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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Paying Daycare When You Are On Vacation
SYP28 05:43 PM 12-30-2010
I am new here and a little bit confused about when to pay my daycare provider. How does it work do I still have to pay her when I am on vacation? and also when she is on vacation?

Thanks
SYP28
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QualiTcare 11:09 PM 12-30-2010
what did your contract say? that's all that matters. everyone has a different opinion, but what it boils down to is what you agreed to.

i personally (when i ran a home daycare) gave the parents ONE WEEK of unpaid vacation. that meant if they took vacation (for up to one week) they didn't have to pay me. when i was on vacation, they didn't have to pay me. i didn't have many children - and i was lucky that the parents typically planned their vacation for the same week i had vacation. had they planned their vacation on a different week from me - they wouldn't have had to pay me for my week (but would've had to find alternate care) and they wouldn't have to pay for their ONE week of vacation (in which their child wouldn't be with me).

others feel differently. they get paid for their vacation AND their parents have to pay when THEY go on vacation. it just depends. you need to look at the contract you signed. i may not think it's "fair" if you ask me - and you may not think it's "fair" but if you agreed to it and signed up for it - then it's fair.
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Cat Herder 05:39 AM 12-31-2010
Every provider is a bit different. Read your contract again. I am convinced that 99% of issues could be avoided if parents really took the time to read and understand the policies and procedures before signing on the care. I know it can be a pain, especially if you have several kids/providers/schedules to keep up with, but it really is very important.

If your provider does not have a written and complete contract, send her here. Good luck, I hope you get the situation resolved fast, I know I do not like feeling in limbo, myself.
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MarinaVanessa 06:47 AM 12-31-2010
Think of it this way. Daycare providers normally charge weekly for their services, this guarantees you that they will be available to watch your child and also guarantees them that they will have income and financial stability. Daycare providers depend on the income that you pay to take care of their own financial responsibilities which also include daycare needs. If you decide to go on vacation, the daycare is still "open", you just decided not to use the services. The daycare provider can't always fill your spot just for that time that you are away and so may lose this income but you are still guaranteed to have that spot reserved for you when you return. Is that fair?

Another way to see it is like this: If you sign up for a membership at a gym to use their "services" and you don't go for a week or two do they still charge you for that time that you don't go? Yes. would you ever ask them for a "free" week? Probably not. If you have a cell phone and pay for those "services" but you don't use the phone very much, don't use up all of your minutes or go on a weeks' vacation and don't take your phone with you would you ask them to prorate you? No, not likely.
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Abigail 01:10 PM 01-02-2011
SYP28, you should call your daycare provider to clarify. Open communication is very important. If you have a handbook or contract, any papers she gave you when you chose her daycare.....read over those and give her a call after hours to clarify.
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Unregistered 01:54 PM 05-30-2012
We gave notice that our daughter is leaving the in home daycare effective June 22. We got our final bill & our provider tacked on her vacation pay for the week of vacation she is taking at the end of JULY. We don't believe we are obligated to pay this as we will no longer be using her services.
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Blackcat31 02:08 PM 05-30-2012
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
We gave notice that our daughter is leaving the in home daycare effective June 22. We got our final bill & our provider tacked on her vacation pay for the week of vacation she is taking at the end of JULY. We don't believe we are obligated to pay this as we will no longer be using her services.
I don't think that is right either. Does your contract say anything about having to pay for a certain number of vacation days no matter how long you are enrolled?

I think she may be trying to pull a fast one but that is just my opinion. I would venture to say though that you are NOT obligated to pay for the July vacation unless it says you must explicitly in your contract.
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MarinaVanessa 02:12 PM 05-30-2012
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
We gave notice that our daughter is leaving the in home daycare effective June 22. We got our final bill & our provider tacked on her vacation pay for the week of vacation she is taking at the end of JULY. We don't believe we are obligated to pay this as we will no longer be using her services.
What does your contract agreement and policies say? If there is nothing in the policies about you being required to pay for the provider's paid vacation if you terminate your agreement before she goes on vacation then you aren't liable to pay for that fee.

However if your contract or policies say that the provider's vacation is paid even if the parent terminates the agreement before the provider goes on vacation then unfortunately you are bound to that agreement.

