Default Style Register
Daycare.com Forum
Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>For Those Who Do Contracted Hours Based on work Hours & Commute Times
momofboys 03:41 PM 05-25-2010
I need your help! How do you figure out the exact hours? Do you run them by the parent? Find out how long it takes them to get from point A to point B? Here's my situation. My parent's work hours are that she needs to be to school by 8:20 am & is contractually obligated to be at school until 3:45 pm except that she could have to stay late on ocassion. It takes her @ 20 min to get to my home from her work but if traffic is bad it could take 30 min. What are some fair timeframes? I have been extra lenient & allow her to pick up at 5:00 but lately she is late all the time. I am very flexible with drop off. I don't care if she drops off at 7:15 or 7:30 but I need to have more consistency (or rather her being earlier) with pick up times. Is 4:45 a fair time do you think? Even if she had to stay 30 min late that still gives her 30 min to get to my home. FYI I am trying to do my contract for the fall & this is one thing I am changing that she has hours only for work & commute. Now if she is able to run into Wal-Mart & still be on time I'm okay with it but not if she is late.
Reply
tymaboy 04:01 PM 05-25-2010
Parents usualy know how long it takes them to get from my house to their work. When we do the interview they already know what time they will need to drop off to make it to work on time. I do not help them decide what time they are dropping off or picking off. Most of my parents also keep in mind traffic or weather ( & sometimes trains) I let the parents know that I will work with them but I need to know when to expect them so I can make plans for the day, if they tell me something different then the contracted time then I will go by that time & if they are late then there will be a fee even if it is still within their contracted time. Most of the places where I live we can get there within 15 minutes (there was a study on it) its hard to believe that is possible knowing the traffic here but I have timed myself going places after the study was done & it is true. I have one parent that works 45 minutes out of town & she gives herself close to an hour to get there for any expectancies.
Reply
momofboys 04:23 PM 05-25-2010
I do know she can be here as early as 4:20 if she wants to be. She just isn't that early most days. Typically I think she runs errands & goes home, etc to throw in laundry (she lives about 1.5 miles from us). I guess my point is she could probably be here most days at 4:30 & I'd like to change her hours to reflect that. I don't get paid enough $$ to watch her kids when she can be here earlier.
Reply
nannyde 04:56 PM 05-25-2010
If you ever allow the parents to have a range of drop off and pick up they will quickly move the arrangements to the earliest drop off and the latest pick up. That will be THE times. Doing a range of times will not work for most parents.

Is she private pay? If she is... here's what you do. Figure out the actual time she needs care and have your rates based on that. Any early drop offs or later pick ups have a fee attached. Have that fee be a rate that really makes it worth your while. You will see quickly enough that she doesn't really need the extra time. They will take it if it is free but most will not pay extra for it.

NEVER allow an open ended time that will be now and then. Now and then turns into every day or almost every day almost all of the time.

I don't have this issue because my fees are based on total number of hours (not to exceed nine) and the pick up time. My base rate is 135 a week for a three o'clock pick up. It goes up five dollars per week for every fifteen minutes thereafter. A six p.m. pick up is 190 dollars a week. My clients pick the earliest time possible to pick up because they want the lower rate. If I have a parent picking up later than their contracted time then they have to recontract with me and pay EVERY week for the extra time. I don't have problems with them being late. 99 percent of the time they are on time because they know if they make a habit of it the fees go up for every week.

I know a lot of providers have an open and close time. I don't do that. I never have. I have always based my hours on the actual transport time, the amount of lunch time they take AND if it's a two parent family... the last one into work brings the child and the first one off of work picks up.

