Childminders - what is the situation with paid leave

[dejags]

My childminder is really great - she loves DS and her family are wonderful with him.

She is quite expensive (or at least I think so) - charging £160 per week and I always pay her extra £5/hr if we are late.

When we drew up our contracts I was sure that I was entitled to 2 unpaid weeks of holiday a year (I thought that we didn't pay her for her 2 week holiday). She has since said that we have to pay her for the full 52 weeks a year. Unfortunately I have mislaid our copy of the contract and don't want to upset her by asking her for another copy.

What is the standard - do childminders generally get paid for 52 weeks a year?

Any childminders out there that can help?

My childminder doesn't charge me if I give her 1 month's notice of any days when I don't need her. She also doesn't charge me for her own holidays or sick days.

When I was working, I had an agreement with my childminder that I would pay her half pay during the school holidays (I was teaching). If there was ever a day when she was sick, I still paid her the full rate. Likewise, if I missed the train and was 30 mins late, she did not charge me any extra. I paid about 100 pounds per week and she looked after my ds from about 8.30 am until 5ish. Any extras such as treats or outings were paid for by me if expensive (ie over a couple of pounds) but she would often buy little things like an ice-cream or pay for a ride on those cars at the shops.