Currently I have a daily rate with a 3 day min. but I"ve been thinking of switching to a weekly rate. Should I just have 1 flat weekly rate even if someone just needs 3 days or should I go by up to so many hours it's one weekly rate and if it's above that, a different rate.
Also, if I say 30-50 hrs is full time and a holiday comes into play (I don't currently charge for holidays) and with that day, the hours would drop to under 30 for the part-time rate, would the full timer pay the part time rate?

Reply

Why is your current daily rate with a 3 day min not working for you? I actually started with one of your other options (under x hours is one rate, and over x hours is another rate). It was a NIGHTMARE keeping track of hours to make sure they didn't go over or under x hours. I currently charge a daily rate, with no minimum days (I just fill the spots I have at the time, but of course I prefer FT if at all possible).

I charge for Holidays. But in your situation, since you do not charge for Holidays, I would charge FT the FT rate (which is lower, correct?). I wouldn't want to have to pay MORE per day just because a holiday fell in a certain week.

HTH.

Reply

I don't want to do the certain hours for part time vs. full time rates because I also don't want to worry about counting hours. They should have contracted hours anyways. I would do a little adjusting so you can get the most out of your earnings. I would offer full day rates only, so if they want to only attend four hours that is fine but they pay the full day rate. I would also offer part time care but a 2 or 3 day minimum. The two day minimum would be the most expensive, then the three day would be middle of the road, and finally have one full time rate which is either 4 or 5 days. Create a maximum number of hours per day for the flat rate (8 or 9 hours) then if they need more than this (10 hours/day for ex.) then charge more.

I was stuck on only offering 3 day minimums, but when I think about it: I'm open 5 days a week M-F, so one family might be M/W/F while the other is only T/H so I may as well make two days an option as well. I was advised to set my hours to what I want. I'm choosing 7:30-5:30 right now. That is a ten hour day. Now, I would be happy to sign someone up from 7:00 to 4:30 pm, BUT I will charge extra because I'm agreeing to open thirty minutes earlier and they are also staying 9.5 hours total instead of 9. If my normal weekly rate was $120 for a full timer during normal hours, I would probably charge $130 or $135 for this case because of the early open time and exceeding 9 hours in a day.

Whatever rate plan you choose to do, make sure you have a good reason to do it. I am not going to "draw up a chart" to hang out to parents because I want to make the most of my earnings. If I told a parent I had a nine hour day limit or rates increase and they planned on staying 9.5 hours a day which (privately) raised their rates $15/week I don't want them to know if they picked up sooner they could save that $15. I obviously would give the best reasoning if it didn't benefit my schedule though like if I had one early drop off and no others, I might offer them a deal to drop off later. KWIM?

As far as your daily rate with a three-day minimum, I would have them sign a contract stating they're enrolled three days and they must pay for the three days in advance either their last day of the week for the following week or the first day of care for the following week.

Reply

I currently have a 5 day rate, 4 day rate, and 3 day rate, with 3 days being my minimum. I end up charging a little more per day for the 3 day rate because it is part time.

I too have considered going to only 2 rates....FT would be 4/5 days and PT would be 1 to 3 days. I would not keep track of hours unless it was extremely long days, I would only keep track of days. The minimum rate would be the PT rate. Not worth having a family for only 1 or 2 days per week.

Reply