Nan
Reply
momofboys 05:30 PM 05-25-2010
You are so right Nannyde!!! When I first started with this client she seemed okay with pick-up at 4:45 but then asked if it could be moved to 5:00. since then I can count on one hand the times she has been here early (usually she's 5-10 min late). However, if we ask her to be early b/c we have plans she is able to get here by 4:30 so my guess is she is just using the time to run errands, etc. I will definitely be moving pick-up time to 4:45 in the fall & anytime after that timeframe will be a late fee unless advance notice is given & then I'll still charge a fee for my time.
Reply
momma2girls 06:19 PM 05-25-2010
Originally Posted by janarae:
You are so right Nannyde!!! When I first started with this client she seemed okay with pick-up at 4:45 but then asked if it could be moved to 5:00. since then I can count on one hand the times she has been here early (usually she's 5-10 min late). However, if we ask her to be early b/c we have plans she is able to get here by 4:30 so my guess is she is just using the time to run errands, etc. I will definitely be moving pick-up time to 4:45 in the fall & anytime after that timeframe will be a late fee unless advance notice is given & then I'll still charge a fee for my time.
I have teachers's children as well, and they start at 8:30 and end at 3:30. She is contracted from 7:30-4:30. The school is literally 5 min. from here. I do like the idea Nan is doing with the earlier pick up times, I may have to review that for next yr.'s contract. It does sound nice, and nice to the parents as well. I don't know if mine could do it by the time that they pay for all the time though. What if they were late 2 out of the 5 days? How would you do that? Are they always on time????
Reply
nannyde 07:12 PM 05-25-2010
Originally Posted by Iowa daycare:
I have teachers's children as well, and they start at 8:30 and end at 3:30. She is contracted from 7:30-4:30. The school is literally 5 min. from here. I do like the idea Nan is doing with the earlier pick up times, I may have to review that for next yr.'s contract. It does sound nice, and nice to the parents as well. I don't know if mine could do it by the time that they pay for all the time though. What if they were late 2 out of the 5 days? How would you do that? Are they always on time????
They would pay the late fee (dollar a minute) or they would recontract for the later pick up time. Believe me... they don't doink with the lower rates. I really don't have issues with them picking up late.
Reply
QualiTcare 08:23 PM 05-25-2010
most teachers have meetings after school once every two weeks, or sometimes monthly - that last an hour at LEAST.

then there are other things - depending on the school - meeting with a literacy coach, bus duty, or any number of things they have to stay late for.

the school i was at required me to stay until 3:30, but it was rare that i ever left before 4:30 - sometimes i'd leave by 4 if i busted my butt during planning and didn't eat lunch. my kids didn't have to be picked up until 6 though.

i'm just sayin - it's not out of the question by any means that she's actually at school past 3:45.
Reply
momofboys 08:58 PM 05-25-2010
Originally Posted by QualiTcare:
most teachers have meetings after school once every two weeks, or sometimes monthly - that last an hour at LEAST.

then there are other things - depending on the school - meeting with a literacy coach, bus duty, or any number of things they have to stay late for.

the school i was at required me to stay until 3:30, but it was rare that i ever left before 4:30 - sometimes i'd leave by 4 if i busted my butt during planning and didn't eat lunch. my kids didn't have to be picked up until 6 though.

i'm just sayin - it's not out of the question by any means that she's actually at school past 3:45.
I have no doubts she is at school late on ocassion due to work issues. My issue is that she is getting here past pick up time b/c she is running errands not doing schoolwork. If she was only late every once in a while I would not mind. I do close at 5:00 & she knows that. She has meetings 2x a month as far as I know; once at the start of the day & one day after school. She teaches elementary school so I'm fairly certain she does not help with any extra-curiculars.
Reply
QualiTcare 09:04 PM 05-25-2010
Originally Posted by janarae:
I have no doubts she is at school late on ocassion due to work issues. My issue is that she is getting here past pick up time b/c she is running errands not doing schoolwork. If she was only late every once in a while I would not mind. I do close at 5:00 & she knows that. She has meetings 2x a month as far as I know; once at the start of the day & one day after school. She teaches elementary school so I'm fairly certain she does not help with any extra-curiculars.
i don't blame you for being upset if she's showing up past closing time.