For example here is what I have in my policies:
Originally Posted by :
Provider Vacation
The provider is allotted 5 days of paid vacation at the normal weekly rate. Any additional days taken for vacation within the same calendar year will not require payment. It is the client's responsibility to find and fund alternative care during this time. The provider's vacation is available for use immediately after the contract signing. The provider’s vacation is paid regardless of any other term in the contract and the client is required to pay for the provider’s vacation if the client terminates the child care contract and the child care provider has not yet taken her vacation during the current calendar year.
I also give my families one week of "free" family vacation time which most of my clients take during the same week that I am on vacation, this prevents them from having to pay me and another provider at the same time. Many providers are doing this now because many times clients would sign up and agree to pay for the providers vacation time, take their own "free" family vacation time, stay for a little under a year and then two weeks before the providers took their vacations the clients would put in their two week's notices to prevent from having to pay for the provider's vacation. If your provider has a similar policy then you will be required to pay. The good thing is that now you are aware of this issue and you can now make sure that the next child care provider does not have this policy.

What does your contract/policies say?
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MikeR 05:41 AM 01-08-2013
I'm reading about what's fair and not fair. Well this is my situation. My wife and I combined have 9 weeks of vacation. We might take a week of that together. So last year for example, we paid our daycare provider for 8 weeks for time-off we took. The contract does state that when we request time-off we are to pay her 1/2 the weekly rate, which is fine. The contract, however, does NOT state anything about us having to pay her for time-off requested by her. She called in a total of 3 weeks last year, that per the contract, we were not obligated to pay her but we did. So in this case, how much time is too much? She was paid for 8 weeks at half the rate for our vacations, 3 weeks at half the rate that she was requested (not in contract), plus 9 holidays paid at full rate that was included in the contract; a total of almost 3 months of paid time-off. Is that fair? I think she's taking advantage of us and my two kids are her only 'clients', despite saying for a year she's getting more kids. Should I be getting a 'daily activities' sheet? I mean I would like to see what activities my kids do througout the day, when and what they eat - something to show what $300/week gets me!
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Unregistered 12:30 PM 06-13-2013
Me too, In the contract doesn't say anything about paying her for her vacation, now she is taking a vacation for 3 days of 5 days in the week and we have to pay her on tuesday evening 130$ like if she had our son for all the week and we also pay her for every holiday that she doesn't work and etc, and is not included in the contract so how do you approach a daycare provider on that without ended up been a trouble??
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Blackcat31 12:36 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Me too, In the contract doesn't say anything about paying her for her vacation, now she is taking a vacation for 3 days of 5 days in the week and we have to pay her on tuesday evening 130$ like if she had our son for all the week and we also pay her for every holiday that she doesn't work and etc, and is not included in the contract so how do you approach a daycare provider on that without ended up been a trouble??
I wouldn't worry about being in trouble...just ask her to clarify.

I charge families for holidays (NOT all of them, just a couple) but I clearly spell out which ones so there is NO confusion for anyone

I also charge for MY vacation time but again, it is CLEARLY marked on a calendar so there is no confusion about which ones and when.

I charge for a total of 10 days per year.

I would just ask your provider about her policies. I can't imagine why she would be upset that you ask for clarification.
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Cradle2crayons 12:36 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Me too, In the contract doesn't say anything about paying her for her vacation, now she is taking a vacation for 3 days of 5 days in the week and we have to pay her on tuesday evening 130$ like if she had our son for all the week and we also pay her for every holiday that she doesn't work and etc, and is not included in the contract so how do you approach a daycare provider on that without ended up been a trouble??
Just ask them to clarify what portions you are confused about.
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littlemissmuffet 12:42 PM 06-13-2013
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Me too, In the contract doesn't say anything about paying her for her vacation, now she is taking a vacation for 3 days of 5 days in the week and we have to pay her on tuesday evening 130$ like if she had our son for all the week and we also pay her for every holiday that she doesn't work and etc, and is not included in the contract so how do you approach a daycare provider on that without ended up been a trouble??
I agree with the other posters who recommend asking for calrification. However, I don't believe you are obligated to pay your provider for vacation days nor holiday days if this wasn't part of the contract you agreed to and signed. I make it very clear to my clients during the interview that my vacation days, holiday days and 5 sick/personal days are PAID each year - and they must sign off on this in our contract with eachother. If this wasn't discussed and you didn't sign anything agreeing to it, you don't owe... but you will likely be left looking for a new provider.
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DaisyMamma 06:29 PM 06-17-2013
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
Think of it this way. Daycare providers normally charge weekly for their services, this guarantees you that they will be available to watch your child and also guarantees them that they will have income and financial stability. Daycare providers depend on the income that you pay to take care of their own financial responsibilities which also include daycare needs. If you decide to go on vacation, the daycare is still "open", you just decided not to use the services. The daycare provider can't always fill your spot just for that time that you are away and so may lose this income but you are still guaranteed to have that spot reserved for you when you return. Is that fair?

