged parents to only send children in if we desperately need to. We are both key workers but I am able to WFH so am keeping DD at home so she has told us not to pay.