i worked in an elementary school too and it wasn't extra curriculars that i had to stay after for - just everyday preparing for the next day, meetings, bus duty, etc.

either way, if you close at 5 then she should be there by 5 or make arrangements to have someone else pick her kid up. i was just sayin' it's rare to actually leave at the time you're obligated to stay until so i wouldn't assume she gets to leave at 3:45 just because that's all that's required.
Reply
momma2girls 05:06 AM 05-26-2010
Originally Posted by nannyde:
If you ever allow the parents to have a range of drop off and pick up they will quickly move the arrangements to the earliest drop off and the latest pick up. That will be THE times. Doing a range of times will not work for most parents.

Is she private pay? If she is... here's what you do. Figure out the actual time she needs care and have your rates based on that. Any early drop offs or later pick ups have a fee attached. Have that fee be a rate that really makes it worth your while. You will see quickly enough that she doesn't really need the extra time. They will take it if it is free but most will not pay extra for it.

NEVER allow an open ended time that will be now and then. Now and then turns into every day or almost every day almost all of the time.

I don't have this issue because my fees are based on total number of hours (not to exceed nine) and the pick up time. My base rate is 135 a week for a three o'clock pick up. It goes up five dollars per week for every fifteen minutes thereafter. A six p.m. pick up is 190 dollars a week. My clients pick the earliest time possible to pick up because they want the lower rate. If I have a parent picking up later than their contracted time then they have to recontract with me and pay EVERY week for the extra time. I don't have problems with them being late. 99 percent of the time they are on time because they know if they make a habit of it the fees go up for every week.

I know a lot of providers have an open and close time. I don't do that. I never have. I have always based my hours on the actual transport time, the amount of lunch time they take AND if it's a two parent family... the last one into work brings the child and the first one off of work picks up.

Nan
Nan-
How do you have it written in your contract for late fees and cont. being late. Do you have if late more than once per week, you will be bumped up to next tier level of payment????? OR???????? I just want every boudry covered, because needless to say mine will be abusing it all the time!!!!
Reply
momofboys 05:18 AM 05-26-2010
Originally Posted by Iowa daycare:
Nan-
How do you have it written in your contract for late fees and cont. being late. Do you have if late more than once per week, you will be bumped up to next tier level of payment????? OR???????? I just want every boudry covered, because needless to say mine will be abusing it all the time!!!!
I would be interested in seeing how that is worded also.
Reply
nannyde 05:35 AM 05-26-2010
Originally Posted by janarae:
I would be interested in seeing how that is worded also.
Tuition:

Please see our "rates" section for weekly and part time rates. Tuition is due on Friday by noon for the upcoming week. We offer balance transfer for easy weekly bill pay. We also accept cash, checks, money orders, and Paypal (with a five percent processing fee). We give a hard copy receipt yearly for taxes with our EIN number. If you would like us to do a weekly receipt, please present it with your Friday payment and I will be happy to sign it every week.

We do not raise rates on existing clients except for situations where the care hours for the child have increased or departure time has changed to a later departure. We also offer siblings born into the day care the same base rate as the older sibling.

The rates can be lowered under the following situations: The child's schedule changes requiring an earlier departure or the child going from full time to part time (minimum of three full days per week). Notices for ANY changes that lower the weekly rate must be put in writing and presented to the day care on a Friday. A months notice for any fee lowering change must be given. Also the change must be approved to insure there is a slot available for the change. Any schedule changes that result in a pick up earlier than 3 p.m. will not lower the rate below the 3 p.m. departure rate. This is our lowest possible weekly rate.


Parents will contract with the day care for arrival and departure times. Parents are allowed to bring their children no more than five minutes before the scheduled arrival time unless overtime arrangements have been made. The only exception to this is inclement weather. If you arrive more than five minutes early please park on the street to wait to enter the day care until your scheduled drop off time.

