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nanglgrl 07:14 AM 03-10-2021
Greetings! I’m revamping my contract but I tend to overthink and would love some help.

I offer different rates based on pick up time and days used (with a minimum of 2 days a week). I previously didn’t offer part time options but COVID, universal pre-k and the growth of unregistered of unregistered homes has forced me to adjust my business model.

Allowing part time has created some struggles with paid days off. I currently have 11 paid vacation days and 5 pre-planned paid personal days. I take unpaid vacation a week in the summer, a week in the spring and take off between Christmas Eve and New Years day (most of which is paid holidays but does include a few unpaid days). I’m unpaid when I close for any other reason than the paid holidays or 5 personal days which is rare besides my planned vacations. I’m considering adding 5 paid sick days but that’s neither hear nor there.

One problem that has popped up is the time between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day for part time clients. If they are Tuesday/Thursday clients both of their days may fall as unpaid and they will owe no tuition for the week or they may only owe tuition for one day etc.

It’s also become a problem when most of my paid personal days fall on Tuesdays when I have the least clients attending since this means most clients never pay for these days.

This wouldn’t be a problem if most of my clients were full time but is a problem since most are part time because it means I’m getting much less fully paid time off and many part time clients are never having to pay for a paid personal day and rarely having to pay for a holiday.

I feel like part time clients already reap the reward of not paying full tuition rates and allowing part timers which is more work for me. I do charge a little more for part time (if the weekly rate is broken down into hours used) but this doesn’t make up for the losses incurred when I can’t fill their opposite days.

I feel my options are either super complicated with trying to address every situation (which is what I started doing and it’s even confusing to me) and document paid personal days per client or I could just say that part-time clients pay the same rate year round regardless of attendance/closure which would be different than full time clients snd may cause confusion.

How do/would other providers approach this that would be clear and fair? I’m not trying to make more money from part time but do want to come out even and not backslide in my career.
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dolores 11:30 AM 03-10-2021
My part-timers, like full-timers, pay for every week of the year regardless of my reason for being closed. They also pay if their child is absent for any reason. This has simplified accounting/recordkeeping and provides consistent income. My part-time rates are higher (hourly) than my full-time rates so the more part-timers the greater my revenue but, for many reasons, I prefer full-timers.

My part-time contract includes the following:

SCHEDULE
Your set schedule is ______. There will be no switching or make-days. Additional day(s) may be added to set schedule at daily rate if space is available.

ABSENT DAYS
Payment must be made to hold child’s spot even when s/he is absent for any reason including vacation, illness, quarantine, late drop off and early pickup.

CLOSINGS
Payment is due for all closings including holidays, weather and other emergencies.

PS: I may give a make-up day based on family's situation however that is at my discretion and it is rare that I do.
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Tags:part time care, sliding scale, vacation policy
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