Parents Being Late or Coming Early! Everyone Should read This!!!

[momma2girls]

Hi!
I found this very interesting peice of info- I have many contracted parents that come late all the time. I have a family, and need to be at places before they come and pick up. Their contracted pick up times are between 4 and 4:30pm. Then many times come right at 5:00pm!!! This is more than one family that is doing this!!
I think everyone should read this-

My drop off and closing times are based on needs of my families only. My contracted hrs. are based on the parents work hrs. and commute times. These times will be contracted and agreed upon!!

Isn't this great? One of the best sayings I have come across!!

If anyone else has something that they have stumbled across, or have worded in their contract, please share, so we all can get great ideas!!! It's great to have this site!!!!!!
Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!!!!!!!

[[email protected]]

from mine

I am licensed for care from 4:30 am to 5:30 pm but each family is contracted for separate hours. Other children are scheduled to be here when your child is not so please adhere to contracted times to avoid overtime fees

[momma2girls]

This is good as well!!
Thanks!!!

[momma2girls]

SO if they are late, or early do you assess overtime fees? What are your overtime fees? I wish I had yours as well to add to mine, maybe on any of the new ones I make out I will add this as well.
Thanks!!

[[email protected]]

theya rent late,.. but should the be late,....


All payments are due in advance by pickup the Friday prior to each weeks care. If payment is made after pickup on Friday, a late fee will occur. A late fee of $10.00 per day will be charged for payment not received by pickup on Friday. This includes Saturday and Sunday. If fees are not current child will not be admitted to daycare. You will still be responsible for paying for these days if this occurs. If late payments become an ongoing problem, care will be terminated. Parent pays all legal fees and court costs associated with this childcare agreement.
~ If your check does not clear, regardless of the reason, you are responsible for my bank fees. You will also be required to make payments in cash for 6 months following a bad check.
~Overtime is anytime other than the time contracted for and costs $5.00 per hour or portion of hour per child. Care is only considered overtime if 24 hour advance notice is given and approved. If notification is not given you will be the charged late fees described as follows. Late fees are $15.00 for the first 15 minutes of portion thereof. You are charges $1.00 per minute after that. This charge is per child. On the day incurred. Care will not be resumed until fee is paid.

[momma2girls]

DO you charge for any lateness other than what they have contracted, let's say if they have 4:30 on contract, after 4:30 you charge?

[[email protected]]

I do, if they dont arrange to stay late I charge as late fee. If they arrange then they pay overtime. But because I charge on the first time they are late,.. there very rarely is a second time. Its simple,.. I wont go over in my ratios. Im very firm about the rules. They all know at signup. SHort of a snowstorm and them being stuck at work,.. or their car breaking down and arriving by towtruck and driving a rental the next day,.. Ive never really had a problem. The parents see me as a professional and know that I am the best for their kids outside of them and really try to keep me happy. Most of the time. Everyone is late at times but the way I have my contracts written they have enough time to get here. If theya re off at 430 I write it for 5. I do have one lady who runs a fitness center, they have an 11 yr old they are working with who weighs 308 pounds. So,.... two days a week she is late because she stays late at work for no money to this family and trains the girl. I let them slide on the late times. Im not a cruel set in stone person. But they don't seem to take advantage of me. It is so hard to draw the lines sometimes in our profession. I mean we are professional 'care for ers'. you know?

[momma2girls]

I totally agree with you, we will see what the contracted times come back as this week. Then see how to go about it, if they continue to be later than contracted times. We will see!!!
Thanks for the info!!! I hope this helps alot of people out there!!

[tymaboy]

I give parents 15 minutes grace period.

Inconvenience Fee:
There is a 15 minute grace period beyond the scheduled drop-off/pick-up time. If a child is more then 20 minutes late of being dropped-off/ picked-up you will be subjected to a charge of $5.00 per child for every 15 minutes (or part of 15 minutes) after the agreed upon time. Example: If your child is to be dropped-off/ picked-up at 9:00 and you show up at 9:15 you will not be charged the fee but if you show up at 9:20 you will be charged the fee or $10.00 for the 1st 15 minutes plus the fee for the second 15 minutes. You will also be charged the late fee if the child(ren) are to be dropped-off/ picked-up (whether it is written in contract or told verbally) between a certain time and are not dropped-off/ picked-up within 15 minutes of the latest time given. Example: If your child(ren) are to be dropped-off/ picked-up between 9:00 – 9:30 and you do not show up until 9:45 you will be charged $5.00 for each child.