Another way to see it is like this: If you sign up for a membership at a gym to use their "services" and you don't go for a week or two do they still charge you for that time that you don't go? Yes. would you ever ask them for a "free" week? Probably not. If you have a cell phone and pay for those "services" but you don't use the phone very much, don't use up all of your minutes or go on a weeks' vacation and don't take your phone with you would you ask them to prorate you? No, not likely.
Well said.
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daycaremum 08:49 AM 06-18-2013
It doesn't matter what any of us say. What does your contract with your provider say? If she is asking for monies that aren't stated in your contract you need to ask her to show you where this is agreed in the contract. If you are in doubt about to pay her while you are on holidays, ask her to show you in the contract what her policy is regarding this.

Every provider does things differently, all you need to know is what your provider does.
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MissAnn 04:37 AM 11-08-2016
Originally Posted by allenkain:
I have heard of it before. So it is not to strange. As a business owner I don't receive paid vacation. So I would have to say since she owners her own business I don't think she should. But I totally understand her getting a vacation, but I feel it shouldn't be paid. Because you will have to pay for a sitter during that time.
In my policies I say it is important to have backup care. I take holidays, 1 week paid vacation and one week unpaid. I also have 7 personal days....all paid. Parents get 1 vacation week they don't pay. I have to pay my own medical insurance.....going up to $1600/month. My rates are very low. I dont earn a huge profit. It doesn't matter to me if you get vacation pay from your job......I have a college degree and over 20 years experience and I've earned my unpaid time off. It's spelled out in my policies and if it's a deal breaker.....parents should look elsewhere. I have a waiting list.
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Unregistered 09:54 PM 05-11-2018
So I’ve been paying my step-sister for over a year for watching my daughter. I work from 2pm to 11:30pm and sometimes even until 1:30am. My ex-husband works at the same company as I yet he works from 11pm until like 6:30am unless he works overtime too, I don’t know. Anyways I don’t really know anyone here where I live besides my family and all of my family works at the same place with the same hours as me minus my step-Mom and my step-sis. So my step-sis lives at my Dads house with him and her mom. My step-sis has a son that is a month older than my daughter. My dad lives about 10min away from me but they said that my daughter can just sleep there during the week so when I get off of work, I won’t have to wake her up to bring her home. So my step-sis is suppose to take her to school with her son; they go to the same school... they are 8 years old. Anyways I think my ex and I are being taken advantage of by her. We pay her every other week so one week I pay her 250 the following week my ex pays her 250 the next week I do. So she gets paid every week. When we first started having her watch our daughter we said she would get paid 200 then when last year summer hit she demanded more due to the kids being home all day and not in school and making excuses saying she needs more money and money to buy my daughter clothes and shampoo and food for the kids etc mind you she lives at home I’m not stupid my Dad pays for the food in their house and my daughter doesn’t go thru shampoo that much either and I can clearly buy my daughter the clothes she needs. Anyways so the prices goes up from 200 to 250... I know that’s pretty cheap compared to some people esp when my daughter even stays the night but mind you this is family I think I shouldn’t even have to be paying family! Anyways so here we are well over a year and yet I’m still paying her 250 when it isn’t even summer! And that’s because if I don’t my step sis is a