I have an in home daycare. I keep some littles full time and also have some before and after schoolers. I have one set of brothers and their mom is late every single day. Well, there may be 1-2 days a month when she gets here on time. I've talked to her about it, talked to her husband, nothing changes. She says that she could go in to work a bit earlier and leave earlier in the afternoon "but it's hard for me to get out of the house any earlier" and she says that she could take a short or no lunch in order to leave work earlier but she never does because she wants to do mystery shopping on her lunch break.
Anyway, I don't charge extra when people are late because I feel like that kind of gives them permission to be late. There are many occasions when I have to leave to get one of my kids somewhere on time and I end up having to drop her boys off at her house with their big brother (it's only for 5-10 minutes. He couldn't handle them for 3 hours after school.) When I don't have to leave, those 10-15 minutes after I officially close and when she gets here are excruciating. I am usually tired and just want to be done for the day. We're usually getting dinner ready and her boys hover in the kitchen talking about being hungry. It's really getting to be extremely annoying, and it's every day.
Should I go ahead and start charging them extra? How much extra? She's made it clear by her actions that she isn't going to take steps to change what is in her power to change. I hate to just fire them because they've been clients for such a long time and frankly, I need the money. But it's so shitty that because I'm in my house and "don't have to leave to go anywhere" that she seems to think that it isn't a big deal.
That's tricky. If you didn't want to keep them as clients, I would just tell the mom she had to be there by XX time or find other arrangements. But since you need to keep them, I would definitely charge extra. Do they pay by the hour or week? Assuming it's by the week, I would have a $25 or $50 charge every time she arrives beyond closing charge. If they pay hourly, I would charge for the extra hour even if she is 15 minutes late.
You are correct - if you start charging for it, it is likely that she will just pay you and always leave them later (Freakonomics covered this in their book). However, given the situation, I would try to charge MORE than whatever the mystery shopping is paying her. That way her incentive will change to pick up the kids on time rather than use her lunch to make money (that she will just have to give you). Could that work?
1) Assume she will be be late everyday and bake the extra time into the cost. That would be a flat percent, so say she is 30 minutes late out of 8 hours; that would be 0.5/8 = 6.25% increase. Let's say you charge her 1000$ per month (just for round numbers), that would mean you charge her about 62$ more per month.
2) Tell her there will be a huge penalty going forward for every day she is late. My former boss used to take his kids to a DC that charged 4$ per *minute* extra beyond the agreed time. This would certainly motivate her to stop doing mystery shopping (giant eyeroll) on her lunch break and get out of work on time.
The latter might make her leave, as you said, but she's going to have a hard time finding other DCP that will roll with her on this anyway.
Ugh. I work with a woman like this who is late to everything and is always making excuses. Drives me nutty.
Anyways, ditto pp. charge the hourly rate (or maybe a time and a half overtime rate?). But I also get where you're coming from in terms of not wanting to give her the idea that it's ok to come late everyday. I would probably try to have a conversation about how she's taking advantage of you and your time.
I would definitely charge. Send out a note to all parents indicating a new pricing structure for late pick ups so she doesn't feel singled out. How much do you charge them per month? Around here it is about $600-$800 for in-home daycare (usually a little more for infants). If this is similar to your fees I would charge $5 for 1-10 minutes late, $10 for 11-20 minutes late, and $15 for 21-30 minutes late per child. $5 or $10 doesn't seem like that much but when it is multiplied by 20 days per month and there are two kids that can easily add $200 or more per month. If that doesn't fix it after a few months I would fire her.
She pays by the week, a flat fee for after care. They pay a month at a time (their choice, not my requirement) so if I charge her extra I will just keep track of it and add it to the following month.
Our daycare charges $1/minute/kid when you're late. Payable only in cash. According to the policy it is due at the time of pick up, although the one time we paid it the teacher offered that we could pay within the week. This policy motivated me, I would recommend adopting a similar practice.
