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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Winter Weather & Timely Pick-ups. . . . .
momofboys 09:46 AM 02-05-2010
The weather here in central Ohio is frightful! Where I am at we've already gotten a few inches of snow (with many more predicted) & the schools announced they are releasing 2 hrs early. I think today would be a good afternoon to play games & watch a movie with my school-agers. My thoughts instantly drift to pick-up times. How do you all handle weather-related lateness? I don't have a late fee in my contract - - I know I need to change that (& I plan to VERY SOON - March 1st I think, need to get the papers to my parents) but I am certain that both my parents will be late. Heck, one of them is barely on time when the weather is good let alone bad weather. I know everyone can't just leave early but it won't be fair to me & my family to watch kids for an extra 30-45 min while everyone trucks it to my house to pick up their kids. So are you lenient when the weather is poor?
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laundryduchess@yahoo.com 10:16 AM 02-05-2010
I am,.. I always tell them,.. take your time and get here safe, Id rather have you late than dead.


Originally Posted by janarae:
The weather here in central Ohio is frightful! Where I am at we've already gotten a few inches of snow (with many more predicted) & the schools announced they are releasing 2 hrs early. I think today would be a good afternoon to play games & watch a movie with my school-agers. My thoughts instantly drift to pick-up times. How do you all handle weather-related lateness? I don't have a late fee in my contract - - I know I need to change that (& I plan to VERY SOON - March 1st I think, need to get the papers to my parents) but I am certain that both my parents will be late. Heck, one of them is barely on time when the weather is good let alone bad weather. I know everyone can't just leave early but it won't be fair to me & my family to watch kids for an extra 30-45 min while everyone trucks it to my house to pick up their kids. So are you lenient when the weather is poor?

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Pammie 10:17 AM 02-05-2010
Hi Janarae
I'm here right outside of Columbus - looking out my window and thinking the same thing

But I am lenient, and let it slide on bad weather days. I'd rather them take extra caution and get here safely - and I do tell them that when they call to tell me how bad the roads are.
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originalkat 10:46 AM 02-05-2010
Our snow is finally melting today...but I am also lenient on bad weather days. If their workplaces do not let them off early, there really isnt much they can do about the weather. One of my parents gets here at closing time EVERY day. But she works on the other side of town and gets off at 5 so that is how long it takes. On bad weather days she is bound to be late but I have never charged her.
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mac60 12:17 PM 02-05-2010
I am 3 hours north of you ladies in Columbus, and it hasn't even snowed here yet......I am impatiently waiting for it. I talked to my son Austin who is near OSU at noon, and he told me he had about 2 inches then.......send it my way.

If you know it is truly weather related, then I probably wouldn't say anything. But it would be nice if they would just give you a "little bonus" for your extra time. I mean they got paid for the whole day, and you should get paid for the extra.
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tymaboy 12:35 PM 02-05-2010
I guess I am pretty lucky. My parents take off early if theres bad weather, they think of the road conditions & dont want there kids out in it if possible. If they cant get of early I am pretty lenient unless they are have a habit of being late then I will charge them.
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momma2girls 02:27 PM 02-05-2010
Originally Posted by tymaboy:
I guess I am pretty lucky. My parents take off early if theres bad weather, they think of the road conditions & dont want there kids out in it if possible. If they cant get of early I am pretty lenient unless they are have a habit of being late then I will charge them.
Yeah, I haven't had that too much either. If it was truly, because of the weather, I wouldn't charge them, but I know some will still try and abuse it if they could!!!!!
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momofboys 03:17 PM 02-05-2010
I was actually quite surprised; my mostly late parent left work right on time & it took her an hour (only takes 20-25 min in good weather) to get here so she was on time! Our other parent works 45 min from here; he left work at 3:40 & got here at 5:10. I was impressed that he left so early- I think he gets off at 4:00 normally. So I was quite happy with how it turned out.
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misol 01:36 AM 02-06-2010
Here is what I have in my contract:

"We do not close for inclement weather. If you are able to make it to my home, I will provide care for your child. However, please remember that you will still need to arrive by your contracted pick-up time or the late pick-up fee will apply. Be sure to allow extra commuting time on days where the weather is bad."
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gbcc 06:42 AM 02-06-2010
I am lenient to a point. If everyone is complaining about weather and I can see it's bad then of course I will not charge. If only one parent who has a habit of being late to begin with, makes the claim I will charge.

For instance, I had one parent who was always 10-20 minutes late during good weather. One day she showed up 45minutes late claiming it was the weather. Now, all my other families were on time, had no issues or complaints. I explained this to her. (My late fees are $5 if it's within the first 10 minutes, $1 per minute after.) So this women had $40 in late fees which was also $10 less then her wkly fee! I fealt she was using the weather to get out of paying it. She complained about needing to pay because she couldn't help the weather. I let her go with 2 wks notice. This had been going on for 4 months and I continued to address it with her. This night my dog who was very sick had a vet appt that I had to miss and then pay outragious e-vet bills because I didn't think it should wait until the next business day. So I got charged $90 for the e-vet, paid the $45 fee for missing my original appt, the extra gas money to get to the e-vet that was 20 mintues away. So maybe I was overly emotional but my child had arrived late to games, my dog missed appointments and I wasn't willing to do it any longer.
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AfterSchoolMom 09:06 AM 02-06-2010
My contract says something very similar to Misol's - I am open during snow days, and weather related lateness will still mean late fees, as this is still "overtime" for me. I state that I don't want them to kill themselves getting here, but that I still expect to get paid for time over contracted hours. If they go to work in the morning and they know it's snowing (as they should, since they dropped their child off here due to the fact that school is closed due to snow) then they should be intelligent enough to realize that they need to leave work a bit early. If they know they won't be allowed to, they usually address it with me beforehand (during drop off) and THEN I'm usually lenient about it.
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Former Teacher 04:24 PM 02-06-2010
Ok another one of my famous memories

Once there was a HORRIBLE rainstorm and everything was being flooded. Roads were being closed etc. We closed at 6:30 and everyone but 1 parent made it by 6:00. This one parent apparently took his time doing OTHER things in this dangerous weather. He didn't get there until 7:15. Since I couldn't prove anything, I so wanted to charge him the massive late fee. However on the other hand, this family was always very good to me privately (such as a high dollar gift card when I got married and things like that) that I really didn't have the right to complain.

Besides I agree with laundryduchess: better safe than dead.
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Tags:charges, fees, overtime, pick up, snow, weather
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