huge bitch and will cause problems if she don’t get her way cuz she’s so spoiled it’s bs! Until last week I finally put my foot down and she had a job interview for two days so she didn’t pick my daughter up from school her mom did and then Thirs and Fri I didn’t go to work and had my daughter so I had to pay my step sis that week and paid her Thursday and I paid her 150 since she technically only had my daughter 3 days actually less... I sent her a note with the money thru PayPal explaining why and she lost it... “where is the other 100” “give me my money now” “you better hope I don’t see your hoe ass or I will beat you”... I never replied. She is older than me by 4 years mind you. It’s been a week and we still haven’t spoke. I told me ex what happened and he doesn’t care! I know anyone else would have told the babysitter they were fired and have not tolerated that. So I don’t want to pay her yet I have no choice because I have no one else to watch her yet my ex doesn’t work the same shift as me so we technically don’t even need a babysitter and on top of that he goes over to my Dads to spend time with our daughter for like 4 hours... so why do I need to pay my step-sis for when my daughters own Dad watches her? Or when half the time in the mornings my step-sis isn’t the one getting my daughter ready for school it’s my Dad that is and he even sometimes takes her to school! And my stupid ex pays my step-sis the same amount as me when he is over there... he’s paying her for him taking care of his daughter. I don’t get it and I don’t get why my ex can’t help me put her in her place and tell her when you don’t work you don’t get paid! My step mom was trying to compare to a daycare yet this isn’t a daycare and on top of that a daycare drug test (my step sis would fail that’s how she didn’t get that job a few weeks ago) and a daycare watches the kid and doesn’t throw the kid off on their Mom to go out and do whatever! Also when the daycares employees don’t show up for work guess what they don’t get paid! I’ve tried asking my step-Mom if I could just pay her instead since she has my daughter most of the time but she pretty much said no! Oh and Christmas time I had a week off of work so did my ex and so my daughter was over at his house the whole week with him and my step sis expected me to pay her... um no! You didn’t have my daughter at all, wtf! Soo... what would someone do in this type of situation?
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lblanke 02:58 AM 05-12-2018
I would not let anyone watch my child who acted like that or who was on drugs. What are you thinking having her supervised by this person, especially since you said technically you do not need care. If you do not even need care, just adjust nap times and betimes so that you can pick up your own child after work and take her to school. It does not sound like you are getting quality child care. Why would you let someone who would fail a drug test be around your child, let alone be responsible for them???? I would not pay her to watch my child, nor would I let her do it for free.
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lblanke 03:08 AM 05-12-2018
If your husband works at 11 PM, and you are not off until 11:30 (sometimes 1:30 AM), you do need someone to watch your child for that time when you are both working. Adjust your schedules and watch your own child or find other care arrangements. DO NOT LET SOMEONE WHO IS ON DRUGS SUPERVISE YOUR CHILD FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME. Can you change your hours so that you can use the school before or aftercare program (most have them at reasonable rates)?
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Cat Herder 04:53 AM 05-12-2018
Situations like this are why we don't recommend working with friends or family. Both sides expect special treatment. It leads to resentment.

"Soo... what would someone do in this type of situation?"

Find another provider and don't mix family and money in the future. Also, finding jobs more conducive to parenting would be a top priority.