I would charge. If she doesn't want to skip lunch to mystery shop she probably wants the money so it may be a wash and she may just start skipping those and coming. Or it may not be as excruciating if you're getting paid.
I would charge, but I wouldn't say charge the hourly rate. Why? Because as soon as she realizes she will be late, she will decide to just show up a full hour late. I would charge by the minute. That is what all the DC in this area do when someone is late.
I'm not a mom - but it sounds like maybe her hours don't work with the daycare hours? If she's dawdling on getting out the door and chatting too much, that's one thing - but if she is supposed to work until say, 5:30 and the only way she can get out at 5 is to skip lunch - well, I kind of understand why skipping lunch every day isn't healthy and would make for an incredibly long, tough day of trying to run and get the kids with minutes to spare.
What time does her work open and close versus your daycare? Just wondering
Post by OrangeBanana on Mar 5, 2015 20:31:31 GMT -5
I have an in home daycare too and had this problem. I ended up terming because I was just to my wits end with this mom and her absolute zero respect for me and my family in regards to showing up on time.
I agree as to why you don't have a late fee policy already, but I think it's time to add a good stiff one. I would put some kind of 3 strikes and your out rule in there too if you can. I understand not wanting to lose the income but in then end the stress is not worth it.
Sometimes all the chats in the world about being on time just never seem to work. Do you call her when she is late? Even if she is 5 minutes late I would be calling her, her husband or even more extreme her emergency contacts to come pick up the kids. Sounds crazy but a few times of that might just get her to take you more seriously. I would have the children sit by the door with their shoes on ready to go at pick up time. You can keep a basket of books and small toys by the door to keep them occupied. This worked well for me because at that time of the evening the kids are hungry, tired and wound up. I had already done my clean up/end of the day routine with the kids and didn't want them tearing through the house and getting toys out again that I didn't want to have to wait for them to clean up before they left when mom finally did show up.
Our daycare charges $1/minute/kid when you're late. Payable only in cash. According to the policy it is due at the time of pick up, although the one time we paid it the teacher offered that we could pay within the week. This policy motivated me, I would recommend adopting a similar practice.
My daycare had this as does my friend's daycare. School aftercare is same rate but billed.
Our daycare charges $1/minute/kid when you're late. Payable only in cash. According to the policy it is due at the time of pick up, although the one time we paid it the teacher offered that we could pay within the week. This policy motivated me, I would recommend adopting a similar practice.
This was the policy at our previous DCP and it certainly motivated us to never be late.
Yes charge per minute late. That'll motivate people. I've seen it as high as $5/min here too. I'd do at least $1/min. If that doesn't deter, i'd raise it further. That's ridiculous to expect you to eat your personal time every day.
Post by Balki.Bartokomous on Mar 6, 2015 0:49:45 GMT -5
$1/min seems pretty lenient. The $4/min one seems like it would get the point across much better. $20 for being 5 minutes late will get her attention.
I also like the 3 strikes and you're out rule as well as the your kid can't come back until late fees are paid in cash rule. Being held hostage in my own home with these kids would make me rage and it's really disrespectful of her to tale advantage of you like that, so I'd do whatever it takes to fix this issue.
I agree that it's possible that her work schedule and your care hours might just not match up. If this is the case, then she needs to find care that has hours that work for her.
More likely, she is just one of those people who has no respect for other people's time, and is thus chronically late. It sounds like she could rearrange her work schedule to pick her kids up on time, but you have given her no incentive to do that. Stiff monetary penalties for late pick up (which are industry standard for day care) are the only way to de-incentivize her lateness.
I had a chronically late parent growing up -- always late for pickups, I was always the last kid waiting to be picked up from everything. It sucked. I feel bad for her kids.
I'm not a mom - but it sounds like maybe her hours don't work with the daycare hours? If she's dawdling on getting out the door and chatting too much, that's one thing - but if she is supposed to work until say, 5:30 and the only way she can get out at 5 is to skip lunch - well, I kind of understand why skipping lunch every day isn't healthy and would make for an incredibly long, tough day of trying to run and get the kids with minutes to spare.
