Ugh so I need some help. I just enrolled a child for my fall opening. During the interview I always ask what hours they are looking for, they asked how early I open and when I close said 7 earliest 5:30 latest, they said it would be then from 7 until 3:30ish I said ok. Well they dropped off the enrollment forms and deposit and told them I would look over them then copy and put them in a folder for them.

So I was looking through them and they put 6:30 as the drop off. Here's my dilema, apparently about 4 yrs ago I never noticed until this evening that in my contract I didn't change my hours so it says in there 6:30-5. I don't know what to do, 7-5:30 is already a long day, I now 6:30 is only 30 min but that is long to me especially with one that turns 2 at that time.
What do I do? That's why I ask in the interview so I kind of know before making my decision. help please..... Call her and just say we discussed the hours in the interview and you said 7 and if that will be an issue give her the deposit back? or would you suck it up and do it and have over 11 hour day?? My fear is that 6:30 will become 6:20 and so on.

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No way would I open that early for one family.
I would be honest and say I accidentally sent you an old contract please forgive me. As previously discussed in our interview our hours are 7-5:30pm. Unfortunately I cannot accommodate an earlier opening. Before moving forward I just wanted to make sure we are still on the same page as we were in the interview.

Please get back to me regarding this asap

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in advance.

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Totally agree with this response.

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I would do this too!

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Make sure you correct your contract.

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I wouldn't feel badly about any of this.

They specifically asked you and you told them 7.

But now because the paperwork says 6:30...instead of contacting you to see if there was an error in communication they instead just grab onto the 6:30 time frame and state that is their drop off time?

That behavior would concern me and cause me to make sure I was diligent in ANY rules and policies in my handbook but it appears this family will notice AND take advantage of any oversight or misprint they can.

I do agree with Daycare though and would contact them immediately and let them know the 6:30 opening time was an error.

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In my recent experience with a similar matter, I have gained the privilege to care for the best little one ever. I shifted my hours to 6:30-4 but the parent needed a 6 am drop off. I made the sacrifice because the little one is awesome. If you do not feel strongly about keeping the kiddo then do not budge. Definitely change the contract for future candidates. It also depends on the parent schedule whether the drop off time is a deal breaker or not. In my case it was worth it... so you never know!

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I definitely will change my contract, I just kept forgetting.
I would do 6:30 if I didn't have kids until 5:30, but 6-6 is a long day for me. I used to open at 6 for a family but all my kids were gone by 4 and if that was the case now, everyone gone by 4 or 4:30 I would have no problem doing it.

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I had a second interview with a client yesterday and noticed a couple errors in my handbook as I update this annually but occasionally leave out something. I told them after the interview was over that my paperwork SHOULD be updated and current but I was HUMAN therefore, if they see any inconsistencies between handbook that they keep and contract that they bring back to me to bring them to my attention. I used be a perfectionist and still am at times but can see my age creeping up on me. So, if I was you, I would just let them know you noticed a discrepancy in your contract that you forgot to correct. The actual times are xxxx to xxxx. We are human. Better to correct now than later. Good luck !

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exactly this. I also agree with BC in that it seems a little underhanded of them to ASK, receive a 7am answer and then instead of contacting you with the 6:30/7 discrepancy, write 6:30 as their drop off time.

I also would NOT want one child here an entire 30 minutes early- that's 2.5 additional hours per week, and 130 hours over the course of a year!

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I just called her and talked with her and I said that during the interview she asked earliest I was open and I said I would open as early as 7 and she said ok 7 to about 3:30 ish and she said nothing about that almost like I made it up, she then went on to say that my paperwork said 6:30 and I said yes I noticed that but I accidentally printed the old copy and I said since I always discuss this in the interview I didn't think there would be a change in hours. I apologized for the error on my part in the contract and I said will 7 work for you and she said she didn't know because she has to be a work at 7, so I am confused as to why in the interview they said 7 am would work, so she is going to talk with her husband and see if he can drop off every day, I told her that if they find that it will not work out for them I would give them the deposit back.

