I charge weekly for FT of 50 hours (up to 10 hour days) and hourly after that if they need more time than that. My rate is $160 per week (I'm sharing this only so that how I do things will make more sense later).

As far as how you get contracted hours to work I think the main problem (from my personal experience working with other child care providers) is that they either don't explain it individually to each client or they don't follow through with their own policies. Also having contracted schedules means having a more thorough contract/policies in place.

Important points to consider:

• Make sure that their contract has EACH childs individual contract with their schedule even if they are siblings
• Charge your flat weekly rate and cap it. Ex: $160/week for 50 hours maximum
• Explain in writing in the contract and handbook and on top of that verbally that they HAVE to adhere to their contracted times
• Charge hourly if clients need additional time and they call you in advance to arrange it
• Charge penalty fees (like late pick up fees) to clients that need more time but don't arrange it beforehand (like $1 per minute or $5 for every 15 minutes etc)
• Have the client sign a new contract with their new schedule any time that they need it to be changed or time needs to be added or reduced
• ENFORCE YOUR POLICIES AND FEES

Here is how I work. Maybe it will give you an idea (I only included the parts that are relevant to your question):

My Contract:
ITEM TWO: Business Hours, Hours of Care, Additional Care Available
1. Business Hours
a. [Daycare Name]'s normal hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
b. These hours are available for care of children but are not necessarily the hours that are allotted to the client for child care. The client’s allotted time is listed below.
2. Hours of Care
a. The parties have agreed that care provided for the child will be for:
(choose one option).

 Full-Time: Full-time care is defined as a minimum of four (4) days a week with a maximum of fifty (50) hours a week and a maximum of ten (10) hours per day.

 Part-Time: Part-time is defined as three (3) or less days a week, a maximum of 29 hours per week and a maximum of ten (10) hours per day.

b. The parties have agreed to the following schedule of care:
 Monday Hours __________ [AM/PM] to __________ [AM/PM]
 Tuesday Hours __________ [AM/PM] to __________ [AM/PM]
 Wednesday Hours __________ [AM/PM] to __________ [AM/PM]
 Thursday Hours __________ [AM/PM] to __________ [AM/PM]
 Friday Hours __________ [AM/PM] to __________ [AM/PM]
Note: _________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

c. No child will be accepted earlier or later than the scheduled hours of care unless prior arrangements have been made and agreed upon by the provider. Late arrivals do not allow for late pickups and scheduled missed days cannot be switched for unscheduled days.
....
ITEM THREE: Terms of Payment and Fees
1. Fee Agreement
a. The child care rate for the child stated in this contract will be as follows: ____$XX.xx per week_____
...
10. Early Drop-Off and Late Pick-Up Fees
a. A fee of $5.00 per every 15 minutes, or fraction thereof, will be added to the clients account for any unscheduled drop-offs made before the clients scheduled drop-off time or for any pick-ups made after the client’s scheduled pick-up time. The daycare clock will be used to determine the time.
b. All early drop-off and late pick-up fees are due no later than the clients’ next scheduled drop-off. [Notice that I don't say anything about arranging additional time ... I do this on purpose so that I can decide on a case by case basis whether or not I want to accommodate additional time to a client or not. To explain I read this part and then say "If you occasionally need an extra hour or two you can always ask me in advance and if I can accommodate it then I can do that for the additional hourly rate of $X.xx].
My Contract in Whole PDF (must be signed in to Google)

My Handbook
Hours, Services & Fees
Daycare Hours
The daycare’s regular business hours are Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. however these hours are not necessarily the hours that a client is allotted to bring their child. Unless a client is a drop-in client, hours for care will be discussed and a schedule will be set which includes a fair amount of commuting time and this will become the child’s “scheduled hours”. Care will be provided for children only during their contracted scheduled hours.

Any changes to a child’s full or part-time schedule must be discussed and reassessed and will depend on the ability for the childcare provider to meet the child’s new needs. Each time that changes to a child’s full or part-time schedule are needed a new contract must be signed.
.....
Late Pick-Up & Early Drop-Offs
Unless prior arrangements have been made with the child care provider’s approval all clients are required to adhere to their contracted schedules. Any extra time needed requires extra payment. If a child is picked up after the contracted pick-up time with no notice, they are late. If the child is dropped off before the contracted drop-off with no notice, time they are Early. No grace periods are given.

Late Pick-Up Fee
If a child is picked up later than the contracted pick-up time without advance notice the childcare provider may not be present when the client arrives to pick the child up. It will then be the responsibility of the client to either go to the childcare provider’s location to pick the child up or wait until the childcare provider returns.

A $6 fee per child will be added to the client’s account for every fifteen (15) minutes, or portion thereof, that the child is late in being picked-up past the contracted pick-up time. If however the child is picked up late passed regular business hours then a fee of $1 per minute will be added to the client’s account.

This fee is due immediately at the time of pick-up or late payment charges will apply.

Early Drop-Off Fee
There is a $6.00 fee per child for every fifteen (15) minutes, or portion thereof, that a child is dropped off earlier than the contracted drop-off time without prior approval. If however the child is dropped off before regular business hours then a fee of $1 per minute will be added to the client’s account. This fee is due immediately at the time of pick-up or late payment charges will apply. Ask in advance if a child ever needs an earlier drop-off than the contracted scheduled time to make sure that this can be accommodated, otherwise the child may be turned away and required to wait until the scheduled drop-off time.
.....
General Information

Full-Time Child Care
The rate for full-time childcare is for child care for four or five days per week and covers up to 50 hours per week and is based on enrollment, not an attendance. Full-time clients have a guaranteed spot in the daycare based on their scheduled hours whether the child attends the daycare for all of the 50 hours or not. Any additional time over 50 hours that is needed is charged at the hourly full-time rate.

Part-Time Child Care
Part-time child care is offered for either two or three days per week and is based on enrollment, not on attendance. The rate for part-time for two days a week covers up to 20 hours per week. The rate for part-time child care for three days a week covers up to 30 hours per week.
(most of my PT clients have this contract, my new PT clients are signing new contracts where they pay based on the number of days they attend and the pick-up times).

Part-time clients have a guaranteed spot in the daycare based on their scheduled hours whether the child attends the daycare for the full scheduled days and hours or not. Credit will not be given for child absences or for holidays listed on the Holiday Schedule. Any additional time over the allotted hours is charged at the hourly part-time rate.
.....
Late Arrivals
All clients must adhere to their scheduled drop-offs. The childcare provider must be notified if a child will arrive more than 15 minutes past their scheduled arrival time. If a child is more than 15 minutes late without notice it can be assumed that the child will not be present and the child’s spot may be filled and no credit will be given for the missed day.

Clients with scheduled arrival times of 7:30 a.m. or earlier are required to give notice no later than 7:00 p.m. on the previous business day if their child will arrive later than their scheduled arrival time. Many times clients with these early arrival times are the day’s first arrivals and the childcare provider wakes up according to the client’s arrival times. Advanced notice allows the childcare provider to plan a later start for the day.

Late arrivals don’t allow for late pick-ups. If a client arrives later than their scheduled arrival time they are still required to pick-up at their normal scheduled pick-up time.

My Complete Handbook PDF (must be signed in to Google account to view)

HTH you get ideas

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