What time does her work open and close versus your daycare? Just wondering
She works 8:30-4:30. I close at 5:30...and I have ALWAYS closed at 5:30. It's not like I changed my hours after they'd been coming here for a while or anything like that. She can get to work as early as 7:30 if she chooses, and can leave that much earlier on the days she gets to work earlier. HOWEVER...she regularly gets to work 10-15 minutes late and so if she takes a short lunch she only shortens it enough to make up for the time she was late arriving in the morning. Then (according to her) she regularly gets hung up on a late phone call or something and then leaves 5-15 minutes later than 4:30. Plus, she works on one of the worst traffic roads in the city, so that doesn't help. Leaving work 10 minutes later easily adds 20 minutes to her commute. I don't expect her to skip lunch every day, by any means. But she could leave for work 15-20 minutes earlier in the morning and I'm sure it would help. And she has told me that she could leave for work earlier...she just doesn't.
Honestly, I'd give her a two week notice and terminate them as clients. She's not going to change, and even if you charge, you don't really want to be watching her kids past 5:30 anyway. I'm sure the resentment is building up and it's just not an arrangement that's going to work well.
I would have been charging long ago. Even if it encourages her from always being late, how is that different from now except that you get some $$ in your pocket! She is taking advantage of you. You need to take back control.
I would do $1/minute for 1-5 min late. $2/ minute for 6-10 min late. $5/min after that. And per kid for sure. Also make sure they pay before they can drop off the next day. So either in cash that afternoon or the next am.
Post by jeaniebueller on Mar 6, 2015 10:30:36 GMT -5
I would start charging for being late and also impose a rule that if they are late more than X number of times in a one week period that you have the option to terminate them as clients. Because you know she isn't going to change her behavior, she will just keep coming late and think its totes okay because she is paying you. GTFO, woman.
I'm not a mom - but it sounds like maybe her hours don't work with the daycare hours? If she's dawdling on getting out the door and chatting too much, that's one thing - but if she is supposed to work until say, 5:30 and the only way she can get out at 5 is to skip lunch - well, I kind of understand why skipping lunch every day isn't healthy and would make for an incredibly long, tough day of trying to run and get the kids with minutes to spare.
What time does her work open and close versus your daycare? Just wondering
She works 8:30-4:30. I close at 5:30...and I have ALWAYS closed at 5:30. It's not like I changed my hours after they'd been coming here for a while or anything like that. She can get to work as early as 7:30 if she chooses, and can leave that much earlier on the days she gets to work earlier. HOWEVER...she regularly gets to work 10-15 minutes late and so if she takes a short lunch she only shortens it enough to make up for the time she was late arriving in the morning. Then (according to her) she regularly gets hung up on a late phone call or something and then leaves 5-15 minutes later than 4:30. Plus, she works on one of the worst traffic roads in the city, so that doesn't help. Leaving work 10 minutes later easily adds 20 minutes to her commute. I don't expect her to skip lunch every day, by any means. But she could leave for work 15-20 minutes earlier in the morning and I'm sure it would help. And she has told me that she could leave for work earlier...she just doesn't.
Non of this matters. You run a business and you close at 5:30. She is not respected that. Period.
I'd charge a dollar a minute per kid, per YOUR clock, payable in cash, that day. As in, can't come back the next day unless the late fee is paid.
You know the first time you hit her with this she'll bitch and moan and say how your clock is wrong and her clock at work and her clock in the car and her phone clock and she's on time and you're wrong.
I think my daycare charges something like $20 for up to 10 min late and it is way higher for the next 10 min. My provider has 3 kids of her own so I completely understand that she has her own obligations after she closes. My mom did daycare when I was in HS and had 1 parent who would just show up 2 hours late because she went to happy hour or went shopping (she was an a$$). There were many nights where the kids ate dinner with us because who could eat when you have a hungry 2 and 3 year old standing there waiting for mom. My mom started charging for after close. She suddenly started coming on time.