Late pick ups: Don't do it


Rates Our rates are calculated differently than most child care homes and Centers. The rates are based upon the total number of hours per day and the departure time. The published rates are based on a maximum of a nine hour day. If you need more than nine hours per please add $5.00/hour to our base rates.

We have a different rate structure for part time. Part time is a minimum of three full working days per week. We do not provide drop in care. We do not offer half day rates.

Full Time Rates (2010) based upon a maximum of nine hours a day and time your child departs from day care:

3:00 p.m. departure $135.00 per week

3:15 p.m. departure $140.00 per week

3:30 p.m. departure $145.00 per week

3:45 p.m. departure $150.00 per week

4:00 p.m. departure $155.00 per week

4:15 p.m. departure $160.00 per week

4:30 p.m. departure $165.00 per week

4:45 p.m. departure $170.00 per week

5:00 p.m. departure $175.00 per week

5:15 p.m. departure $180.00 per week

5:30 p.m. departure $185.00 per week

5:45 p.m. departure $190.00 per week

6:00 p.m. departure $195.00 per week


Part Time Rates

3:00 p.m. departure $33.00 per day

3:15 p.m. departure $34.00 per day

3:30 p.m. departure $35.00 per day

3:45 p.m. departure $36.00 per day

4:00 p.m. departure $37.00 per day

4:15 p.m. departure $38.00 per day

4:30 p.m. departure $39.00 per day

4:45 p.m. departure $40.00 per day

5:00 p.m. departure $41.00 per day

5:15 p.m. departure $42.00 per day

5:30 p.m. departure $43.00 per day

5:45 p.m. departure $44.00 per day

Additional hours beyond nine hours per day billed at $5.00 per hour.

Overtime must be pre-arranged and approved.
Reply
Daycare Mommy 05:38 AM 05-26-2010
Originally Posted by janarae:
I need your help! How do you figure out the exact hours? Do you run them by the parent? Find out how long it takes them to get from point A to point B? Here's my situation. My parent's work hours are that she needs to be to school by 8:20 am & is contractually obligated to be at school until 3:45 pm except that she could have to stay late on ocassion. It takes her @ 20 min to get to my home from her work but if traffic is bad it could take 30 min. What are some fair timeframes? I have been extra lenient & allow her to pick up at 5:00 but lately she is late all the time. I am very flexible with drop off. I don't care if she drops off at 7:15 or 7:30 but I need to have more consistency (or rather her being earlier) with pick up times. Is 4:45 a fair time do you think? Even if she had to stay 30 min late that still gives her 30 min to get to my home. FYI I am trying to do my contract for the fall & this is one thing I am changing that she has hours only for work & commute. Now if she is able to run into Wal-Mart & still be on time I'm okay with it but not if she is late.
I ask each parent over the phone or in the first interview what each parent's work schedule is and where they work. Unless their commute is extra long, I tack a half an hour on for commute each way. For example, if mom works 8-5 and dad works 6-3 the contract hours are 7:30-3:30. If you want to give her an hour on each end, I think that's more than fair.

If they need me earlier or later for certain days I have separate overtime rates for approved and unapproved care. $1 per minute unapproved or $8 per hour approved. As long as the parents keep me in the loop, are shooting straight with me, and give reasonable notice (and I haven't already made plans) then I keep them at the approved rate.
Reply
nannyde 05:47 AM 05-26-2010
Originally Posted by Iowa daycare:
Nan-
How do you have it written in your contract for late fees and cont. being late. Do you have if late more than once per week, you will be bumped up to next tier level of payment????? OR???????? I just want every boudry covered, because needless to say mine will be abusing it all the time!!!!
I have a fee of a dollar a minute if they are late but I haven't had to ever charge it. I understand that sometimes they will be late. I usually ask for an earlier pick up on a Friday to compensate me if they are late a couple of times.

I honestly don't have a problem with late pick ups because the pick up time is such a big money issue with my rate structure. They contract daily for the last possible minute they MIGHT need daily as long as the total hours don't exceed nine hours. It's discussed so much and is implanted in their brains that they get the rate they get BECAUSE of the pick up time.

