Should she pay? | Imamother

amother

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:38 pm

I run a small playgroup in my home, only 5 kids plus my own DD. I charge $80 a week & being that it's such a small group, every penny counts. Nevertheless, I am a mentch & charge a full week if they miss 1 day but take off for each additional day missed.

One parent recently had a baby & so I lost money for the 6 weeks she was on maternity leave. (She kept her DS home with her & the newborn) Now she's been back at work for the last 3-4 weeks but only ends up bring her son 2-3 days a week because its hard for her to get the baby to the babysitter & bring her toddler here & get to work on time. If her DH is available, she keep her son home with him. This week, for example, he only came Tues & Wed. We'll see if he comes Fri or not.

Great for her, but I lose out.

Is it unreasonable to call her tonight & tell her that I'll have to start charging her a full week from now on, that I understand it's hard for her to bring him, but I'm losing out?

life'sgreat

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:42 pm

Entirely not unreasonable (I also don't think it was fair to keep her son home for six weeks and not pay you). I think you can tell her that either she pays in full, or you need to give up her slot to someone else.

freshie

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:42 pm

If you have a potential child who would use that slot then you can explain to her that either she pays full price or the slot will go to another child. If anyway that slot will be empty I think it's mentchlich to charge for when he comes, you can make it a policy that you charge the full week regardless but I personally don't think it's nice as it's not like you are losing out-unless another child would take that place. jmho.

kaye

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:42 pm

Are you turning down other kids because you keep the spot open for her kid? if that's the case then I would definitely tell her. If not you could be loosing out even more as she may want to find someone who charges per hour or day and then you'd loose out on the 2-3 days a week of extra money.

Barbara

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:45 pm

Could you get another child to fill the slot?

I'd make a wholesale change in your policies, either setting a weekly minimum (you must pay for at least X days a week) or make it a weekly fee, come or not.

sky

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:50 pm

I don't think you are obligated to keep the child.

I kept my son by his babysitter during my maternity leave because they would have not reserved his spot.

I think it sounds like you've gone beyond. Let her know that this is your parnasa and you need a minimum commitment or you will fill the spot.

seeker

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 6:54 pm

I think weekly or monthly minimum is a smart compromise, just as a general policy. You're still being flexible not making people pay for typical absences (which are usually just a couple of days, not too often) but they pay a fee for the position of being a member of your group.

But for the specific situation, what they said - if you could have a different kid, give the parent a choice between paying or leaving so you can take a steady.

SivanMom

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 8:09 pm

I definitely think it's reasonable for you to tell her this. But I think in the future, you should write up your practices and hand it out to the parents before you take their child. In it, you can definitely say that they have have up to 2-3 unpaid absences a month, if that is what you desire, or whatever you decide is fair. The parents should always know what to expect beforehand.

theotherone

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 8:41 pm

in all my kids playgroups, there was/is a monthly fee and you pay it no matter what. that was clearly stipulated in the beginning. pesach? sukkos? only 2 weeks of school that month? lots of snow days? you're sick? maternity? unless you stipulated it in writing, it is hard to know what is acceptable at this point. definitely create a clear policy for the future so this won't happen again. hatzlacha!

Mommy3.5

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 9:22 pm

I haave always paid monthly, even in months were my child was sick over two weeks of the month. I have NEVER heard of not paying for sick days in a playgroup. It may be different with babysitters though.

BTW I paid a full month for pesach, RH- Sukkot, and when they had 10 days midwinter.

amother

Thu, Jun 03 2010, 11:01 pm

OP here:

Thank you everyone! I ran this by DH, my mom & my sisters & all agreed I can ask for full pay. After all, this is my parnassah. I did have a policy but I never took into account that a working mother would stop bringing her child some days at some point. This specific child is not staying for the summer & I've already filled his spot starting in July but if she decides to pull him out now, so be it. There are only about 3 weeks left of this session anyway.

And, as many of you suggested, I will be writing up a note to the parents of the next group specifying my policies - I think I'll have them pay for a month at a time.

Thanks so much!!