Good luck! That sounds like a tough position to be in.
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mommyneedsadayoff 01:08 PM 05-12-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
So I’ve been paying my step-sister for over a year for watching my daughter. I work from 2pm to 11:30pm and sometimes even until 1:30am. My ex-husband works at the same company as I yet he works from 11pm until like 6:30am unless he works overtime too, I don’t know. Anyways I don’t really know anyone here where I live besides my family and all of my family works at the same place with the same hours as me minus my step-Mom and my step-sis. So my step-sis lives at my Dads house with him and her mom. My step-sis has a son that is a month older than my daughter. My dad lives about 10min away from me but they said that my daughter can just sleep there during the week so when I get off of work, I won’t have to wake her up to bring her home. So my step-sis is suppose to take her to school with her son; they go to the same school... they are 8 years old. Anyways I think my ex and I are being taken advantage of by her. We pay her every other week so one week I pay her 250 the following week my ex pays her 250 the next week I do. So she gets paid every week. When we first started having her watch our daughter we said she would get paid 200 then when last year summer hit she demanded more due to the kids being home all day and not in school and making excuses saying she needs more money and money to buy my daughter clothes and shampoo and food for the kids etc mind you she lives at home I’m not stupid my Dad pays for the food in their house and my daughter doesn’t go thru shampoo that much either and I can clearly buy my daughter the clothes she needs. Anyways so the prices goes up from 200 to 250... I know that’s pretty cheap compared to some people esp when my daughter even stays the night but mind you this is family I think I shouldn’t even have to be paying family! Anyways so here we are well over a year and yet I’m still paying her 250 when it isn’t even summer! And that’s because if I don’t my step sis is a huge bitch and will cause problems if she don’t get her way cuz she’s so spoiled it’s bs! Until last week I finally put my foot down and she had a job interview for two days so she didn’t pick my daughter up from school her mom did and then Thirs and Fri I didn’t go to work and had my daughter so I had to pay my step sis that week and paid her Thursday and I paid her 150 since she technically only had my daughter 3 days actually less... I sent her a note with the money thru PayPal explaining why and she lost it... “where is the other 100” “give me my money now” “you better hope I don’t see your hoe ass or I will beat you”... I never replied. She is older than me by 4 years mind you. It’s been a week and we still haven’t spoke. I told me ex what happened and he doesn’t care! I know anyone else would have told the babysitter they were fired and have not tolerated that. So I don’t want to pay her yet I have no choice because I have no one else to watch her yet my ex doesn’t work the same shift as me so we technically don’t even need a babysitter and on top of that he goes over to my Dads to spend time with our daughter for like 4 hours... so why do I need to pay my step-sis for when my daughters own Dad watches her? Or when half the time in the mornings my step-sis isn’t the one getting my daughter ready for school it’s my Dad that is and he even sometimes takes her to school! And my stupid ex pays my step-sis the same amount as me when he is over there... he’s paying her for him taking care of his daughter. I don’t get it and I don’t get why my ex can’t help me put her in her place and tell her when you don’t work you don’t get paid! My step mom was trying to compare to a daycare yet this isn’t a daycare and on top of that a daycare drug test (my step sis would fail that’s how she didn’t get that job a few weeks ago) and a daycare watches the kid and doesn’t throw the kid off on their Mom to go out and do whatever! Also when the daycares employees don’t show up for work guess what they don’t get paid! I’ve tried asking my step-Mom if I could just pay her instead since she has my daughter most of the time but she pretty much said no! Oh and Christmas time I had a week off of work so did my ex and so my daughter was over at his house the whole week with him and my step sis expected me to pay her... um no! You didn’t have my daughter at all, wtf! Soo... what would someone do in this type of situation?
If you want reliable care, then you pay someone to do , regardless of attendance. It doesn't matter if they're family or not. But you think you shouldn't even pay family. Even though they have your daughter at their house overnight, and what looks to be almost 24/7. Do you ever see your child? Personally, I think 250 is cheap. It sounds like you don't want to pay anything, yet you want someone to be available for long evening hours and overnights. You can give it a shot and go to a daycare center, but I'm sure they won't allow those hours, and anyone else besides family, you'll pay quite a bit more. But it might be worth it to keep family and business separate.
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amberrose3dg 04:06 AM 05-14-2018
Originally Posted by mommyneedsadayoff:
If you want reliable care, then you pay someone to do , regardless of attendance. It doesn't matter if they're family or not. But you think you shouldn't even pay family. Even though they have your daughter at their house overnight, and what looks to be almost 24/7. Do you ever see your child? Personally, I think 250 is cheap. It sounds like you don't want to pay anything, yet you want someone to be available for long evening hours and overnights. You can give it a shot and go to a daycare center, but I'm sure they won't allow those hours, and anyone else besides family, you'll pay quite a bit more. But it might be worth it to keep family and business separate.
If I was your step-sister I would politely tell you to go away. You sound entitled and think she owes you something. If you were paying someone else to watch her those amount of hours it be double that most likely. You could rearrange your schedule to work different shift. I can tell you also be required to pay for her "spot" even when she isn't there.
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