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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>"No Pay, No Stay" Policy Wording Help?
AfterSchoolMom 01:01 PM 06-13-2011
For the past three years my payment policy has been payment on Friday for the upcoming week of care with a $10 per day late fee. However, I have had SOOOO many issues with parents fighting my policy that I'd like to make it short, to the point, and iron clad.

Here's what I'd like to do - change my payment day to Monday AM for the current week (so that I still get paid prior to services), but adopting a "no pay, no stay" policy. If you don't pay on Monday AM, you don't get in the door at all. No late fees, no chances, no nothing. I will probably consider exceptions on a case by case basis, IF they come to me ahead of time, but I won't advertise that fact at all.

Number one, does that sound unreasonable? Number two, how do I word that in my contract and make it CRYSTAL clear to prospective families without being harsh at interview time?
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grandmom 02:13 PM 06-13-2011
How to word is one thing, but will you enforce it?

I can't imagine enforcing it when a parent forgets their checkbook. It happens to me a lot.
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cheerfuldom 02:17 PM 06-13-2011
This does not sound unreasonable. It sounds like you need to just be prepared to enforce and appear harsh if need be regardless of the exact wording as the pp said.
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daycare 02:45 PM 06-13-2011
My payment policy states that all payments are due on the last day of teh week that thier child receives care, one week in advance. If the payment is not rec. by closing of that day, there will be a $40.00 late fee, along with a $10.00 daily fee until paid in full. Child cannot return to the Daycare until all fees are paid in full.
Any child that is absent for more than 3 days because of non payment will be terminated immediately without refund. All unpaid fees by parent will be collected in small claims court. Parents understand that they will be responsible for all court fees, out standing daycare fees, curriculum fees,late fees, and any other fees that may have occured to pursue the collection process.


I didnt have it written word for word, just something like that is how mine reads...
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Former Teacher 05:12 PM 06-13-2011
I agree with the PP that people forget their checkbook or other some lame excuse. IMO, if you make Monday your payday: then inform them that effective Monday evening at pickup if there is no payment (late fees included) then they may not come in the door Tuesday.

IME: Mondays were the worst day for being hectic and having forgetful parents
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SandeeAR 05:51 PM 06-13-2011
I have always had Monday morning as my payday. In 1 1/2 years of being open, I have had parents forget twice. Both brought the money that day at pick up.
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Abigail 06:25 PM 06-13-2011
Originally Posted by AfterSchoolMom:
For the past three years my payment policy has been payment on Friday for the upcoming week of care with a $10 per day late fee. However, I have had SOOOO many issues with parents fighting my policy that I'd like to make it short, to the point, and iron clad.
What do parents fight on your policy? I would require two weeks pay upfront to begin with. I would keep payday on Friday and have a specific time like 6:00 pm on Friday or before pickup on Friday. If you simply say "Friday" then you're likely to get a parent stopping by at 11 pm to drop it off, LOL. I would also have a one-time late fee if not paid by then of $10 or so. If the late fee plus the original weekly fee is not paid at drop-off on Monday morning, you may not attend care.
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momma2girls 06:51 PM 06-13-2011
Originally Posted by Former Teacher:
I agree with the PP that people forget their checkbook or other some lame excuse. IMO, if you make Monday your payday: then inform them that effective Monday evening at pickup if there is no payment (late fees included) then they may not come in the door Tuesday.

IME: Mondays were the worst day for being hectic and having forgetful parents
THis is what I have in my contract as well. Either pay on am or pm pick up, otherwise late fees will be added, and need to be paid in full, otherwise I will not provide care on Tues. am.
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AfterSchoolMom 04:50 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by Former Teacher:
I agree with the PP that people forget their checkbook or other some lame excuse. IMO, if you make Monday your payday: then inform them that effective Monday evening at pickup if there is no payment (late fees included) then they may not come in the door Tuesday.

IME: Mondays were the worst day for being hectic and having forgetful parents
I've had parents forget their checkbooks or forget to go to the ATM. They've had someone else (like Grandma or a friend) pick up on payday with no check. I've had them park and call their child on the phone/honk the horn for them to come out so that they didn't have to tell me face to face that they weren't paying, and go to school and pick up their child on Friday so that they didn't have to pay. I've had Dad blame Mom for the money not being there, then Mom blame Dad for the money not being there. I've had one that I've posted about before that even parks DOWN THE STREET and sends her child back in for their things to avoid paying.

