Contract and Policy Tips for Family Daycare
If you are a family daycare provider, you are also a small business owner and a professional. It is important to have a well written contract for services you will provide. Providers from our forum have shared some of their policies.
Hours of Operation Policies
I tell all my parents I am open
7-5 every day, and they can bring their kids anytime during those
10 hours and it's one rate. I do charge an hourly
"overtime" rate if they come before 7 or stay after 5
Ecn8
I'm open a maximum of 10 hours a
day. 7am-5:00pm. If a parent needs
me to be open a little longer, they have to give me at least a
weeks notice. I don't think you are being unreasonable.
Karenritter
My hours are 7 to 5, but
contract states...Daycare is a 9 hour day, and this must include
drop off and pickup time. My hours should be able to accommodate
them to fit into their workday. If they need more than 9 hours, I
will probably send them elsewhere, as I don't want overtime. If
it is on a rare occasion, I am more than happy to help them out.
Grits4evr
Registration and Deposits
have never asked for a deposit,
and never been stiffed by a parent. They have always given me
notice at least one month ahead of time. I ask for two weeks.
Jkelly531
I require reg. fee, first week
up front since Now I do pre-pay and the last 2wks termination. I
tell parents if NO written termination then they still pay!! I
know it's a lot up front so I do with work with them on the dep..
Kidskornerdc
1 Have parents make a deposit
equal to 2 wks payment. This is your final 2 wks of payment from
them. Guaranteed! I have had to do this too. I learned the hard
way and it cost me big time. Work w/them on the deposit, if need
be, by letting them pay you in 2 or 4 increments. Good luck!
Majormommy
I charge a $20.00 per. year
non-refundable registration fee. I haven't had a parent ask what
it is for. But will tell them like you said helps cover paper
work and my time. I am thinking of raising it to $25.00.
Kidskornerdc
I charge a $15 registration fee
to cover supplies, advertising, etc. I've never had a parent
question it. I am pretty low for my area. Most charge a week's
tuition. I just can't justify asking for that
Slk41
Vacations and Sick Days in Your Contract
I charge half rate for the first
two weeks of vacation, anything over two weeks is full charge.
Rberry41
I give 5 days sick/personal per
calendar year w/o notice with no pay and 2 weeks vacation that
they can take no pay with 2 weeks notice. I go calendar year,
otherwise it gets too complicated
Pattig2
I am off and am paid for all
statutory holidays, that fall on a parents regular working day.
Parents pay 1/2 fee when they are on holidays for more than 5
consecutive working days and they do not pay a fee when I am on
holidays.
Ransob
I get paid for New Year's Day,
Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas
Day and close at 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve. If any of these
holidays fall on the weekend I get Friday or Monday off/paid.
Shayronnie
Payment Schedules
On my contracts I let the
parents decide on what day they want to pay me and whether they
will pay weekly, bi-wkly or monthly but it must be in advance. I
tell them to make it easy on themselves but after they fill out
the contract and put down the day and frequency, they are locked
into that time and amount.
Johnnies2
I have been doing an hourly rate
for the last 2 years and next week I will be changing to a daily
rate. I have one parent that I feel I have lost $1300 to $1500 on
being shorted for hours here and there just this year. Other
parents have also shorted me on hours but not to the extreme that
this one parent has.
Brenda8725
You can do a daily and weekly
rate, but make it a better deal to go for weekly. Say you decide
to charge $90.00 per week for full time, then make it $25.00 per
day. For part time (if you want to offer it) go for two thirds
that amount, or $60.00 per week; $16.00 per day. Then define part
time as anything up to 5 hours, 59 minutes; full time as 6 to 9
hours. Anyone leaving the child longer than 9 hours is subject to
overtime fees. Contracts would also indicate if the parent was
purchasing a full or part time slot and how many days per week.
If they purchase full time, weekly, they pay for full time weekly
regardless of actual attendance.
Dadskid
Additional Fees
In our parent contract (signed
by parent), ANY child who is 15 minutes late in dropping off or
15 minutes late in picking up (according to their enrollment
schedule), I charge them $5.00 for EVERY 15 minutes! If they do
call to say they will be late, I ask how long and log that down,
and I begin charging if they go past this time frame they gave
me.
Angelwink44
If they do not arrive within
half an hour of expected arrival without a call I charge $10, my
contract renewal for 2002 is going to $15.
Rachelrugra
I do charge them $10 for every
fifteen minutes they are late after 6:00 p.m., my closing time.
I've never had a repeat offend there!
Shayronnie
Discounts
I used to give a discount but I
was losing money that way. I don't provide discounted care to the
second child, so why should I give a discount? :)I have found
that parents who truly care about having high-quality care for
their child are willing to pay for it.
Ecn8
I don't give any discounts for
siblings...I figure they are filling up a slot that I could be
using for another child...then I don't have any problems with
other families either that come along...
Salylee
Rate Increases
I put an automatic 5% increase
Jan 1st of each year in my contract. I debated doing this, but I
did it one because I did not want to be in the uncomfortable
position of informing parents I would be raising my rates and two
there are no surprises to the parents. It is all there in black
and white. When interviewing I just tell them that I do have the
increase and that it is my incentive to always continue to
improve my program and it is minimal out of pocket for them
weekly/hourly/monthly/yearly, however they want to figure it. So
far I have not had any problems or complaints with it.
Chelz3
I raise mine a little each year
to keep on track with expenses. Usually about $5 / week. This
year I didn't raise them and actually had a parent ask me if I
had forgotten to put the notice out because they were expecting
it!
Ruthjrc
Discipline
I use a form of
"1-2-3", "redirecting" and "time
out" as a form of discipline. Any child who is aggressive,
uncontrollable and can not follow the rules, the parents will be
called to come and pick their child(ren) up. If your child
continues to act in a matter that is distributive to him/herself
or to other children, childcare may be terminated.And I have the
parent sign this form when they fill out their enrollment form. I
also give the parents the option of telling me what kind of
discipline they use at home that they feel works best for their
child
Susie710
I stated that I cannot care for
children whose behavior is unacceptable such as biting, hitting,
fighting...etc. I know sometimes things happen, but if a child is
always acting out or running wild and causing problems, I state
that they will be asked to make other arrangements. I assure them
that I do my best to make sure that their child is kept safe and
sent home in the same condition in which they arrived, free of
bruises, bitemarks, etc.
Joy285
