sick daycare

my daycare providers child is sick with a highly contageous disease. she said she wasn't "canceling" daycare, but just telling parents so they could decide if they wanted to bring their children or not. i am sure she is going to expect us to pay for the day eventhough my 4 month old did not go today due to this, that's why she is saying it's not "cancelled". i feel i should not have to pay her b/c her child is sick and i am not putting my child in the evironment to catch it. what would you do?

Hello, after reading your post it is similar in nature to one that I had posted a while back. My provider took 1.5 weeks off and we were expected to pay. When I questioned her about this, she became very defensive. I am still in the process of looking for a new daycare. Either way, the advice I got from others is to read your contract (if you have one), but if not then you may just have to pay her for the day(s) your child is not able to go. I agree that this is not right, but there seems to be little recourse for parents.

There are certainly rights that the provider has (sick leave, vacation days, etc.), but these should be outlined in writing prior to you taking your child there. I will certainly be sure that there is a contract in place at my next daycare after getting the feedback from others on this site.

[pingaa3]

also check with your local state licensing board as she may be REQUIRED to close or have her child elsewhere if the child is infectious with something like chicken pox etc.

As a provider, I expect your child to stay home when he/she has a contagious disease. That doesn't happen more often than not.
As a mother, I would close to care for my sick child and not expect to be paid (per my contract). Not all providers feel this way.
The problem that providers run into is clients that have no back up care, therefore your provider gave you the choice whether or not to bring your child into the daycare home. Because she is open, she should be paid. We often get stuck between a rock and a hard place with parents~the needs of our clients vs the needs of our own families.

Does she have sick pay? If so, tell her to use it-she shouldn't have others exposed to the illness. If she doesn't have sick pay, she STILL needs to close-and you don't pay. Pretty easy. If you don't like her policies-you must give your two weeks and find someone you DO agree with-we are humans-we all have opinions-rights-some we feel aren't right-but on the other hand sometimes ppl don't think "we" are right-KEEPS THE WORLD going round-GOOD LUCK-I agree-I wouldn't take my child to HER AT ALL-

I do exactly the same thing about giving the parents the choice of bringing their children. Most of the time my kids get sick because of dc kids coming sick. I have had so many cases of parents knowing their kids arent feeling good and try to hide a fever with motrin or tylenol. so by the time the medicine wears off and the fever is back its too late and all the kids have been exposed. I have really changed my policies but because parents dont want to miss work they can be sneaky. I feel I should not close and be unpaid because the dc kids brought this in my house.

Most providers in my state charge a set monthly rate. The lowest rates are usually state rates.
Most (many) providers charge a flat rate (or in other words just like salary pay). The majority of the time, kids miss daycare, more than providers close. In my contract, pay is due for any absences (from parent or provider - sick, vacation, visitation, car trouble). If a parent has absences they have to still pay, but if they fussed and I weren't to make them pay a flat rate (which I do), we would change them to a daily rate, which would end up costing more, unless they missed many days. I tell them they need to pay since their spot needs to be reserved.
We are only closed 5 days a year, never called in sick or took vacation in 10 years (we will from now on), we have only sent any kids home sick 15 times or so, we are open 24/7. If a parent wants to fuss, we can arrange to charge for things we let slide (vacations, holidays, sick days, shorter hours and fewer days open, and charging them for extra days they work, late fees and over time, damages, etc...). We used to never close (not one day), not even for Christmas, but now we close 5 days a year. We have only had one closure in 10 years (a month ago for 2 days, for a new boiler installion).

Have a wonderful, joyous and blessed Christmas : )

[HomeSweetHomeDaycare]

Hi

As another Home Daycare provider I agree with the other post above...

But in my home if my child had a very contagious sickness I would close and not require pay or I would take a sick day which I have 10 days in my contract. I wouldnt want to spread it any further, but that works both ways as your child was probably already exposed to it before it showed symptons with my child.

JMO