I've had parents throw fits over late fees, I've had them flat out refuse to pay them, I've had them tell me that I have no right to charge them. I've had them conveniently "forget" that the money is late and stroll in on Monday with the regular check. I've called, harassed, sent notes, emails, etc. that get ignored.

Finally, just recently, I've just had them big fat leave care with no notice.

Since I do SA care, parents are well aware that it's near impossible for me to get new families during the school year. However, at this point I'd rather have them leave than get steamrolled this way any more. I'm sick of it. That's the motivation for wanting to change my policy.

None of my current families are coming back next year - two are aging out, one is moving, and I'm not welcoming one back. It's a good time to change the things that aren't working for me, and payday on Friday has been a dismal failure thus far!
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Cat Herder 05:28 AM 06-14-2011
" 'Round here we do it the American way. Sorry partner, No pay, No stay "

Write it on the bottom of a printed photo of Clint Eastwood from Man with No Name and frame it by the door.

Your policy is how I do it. I take it Fridays since most of mine feel they may forget , it's payday for them.

No cash in hand Monday and they leave with their child to run to the ATM...afterall kids love the little suckers they give and my dog appreciates the little doggie biscuits.
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AfterSchoolMom 05:51 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by :
Your policy is how I do it. I take it Fridays since most of mine feel they may forget , it's payday for them.
That would be fine too! EARLY pay is no problem!
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Blackcat31 06:24 AM 06-14-2011
I agree with catherder....Friday is payday. If they forget they cannot come in on Monday. If they try I tell them to take little Johnny and head to the nearest ATM.....and come on back with cash in hand.

I also use software that automatically adds a late fee. I am NOT a computer geek so I am sorry but I am unable to remove or reduce late fees. All my parents are aware of this. They can argue with me all they want but they also know it will do them just as much good to complain to the lightpost about it since it is not anything I have the power to control/change.

IMPO, this is more about respect and enforcement than it is about the right words to use. Your parents know your rules, they just for some reason do not think they have to actually follow them.
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dEHmom 06:39 AM 06-14-2011
Fridays are paydays for the following 2 weeks (or weekly however the parents want to do it). Mine all pay for the 2 weeks on their payday, which works out. They get paid either thursday or friday, i never asked which day, they take out the moola and hand it to me either in am or pm. doesn't matter to me. If they say oh shoot i forgot to stop at atm, then they usually run out and get it and bring it back, or i tell them monday am is fine too. BUT i know my parents wouldn't jip me. It truly is a mistake and that's fine with me.

It's in my contract payment is due the friday for the following week/2 weeks care. Payments made on monday am, will have an additional charge of $20 ($10/day) late fee. If payment is not received monday at dropoff, care will not commence until all fees are paid in full.

I can see a monday payday becoming a wednesday payday. at least on the friday it gives some wiggle room. I honestly depend on my paydays, and if i didn't receive my pay when I was expecting it, there may not be food on our table for the weekend. kwim? And the weekends are always a great time to spend money, and what if the parents don't realize the other didn't pay yet, and so mom goes shopping, and spends it all? i know that dh's payday is thursday for 2 weeks and usually by monday it's gone.
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AfterSchoolMom 07:00 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by :
what if the parents don't realize the other didn't pay yet, and so mom goes shopping, and spends it all? i know that dh's payday is thursday for 2 weeks and usually by monday it's gone.
Yes, but honestly, why should any of that be my problem? As has been said here before, I can't call my mortgage company and say "well, I thought DH paid the mortgage and I spent all my money, sorry", they're not going to give me a break.

That's what angers me the most about the whole situation. They know that the money is due. It's due every week on the same day. It's not a surprise, it's not a shock. They drop their children off at my house every morning and pick them up every afternoon. They see me and my home daily.

If it happened once in a blue moon it'd be no problem for me to say that it's ok, just drop it by on Monday. However, I just don't buy that they "forget" because it happens EVERY SINGLE WEEK. There has not been one single week all school year where everyone has paid me on time, and there have been more than a handful where NO ONE pays on time. In my case, I really believe that the "forgetting" is absolutely done on purpose.
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texascare 07:01 AM 06-14-2011
Most people in the corporte word get paid on Fridays so i have my pay day then so "they can remember". They pay at drop off --if not late fees occur starting then. You just have to have a back bone. no pay no stay. Enforce Enforce Enforce. It's your paycheck!!!
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AfterSchoolMom 07:05 AM 06-14-2011
Just wanted to add that I hope I'm not coming across as argumentative, because that's not my intention. I appreciate everyone's input, truly. I'm just simply saying that I've had a Friday payday for a couple of years and it's just not working for me.

