Hello,

Our provider has requested payment for Thanksgiving - 22/23 of last month. I would not have questioned this since our agreement states that this is a paid holiday. However, our provider closed as of the friday before Thanksgiving and left for vacation overseas and only just reopened today. Our agreement states that no payment is due when provider closes for vacation or illness. So this situation is unusual in that she was closed without pay over a paid holiday....we like our provider, but I personally feel that since she chose to take vacation over a paid holiday, I should not have to pay.

Opinions?

Thanks.
BroMoney

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Our agreement states that no payment is due when provider closes for vacation or illness.

If the above is stated right in the contract you have with her I'd quote it and expect her to abide by her word.

If she has a problem with it she should revise her contract so she can charge in that event in the future, imho it wouldn't be fair for her to do so this time.

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Do you like your provider enough to keep her happy by paying her for this one day? Consider it a bonus maybe.

My contract says even my vacation is paid. Maybe you're lucky by having one that doesn't charge for vacation. Just saying.

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I would say that if your contract says that any days that your provider takes off for vacation is unpaid and certain holidays are paid and a holiday falls during a time that she is on vacation then she is still eligible for the holiday to be paid.

I suppose she could have just given you notice for her vacation a little bit different ... for example she could have said that she would be closed on November 22nd for the Thanksgiving Holiday and would be on vacation from November 23rd to November 30th ... but in all honestly I feel like it's just playing semantics games. I doubt she's trying to sneak in an extra day that she isn't due, you did sign to agree to pay for this day and she isn't charging you for the rest of the time that she took off so I really think that I personally wouldn't turn this into an issue.

I really think this holiday should be paid since that what the contract/policies say.

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I absolutely agree.

(My vacation is paid, so if all you're having to pay is for the 22/23 then that's great.)

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ditto!!! My clients would be paying for my vacation and the holiday. U are a fortunate one to not have to pay her vacation.

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This isn't about whether a provider charging for their personal vacations is right or wrong. It's a choice for both provider and parent, and something that's included in the contract they both agreed to abide by. I disagree with people here asserting that this parent should in a sense be counting their lucky stars that they're not charged more. That's ridiculous.

It all boils down to what the contract states, and if there is confusion with that it ought to be clarified on the providers end.

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As a parent, I think paying for the holidays is fair. She likely took her vacation over the holidays so that she would be paid for some of the days and to make it more convienent to parents (who would likely have a couple of days off work and would not have to arrange for alternate care). I've worked in two professional offices in my career and in both cases employees of every department/level frequently used a vacation day adjacent to a company paid holiday. You could view it as she took vacation time, was closed for the holidays, then took additional vacation time.

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you should pay for her holidays because she listed that day as a paid holiday. that was a day she had off as a paid holiday. the other days were unpaid vacation. makes perfect sense to me. just because she was on vacation before and after thanksgiving, does not give you a freebie on the paid holidays because even if she was not on vacation, these still would have been paid holidays. why she closed before and after the paid holidays have nothing to do with the fact that she should be paid for thanksgiving. its two separate issues to me.

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I used to take off the week in February when my own kids were out of school to go skiing. Monday (President's Day) was a paid holiday for me per my contract, but the other 4 days were unpaid vacation days. I did this for almost 10 years and never once had a family complain about paying for my holiday.

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Regardless of when she chose to take her vacation, if her contract states that those 2 dates are paid holidays, then you need to pay them per your agreement. Her combining her unpaid vacation with the overlap of a paid holiday is a moot point. She may have structured it that way because she needed to financially, to have a little income so her family time didnt cost them to be late on bills, buy fewer groceries, etc.

On a side note, and this is not contract-related and is just my opinion, but your provider takes care of your child, the most precious thing in your whole life, and most providers are underpaid for all of the love, care, and attention that they put into children. Take care of your provider, pay her what you owe, and don't think twice about it.

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This was stated to you as a paid holiday from day one, in your agreement. A lot of us choose to vacation around our paid holidays so we can take a week off and only lose 3 or 4 days pay. Unlike our clients, we don't get all the benefits of paid time off, lunch breaks, health insurance. We get a few paid holidays... and the best part is, most of our clients complain about that.

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I have the same policy as your provider but I also usually take my vacation over a holiday. I figure I am doing them a favor since I will already be closed on the holiday. This way they have fewer days to find a back-up provider. I could just as easily take a different week vacation but then they would need back-up for more days.

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Since she requested it, your provider obviously expects to be paid for the holiday (which, you already gareed to pay for) despite the fact that it lands on her unpaid vacation time. I suggest asking your provider to clarify the policy and maybe mention that it could be confusing for clients so she can avoid having this issue in the future.
Meanwhile, hold up your end of the agreement and pay your provider for the holiday!

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Also, just kind of realized this but my agreement reads that I will be paid for xx holidays and they are listed. It also states OTHER THAN THE BELOW LISTED HOLIDAYS, you are not required to pay me if I am unavailable to watch your children" - to me that's pretty clear that even I take the week of Thanksgiving off, I would still be paid for Thanksgiving.

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Duplicate posting....

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