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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Saving a Space For No Charge???
CurtainCrawlerCaretaker 07:44 AM 04-01-2014
So here is my situation. I've had 4 yr dcb mon-thurs for about a year now. Mom pays every 2 weeks. In January on a thurs her dad fell down and never recovered. Her husband called me only on the Monday night to tell me that dcb was away with mom and wouldn't be returning anytime soon. I was wondering why he didn't' show up that day. Can I hold the spot (for free) and fill it while he is gone, but he needs it back when he returns. Ok, well it doesn't really work that way, but they were grieving I did want to give them a break. At least she had paid me for the 2 weeks just before she left. That 2 weeks pay would covered the last week he was here and the next week he wasn't. So fast forward to the end of Feb. I contact them again to see how things are going and what the situation is(at this point I didn't know her father had passed because they hadn't stayed in touch) and the father says dcb will return the next week feb 24. OK, this is good. I've been holding the spot as nobody wants just temp care when they could get the boot any day. So i've had him 17 days since Feb 24. She finally pays me yesterday for only 13 days. I text her saying she miscounted. Late last night it dawned on me what she did. She was counting that last week that she paid for before she had to leave town toward when she started back with me at the end of Feb! I held her spot for 4 weeks for her and waited 8 weeks to get paid. Wasn't I being generous enough??? How do I say this politely, or can I say it just like that? I'm so frustrated.
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butterfly 08:52 AM 04-01-2014
Do you have a contract? What does your contract say? Without a contract, it's a hard battle to win...

Since they didn't technically leave care (you were saving a spot), I can see the parents point of view...

I totally get where you are coming from, but if you didn't speak up to begin with it's hard to come back now and say that you need X amount more money.

In the future, I'd try to do a better job communicating your expectations.


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nannyde 09:05 AM 04-01-2014
Holding a spot for a family member passing is something I would not do. I wouldn't allow no notice either. These are things the FAMILY needs to prepare for. They have to pay their regular life bills when they are dealing with family crisis. They have to pay their rent even if they are out of town and not using the property. They have to pay their internet and phone. They have to pay their cable and the utility company to keep their utilities going.

Child care is the same as all the other bills. If they requested leniency they need to go to their own family to help them pay their bills. Going to a child care provider and asking for concessions isn't any different than going to a landlord and just being willing to pay the rent for the time they were in the apartment after the family member passed.

You can sympathize by saying words like "I'm sorry for your loss" and still be socially acceptable. You don't have to get involved in their money issues when they have a family crisis. Other services they use will not forgive their obligations. It's very very very rude to even ask.
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CurtainCrawlerCaretaker 09:07 AM 04-01-2014
Yes, my contract does say that 2 weeks notice is required. When dad dropped off this morning he handed me the money and never said a word about it. I could tell he was irritated. After he left, I counted the cash and they overpaid me a day! Jeez. The text I sent mom said the amount owing. This is the 2nd family to screw up pay from March. Oh well. At least I wasn't shorted again!
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cheerfuldom 02:44 PM 04-01-2014
well you really need to adjust your contract to address these situations in the future. pay is based on enrollment and not attendance. if someone has to leave suddenly, no matter the reason, the 2 weeks notice is still due in full. at least they have started again even though it was a months wait and in this situation, i would just leave it be. it is frustrated that they will definitely be mad about the one weeks pay and conveniently forgot they had a spot held and you went without income the other weeks. i would remind them of that if it comes up again.
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KIDZRMYBIZ 03:43 PM 04-01-2014
I would like to suggest you have future clients pay those last 2 wks as a deposit upon enrollment, and make that part of your contract, too. I made that change several years ago and it is fantastic! Never had a new family blink an eye over it, and sometimes set up a weekly payment plan for it if it's too much at once for some. Doing this is a lifesaver!
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TwinKristi 04:05 PM 04-01-2014
Yeah I have parents give a 2wk deposit as well. I hope it will prevent parents from skipping out on payment!!
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Cradle2crayons 04:36 PM 04-01-2014
Originally Posted by CurtainCrawlerCaretaker:
Yes, my contract does say that 2 weeks notice is required. When dad dropped off this morning he handed me the money and never said a word about it. I could tell he was irritated. After he left, I counted the cash and they overpaid me a day! Jeez. The text I sent mom said the amount owing. This is the 2nd family to screw up pay from March. Oh well. At least I wasn't shorted again!
I would have explained to the parents that since you required a two week notice you were kind enough to allow them only a one week notice and no holding fee as a courtesy but at the child's return, pay should resume as normal.
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NightOwl 06:09 PM 04-01-2014
Originally Posted by nannyde:
Holding a spot for a family member passing is something I would not do. I wouldn't allow no notice either. These are things the FAMILY needs to prepare for. They have to pay their regular life bills when they are dealing with family crisis. They have to pay their rent even if they are out of town and not using the property. They have to pay their internet and phone. They have to pay their cable and the utility company to keep their utilities going.

Child care is the same as all the other bills. If they requested leniency they need to go to their own family to help them pay their bills. Going to a child care provider and asking for concessions isn't any different than going to a landlord and just being willing to pay the rent for the time they were in the apartment after the family member passed.

You can sympathize by saying words like "I'm sorry for your loss" and still be socially acceptable. You don't have to get involved in their money issues when they have a family crisis. Other services they use will not forgive their obligations. It's very very very rude to even ask.
VERY well said.
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