Yep, backbone is key. It is hard, though, when parents feel they have the upperhand because they KNOW that you can't fill their spot if they leave.

I've actually thought about taking on one more family than I need (staying within limits, of course) just so that I can afford to weed the worst one out.
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momofthree 07:11 AM 06-14-2011
I used to have payments on Friday at pick-up. I was tired of parents not paying me as tried to enforce the rule that no pay no stay on Monday mornings but did not work. As I did not like confrontation with kids here or other parents. I have then changed it to email money transfer on a Sunday before the week start so parents pay in advance for the week.
I gave every parent two weeks notice of the change and since then no regrets.
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AfterSchoolMom 07:20 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by momofthree:
I have then changed it to email money transfer on a Sunday before the week start so parents pay in advance for the week.
I gave every parent two weeks notice of the change and since then no regrets.
How does that work? Is that via paypal or something similar?
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dEHmom 07:28 AM 06-14-2011
I agree with what you stated Afterschoolmom, but if you are having problems with them not paying on the friday, you're going to run into problems if they are paying on the day that you are watching their kid. kwim? it's not going to be easy to turn a child away when you open the door and they run in, and mom says i forgot my check book.

I agree that it is their responsibility, but unfortunately, people are not so responsible. For me, it's not like if they didn't pay me I could just go to their bank and take the money out myself. And for me it's not like if they didn't pay me I could still pay my bills. I expect my money on payday as I am counting on that to put food on the table for monday. If I had to wait till monday to receive payment, or tuesday or wednesday, then that's going to affect the care their child will receive.

If you think Mondays will work out well, that's great, I just don't see mondays working well for me, or lots of others. Monday will quickly turn into tuesday wednesday or thursday. I personally see the moving to monday from friday if there are already payment issues with the friday payments, being a light bulb in the parents head.

We have something to lose if we don't make a mortgage payment, we could lose our home. For the parents not paying daycare bills, oh well, they go somewhere else. They may or may not end up in court, and they may or may not have to pay you. Most people think small claims is just a joke. And don't think we'd actually follow through. Where I live, threatening small claims court does nothing. It's a 50/50 shot here whether I would win or they would win. And it's not worth it to take the time to go through the process, unless it's ALOT of money. Daycare around here is not always the most successful in court, but I also have to admit, alot of what you guys deal with in the USA doesn't happen very often here. It does happen, but not nearly as much. Daycare is SO HARD TO FIND around here that no one is willing to mess up a good thing. And being a small community, they know that if they tarnish their name, they will never find another daycare, or at least not one that they'd want to take their kids to.

wow i wrote a novel, sorry.
I know you are not being argumentative. It's ok, take a look at the date it's that time around here.

I'm just expressing my opinion on the monday payments, as I see that being much more of a heart ache then beneficial.
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dEHmom 07:29 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by AfterSchoolMom:
How does that work? Is that via paypal or something similar?
i have been wondering the same thing. I know if we bank in the same place we can do member to member transfers. i think paypal charges a fee over a certain dollar amount to transfer that to your bank account. i could be wrong, or maybe that $ amount is much higher than our payments would be?
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sharlan 07:30 AM 06-14-2011
Here's a good one for you............my daughter works for a group of centers. She had to call several families to come pick up their children yesterday for non payment.

One father told her that he had already paid for the whole summer. He had the check # and amount - $35. She politely explained that was the registration fee, not the daycare charges. He said no, that was for the summer as summer school is free, right? Yes, summer school is free, but summer DAYCARE is not.

What a deal, 2 kids, from 7 AM to 6 PM, 5 days a week for 10 weeks!!!!!!!!!! That comes out to something like $.30 an hour.
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Zoe 07:44 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:
Here's a good one for you............my daughter works for a group of centers. She had to call several families to come pick up their children yesterday for non payment.

One father told her that he had already paid for the whole summer. He had the check # and amount - $35. She politely explained that was the registration fee, not the daycare charges. He said no, that was for the summer as summer school is free, right? Yes, summer school is free, but summer DAYCARE is not.

What a deal, 2 kids, from 7 AM to 6 PM, 5 days a week for 10 weeks!!!!!!!!!! That comes out to something like $.30 an hour.
Oh Man!
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dEHmom 07:51 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by sharlan:
Here's a good one for you............my daughter works for a group of centers. She had to call several families to come pick up their children yesterday for non payment.

