Originally Posted by Play Care:
I've been toying with the idea of changing my rate structure. For those who changed, do you just change it for everyone, or change it for new families?
personally I changed mine for new clients only and kept my current clients on their old payment structure. I did however sent a notice home to notify all of my clients of the current change and let them know that as long as their contracts stayed the same they kept their current rates and structure. If they changed their contracts (like went from FT to PT, PT to FT, or their schedule changed) then they would have to sign a new contract with the new fees and new structure. Most were fine with it because my new rate structure only applied to PT clients so FT clients were unaffected. Even then my PT clients only had their rates raised by cents per day which they were all fine with. They still felt like they were getting a deal because instead of being charged per day they were being charged based on their pickup times which they though was fair.
I only had one family so far change their schedule so far and they were completely fine with it and they extended their days and so they understand that more hours mean a higher rate.
(they were here 3 days a week from 9am-3pm for a flat weekly rate of $90 and are now here 3 days per week from 8am-4pm for $102.