I'm just not sure on how to charge families for maternity leave. I'm having a hard time getting caught between the providers point of view and the parents point of view. What are your thoughts?

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I wouldn't charge for my maternity leave because the parents would have to pay someone else to cover childcare while I was unavailable. How is your contract written? If you are planning a 2 week maternity leave, and you have 2 vacation weeks written into your contract, I would take that time then. Otherwise, in my opinion, it's not fair to the families, and I would guess that a lot of them would pull.

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By maternity leave I mean the parent is expecting a child, not me.

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I do give a discount, but during that time they can not send their child at all. Typically my discount is 25% off their usual rate. I also do not offer the discount longer than 4 weeks. Once I start charging full price, they have the option to send their little one, which some parents like when they need a quiet day.

I do have it written in my contract that I do not offer unpaid maternity leave or extended leave, but do not get into specifics. This way, I have some wiggle room if I want to change my discount or anything like that. It gives me wiggle room to offer a discount I can afford at the time,or none at all!

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Could you give more details? How long are they planning leave? Will the older child attend at all during that time? Are you also holding a space for the new baby? What do your policies say for vacation?
I would charge half rate for vacation if the older child wasnt going to attend at all, but that rate is only for 2 weeks. After that they pay the regular rate whether the child attends or not. If the new baby is attending afterwards are they paying a holding spot fee? I would be inclined to charge a fee to hold that space as well, because at the end of the day parents issue shouldn't be ours, just as our personal issues shouldn't affect them. And your holding a space that you could possibly make money off of with another client, so a fee is necessary it's, important to be clear about it though so chaos and confusion is avoided.

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I give parents one week a year that they don't have to pay me. Keep in mind I get paid for all vacations and vacation days.

It would be wise of them to keep their week for this time. As a gift, I offer them another free week in lieu of an actual baby gift.

Then full price.

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I don't offer unpaid or discounted maternity leave to my families who have an older child in my care. They either continue to send their child to me during their normal, scheduled hours or they keep the child home with them knowing they have a guaranteed spot when they're ready to return. Either way, they pay their regular tuition rate. (Many prefer to keep the older child on as normal a schedule as possible and they appreciate the ability to care for the newborn and rest when they can without having to worry about the older child.)

I will generally save a spot for the new baby at no charge if I know I'll have a spot available a the end of a 4-8 week maternity leave.

I know parents would prefer to not pay or pay a discounted rate for their older kid(s) but I can't afford the loss of income. They either understand that or they look for someone else to watch their kids which is okay with me. I can't be all things to all families.

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Our mat leaves in Canada are a year long. So I charge full rate and offer no discount. I don't 'hold' a spot because it is too long to have it sit empty and not many can afford to pay for a spot for that amount of time.

I had a bad experience with my last dcm on mat leave so am considering not even offering mat leave care anymore.

If I do, it is full pay (no off time at a reduced rate) and part time will be at my discretion. Hours will be reduced (eg: no need to have child here to my closing time if you are at home).

Pretty much, if I find out that a dcm is expecting, I am looking to fill as soon as I know when her mat leave is expected to start. Most families want part time care during mat leaves and I want full time clients.

Again, my experience is slightly different as our mat leave is so lengthy.

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I only accept infants from currently enrolled families.

I don't discount any spaces for any reason.

If the space is open, I require payment in full.

I am running a business with the intent to earn an income for my family so I don't allow emotions to play a role in my business practices/policies.

ESPECIALLY when it comes to the money part.

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I would expect full pay as well and even the child to be at daycare during that time. I have a request for more time on during a current dcm's mat leave and I said "absolutely, no problem!" and then the new baby will start with me also.

Realistically, even if Mom is at home she still has the weekends to be at home with both and their child will be able to play and keep up their routine. Adding a baby to family is a huge shift for a young child and I think it's healthy for the new big sis or bro to not have too many changes in their daily routine because of that.

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Yep full price for the spot. It's not your problem. Cold I know- but it's not.

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I also don't hold spots. The parent either pays or they take their chances. I made the huge mistake of agreeing to hold a spot for a friend...who basically didn't want to pay me...and luckily I woke up and realized I was losing a lot of income and she was not being impacted at all. Never again!

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I only take babes from age 6 weeks-18 months; I get the parents point of view too, but I can't afford to be losing 1/4 of my income for any length of time because I don't have a spouse bringing in income. Here's my policy

LEAVE OF ABSENCE: Regardless of your child’s attendance, your tuition is based on “securing” your child’s position and is not based on your child’s actual attendance. Because the few children I care for are only here from 3 - 18 months or so, I do not offer discounted time off for teachers, strikes or maternity leave.

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I even charged for my own week of maternity leave

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Depends if the space is for the baby or an older child.

If it's for the baby and I don't have the opening yet I wouldn't charge until the opening was available.

If it's for the baby and/or older sibling and I do have the opening I'd charge the full amount to hold the space/s. If they don't want to pay they run the risk of the space/s being filled by another family.

I learned this the hard way. I made a deal with a family - they'd keep paying FT for the older sibling but only bring her PT and I wouldn't charge to hold the infant's spot. But they ended up bringing the older one FT anyway, and since there wasn't anything in writing I was SOL.

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I would handle it the same way you handle vacations in your daycare.

Personally I do not offer discounts for vacations so I would not offer a discount. I charge an annual amount broken into monthly payments with no discounts for sick days, vacations or school holidays / closures.

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I will be more like BC. I will be more like BC. I will be more like BC.
I will have an opening as of Labor Day, and a dcm due the end of Sept. I am going to have to charge her a nonrefundable holding fee this summer, if she really wants the space. Then a regular weekly rate as soon as I have the opening slot. I've never done it that way but after getting screwed over by my dear sweet dcm, not once but twice now, I have to look out for Numero Uno.

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I charge 52 weeks a year which covers personal & professional days, vacation, holiday, and emergency days....my contract states "these are the days ms.xxxx child care will be closed for 2016 but not limited to".

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I would not be able to keep clients if I charged full price for maternity leaves.
I give families 2 options - they can either pay a holding fee upfront equal to 1/4th of their tuition for the time they are out or they can send their child part time equal to or greater than that amount. Most want to send their child 1-2 days a week while they are home with baby anyway.
I do not mind the temporary reduction in pay to go along with the temporary reduced workload.

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It's okay, it doesnt make you cold or mean.

It's business.

If I can help a family (without costing myself) I am the first one in line but when it comes to the financial part of this job, I simply cannot afford to let "nice" cost me.

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I completely understand the parent's needs here, but that doesn't mean the we should take the financial hit. With my last two families that went on maternity leave, they kept their children in care.
If I can fill the spot temporarily (such as with a school-ager for the summer) then no problem. Otherwise if they don't want to send their child I have to fill the spot.

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My contract states that if your child will be gone for 5 or more weeks in a row you must pay $10/day to maintain the spot. I state that this is for work related sabaticals and paternity leaves or other medical recovery. I do allow teachers to have the summer off as long as this is paid. The child can't come though.

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