I know that my contract was wrong and I get that but I know that I told them my hours and I ALWAYS explain this to everyone clearly in interviews. UGH!!! Lately there has been so many issues with interviews and flakey people, I have never experienced all of this stuff before, it's frustrating.

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to be honest with you, I have gone over stuff with families only to later have them ask me the same exact questions in an email.. I know we cover a lot and that they have not realized it, even though it was discussed. Time for a lot of people is an issue with my program as I only operate 8-430pm. so some will ask me, if I can remind them of the hours.

perhaps she saw 630 and though oh maybe I misunderstood and it's not 7, it's 630...

just saying in a parents defense, I know we cover a ton and expect them to recall everything, then not to mention if they are shopping other programs, it may be difficult to piece it all together.

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That's true, I do know they interviewed with other providers. Well we will see what happens. I am changing my contract right now.
Oh how I wish I could be open only 8-5.

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Out of curiosity, how did you get to 8-4:30? Did you just tell your families your hours were changing and your families adjusted to it or did you wait until families started leaving then your new families were on those hours? I would LOVE to have those hours. Is it harder to get clients those hours??

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I absolutely disagree that it was an oversight or an overload of information.

If a specific start time is necessary (mom works AT 7) then that would something of high importance for this family. You don't go looking for daycare if it has hours that don't coincide with hours you need and that type of info (because of the mom's work time) would be something she NEEDS to know not just additional information like needing to bring 2 sets of extra clothing etc... kwim?

I'm standing by my original statement that it was underhanded of them to change the time.

I "think" DCD can drop off at 7 or after but maybe mom is trying to not go that route for whatever reason.

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Take a moment, do it now.... don't delay it any longer.

Also it seems you have open close hours but then want parents to operate as if they are on contracted hours....if that is the case why not just switch to contracted hours?

What you/they say does not matter as much as what is in writing in the contract! If a parent is paying for a spot from 7AM - 5:30PM but they say they will typically pick up at 3:30pm don't believe them. If you want them on contracted hours have the signed contract reflect the contracted hours and rates.

For this family I agree with the advice above and with you giving dcm the option to move on if the drop off time does not work for her.

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I see your point blackcat. I really couldn't believe she didn't say anything about our 7am drop off discussion during the interview on the phone when I called her about it, I am assuming she knew the time she would be starting her shift at work.

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I changed to tier rates. made the last pick-up time an outrageous amount of money and all of a sudden like magic everyone was able to pick up before 5.
the core of my program runs for 8 to 430, you need before or after that time its really going to cost you big time.

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If starting at 7 won't work for her, she can find another provider.

I've had that kind of problem in my reno field too. Made changes to my contract and then accidently print an older one. Some things on the back no longer applied. In my case, we signed the contract, I got a deposit and started the work, then the note on the back came up. Obviously I had to abide by it.

You're best to get out of it right away. Either new contract or deposit refund.

Mike

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Yes you're right I do work under "contracted hours" and it states that in my contract that their contracted hours that they put down within the 7-5:30 are their hours and not to exceed 10 and anything outside of their contracted hours needs to be authorized ahead of time.

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Agree! I had a parent who wanted care from 7:30am to 4:30pm. She told me she worked downtown at 8am and logistically speaking the distance from her house to mine plus the distance from my house to the highway would make it impossible for her to be downtown in 30 minutes. I knew she would be coming early so I figured I would renegotiate the contract once she started coming early. She started coming at 7:10 am!! Anyway luckily the mom consistantly picks her kids up at 4pm every day so we never had to renegotiate the contracted hours. I had renegotiate the contracted hours with another family who fooled me into taking their kids for 4 hours when it was a lot more than that!

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Thanks for all your thoughts on this. Yes that makes sense that she would have made that priority for drop off. Right now what makes me kind of irritated is when i said, in the interview you said hours would be 7 - 3:30ish she didn't say anything. Ugh well I haven't heard back from them so I don't know yet what they will do. Maybe her husband needs to time drop off at 7 and how long it will take him to get to work before deciding.

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But hey, he read the contract! haha..

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