One father told her that he had already paid for the whole summer. He had the check # and amount - $35. She politely explained that was the registration fee, not the daycare charges. He said no, that was for the summer as summer school is free, right? Yes, summer school is free, but summer DAYCARE is not.

What a deal, 2 kids, from 7 AM to 6 PM, 5 days a week for 10 weeks!!!!!!!!!! That comes out to something like $.30 an hour.
WOW!
I used to work for a call center, and we dealt 99% with American clients. This is in no way meant as disrespect to you, because I love you all. But honestly, the calls we would get were from anything from Acuvue rebates to wine rebates and everything in between. We also dealt with orders for those little inserts in your credit card statements for crappy products for a couple bux and up! yep, you would not believe the stupidity of people. They would order the products, prices clearly marked beside them, read us their credit card number, we would confirm the number, total charge, and shipping timeframe. Then we'd get called back and screamed at because the items were supposed to be free. ummm????????????????? then WHY WOULD WE TAKE YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER, AND WHY WOULD WE TELL YOU A TOTAL $. or people who just would send in rebates for contact lenses and did not even come close to meeting the requirements, didn't put their name on the form, or didn't mail it for 2 years, and expect their rebate....hmmm......some people just have no common sense, courtesy, or brains period. camp for a week through the school doesn't even cost 35 dollars. lol.
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MarinaVanessa 07:59 AM 06-14-2011
Wow, $0.30 an hour. What a deal! <-- can you smell the sarcasm. Sometimes I wonder about people today. It's like someone forgot to add the common sense ingredient into the batch when they were being made.

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I also use software that automatically adds a late fee.
Just curious as to the name of the software that you use is. I don't personally invoice them or anything but I was thinking about doing it because of Nan's idea about adding in the amount they save in discounts and such for my SIL to see how much she's saving. You think you have problems? My SIL gets an awesome rate here AND my MIL pays for half of that AND she still can't seem to pay me on time BUT she can go to San Diego and then Las Vegas for weekends at a time ... but that's another thread .
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Blackcat31 08:12 AM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
Just curious as to the name of the software that you use is. I don't personally invoice them or anything but I was thinking about doing it because of Nan's idea about adding in the amount they save in discounts and such for my SIL to see how much she's saving. You think you have problems? My SIL gets an awesome rate here AND my MIL pays for half of that AND she still can't seem to pay me on time BUT she can go to San Diego and then Las Vegas for weekends at a time ... but that's another thread .
I actually use MMK, but I told my parents that (about automated late fees etc.) because taking the ability to negotiate out of the scenario solves this problem completely 100%. They can complain about it and I can be empathetic and understanding but they cannot argue with software...kwim?

Since I added that to my contract, I have honestly had zero issues with payments. (several years now) I have had a couple late payments on Monday mornings but they have included the late fees without me even having to mention it at all.
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Live and Learn 08:47 AM 06-14-2011
Why don't you set up a payment schedule like this:

Friday payment $200
Monday payment $220
Tuesday payment $240
and so on.
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My Daycare 03:26 PM 06-14-2011
Originally Posted by Live and Learn:
Why don't you set up a payment schedule like this:

Friday payment $200
Monday payment $220
Tuesday payment $240
and so on.
I like this! It's short & up front.
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My Daycare 03:32 PM 06-14-2011
How about...

No matter what, I will never forget to give your child the best care in the world.

While they are with me, I will never forget to feed them and meet their most important needs.

However, I will forget to answer the door when lack of payment makes perfect care for your child impossible to provide.
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Holiday Park 12:39 PM 11-08-2012
Originally Posted by My Daycare:
How about...

No matter what, I will never forget to give your child the best care in the world.

While they are with me, I will never forget to feed them and meet their most important needs.

However, I will forget to answer the door when lack of payment makes perfect care for your child impossible to provide.
Hitting the "like " button on this one !!
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coolconfidentme 01:17 PM 11-08-2012
If you don't want to mess with the actual contact with DCP, you can have them deposit the money in a bank account on Friday, giving their name to the teller for credit to them. (My bank does that)

If the money isn't there, send them a text or email advising, "I'm sorry to inform you, ___ bank records does not show a deposit made for your child care fees. Per policy, fees are due on Friday to insure your child's placement in ___ daycare. You will need to bring your balance to a current status (including late fees) for your child to be reinstated into ___ daycare. Thank you for your prompt attention in this matter."
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Tags:enforcing policies - consistency, payment policy, policy
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