I have had problems with early arrivals. That's way more of an issue here. If they have less than a nine hour day they are more likely to want to drop off early. If they have a nine hour day and they start the dropping off early I just rework the contract and add five dollars an hour. If they come fifteen minutes early it's another 6.25 a week and that gets pricey.

It's not a perfect system but I would say the whole deal works 99 percent of the time. I really very very rarely have folks late. If they are a golden family I have a tendency to overlook it because they are wonderful to work for. Stuff happens in real life too that can actually cause them to be late. With the new texting available it REALLY helps for them to text me when they are going to be late. They are super about that.

90 percent of the time they are late they either offer more money or they hand me money. I usually refuse it unless it's some crazy amount of time. I just say... oh how about you give me a little earlier pick up the friday before the july fourth holiday? Can you do that? I'd like to close by four.

I highly encourage you guys to build your rates on departure time unless you have a set number of hours daily that don't exceed a nine/ten hour work day. It works so very well to have them "get the cheaper rate" to do the earlier departure. They think they are getting a deal and want to keep the deal. The early departures really ARE getting a good rate. My base rate 135 is on the high range for home day care in my area... so anything above that is going to be higher than the home day cares here. Most of my clients leave by 4:15-4:30. I only have two that leave after that.
Reply
tymaboy 05:55 AM 05-26-2010
I have my contracted hours set up differently then Nan. Here are some parts of mine on how it is worded (in case it helps)

Originally Posted by :
Tuition:
If your schedule changes weekly then you must pay the varying daily rate. If you need drop in care I must know beforehand what days you plan on attending that week. This will ensure that I have an spot open for you that day. If your child(ren) are in care after contracted hours you will then be charged by the hour unless prior arrangements have been made. Example: If you are contracted for an 9 hour day and your child(ren) are in care for 10 hours then you will be charged $2.50 for the 10th hour.


Inconvenience Fee:
There is a 15 minute grace period beyond the scheduled drop-off/pick-up time. If a child is more then 20 minutes late of being dropped-off/ picked-up you will be subjected to a charge of $5.00 per child for every 15 minutes (or part of 15 minutes) after the agreed upon time. Example: If your child is to be dropped-off/ picked-up at 9:00 and you show up at 9:15 you will not be charged the fee but if you show up at 9:20 you will be charged the fee or $10.00 for the 1st 15 minutes plus the fee for the second 15 minutes. You will also be charged the late fee if the child(ren) are to be dropped-off/ picked-up (whether it is written in contract or told verbally) between a certain time and are not dropped-off/ picked-up within 15 minutes of the latest time given. Example: If your child(ren) are to be dropped-off/ picked-up between 9:00 – 9:30 and you do not show up until 9:45 you will be charged $5.00 for each child.

There will be no grace period on Wednesdays. Any late fees accumulated on a Wednesday will be doubled. If these fees are not paid by the Friday of that week you will be charged the $10.00 per day late payment fee.

The above inconvenience fees will also be charged to you if Grandma or another person is suppose to arrive to drop-off/ pick-up your child.

DHS will not pay any late fees that are accumulated.

Reply
grandmom 07:24 AM 05-26-2010
nannyde and tymaboy,

I am totally using your wording when I rewrite my parent handbooks!

It is true, parents take the most they can. In my case, I'm now paying overtime for my employee because she's here more than 8 hours every day, because their children are here so long. And I'm the one eating that cost.

Thank you ladies for sharing your wording.
Reply
momma2girls 07:28 AM 05-26-2010
I agree thanks so much for the wording, and I may be implementing this for the New Year!!!
Reply
momofboys 08:04 AM 05-26-2010
Thank you ladies!!!!! I will definitely be re-doing the way my pay is set up based upon your examples. I KNOW it is a way that my DCM will come earlier to pick up as long as she is getting a "cheaper" rate.
Reply
Tags:hours
Reply Up