There will be no grace period on Wednesdays. Any late fees accumulated on a Wednesday will be doubled. If these fees are not paid by the Friday of that week you will be charged the $10.00 per day late payment fee.

The above inconvenience fees will also be charged to you if Grandma or another person is suppose to arrive to drop-off/ pick-up your child.

DHS will not pay any late fees that are accumulated.

[kiddiecare]

Here's what i have in my policies:

ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES- Children are to arrive clean, dressed and fed (unless arriving just before a meal time; you need to specify at the time of the contract being signed what meals your child will be eating here.) Please notify me before your scheduled drop-off time if your child will not be attending or will be arriving late. If I have not received a call notifying me that you will be late I will proceed with my day and assume that you are not coming. If I have the opportunity to fill your time slot temporarily with a drop in child you will not be allowed to drop your child off that day. You WILL pay your normal fee rate. BUSINESS HOURS REFLECT YOUR CONTRACTED HOURS NOT MY HOURS OF OPERATION. If you have not arrived within 5 minutes of your scheduled pick up time and I need to leave and am unable to wait for you or your emergency contact person I will leave a note on the door and it will be your responsibility to locate and find me to retrieve your child/ren. If I am forced to take your child/ren somewhere with me after your contracted pick up time you will be charged a fee of $20.00 every 5 minutes or any portion thereof per child until your child is no longer in my care. If your child has not been picked up within 2 hours of the contracted pick up time Child Protective Services will be called to retrieve your child/ren.

Late pick-Up/Early Drop Off fee: $1.00 per child per minute.

PAYMENTS- Payments are to be made every Friday at your contracted drop-off time a week prior to care being given. A late fee of $20.00 per day will be added if payment is not received by the due date (5 minutes after contracted drop off time will be considered late). Children will not be allowed to attend child care until payment and late fees (if applicable) are received. {Note: No refunds or credits are given for child care payments} The childcare contract will be terminated if payment isn’t made in full within 3 business days of the payment due date. If I have not received payment within 14 business days of the due date I will begin the collection process and you will be charged any and all fees associated to the collection process. Including but not limited to fees I will need to pay to a substitute provider, gas, attorney and mailing fees. The late fee of $20 will be added daily until payment is made in full or I file a claim against you in small claims court. Parents/Guardians will be charged for any fees and costs applicable to filing a claim in small claims court. Payment is preferred in cash; however, cashier checks and money orders will be accepted.
ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS- I am listed with D.H.S and will accept payments from them at my discretion, however families receiving assistance for childcare from any source are still legally liable for all fees due to (provider name)and co-pays and any amount owed not covered by assistance will be paid on the due date before care is given.

I give5 minutes after pick up time before i start charging the late fee but i make it very clear that im po'd about it. I let dcparents know what time i close at but that they are to be there by the time they contracted for or there will be a big problem. I have a major issue with people disrespecting me and by nt showing up when they agreed to and thinking they can just show up later gets to me so I stop it before it goes that far. Now i am really picky about the clients i take in, im broke but the stress of barely making enouh to pay the bills is WAY less than the stress of having a 'bad' family that pushes you all the time. But it took me years of being taken advantage of to get to this point.

[originalkat]

Contracted times

I have a place on my contract for hours each day. I always wrote the opening and closing times. However, for the new year I am sending out new parent handbooks with a form to fill out for contracted hours. I have run into the problem (especially for arrivals) that the earliest child was not supposed to arrive until 7:45 AM. I planned my morning accordingly and slept in a little later. Then one of the other parents decided to show up at 7:00 AM on a whim. I still had a towel on my head! I am definetly going to go with the contracted hours from now on.

[momma2girls]

I love it!! I don't think we should have to put in our contract our opening and closing times, that is why I loved this saying I had found on parents work time and commute time only.

[Unregistered]

Late pick up

I have a parent who is chronically late...i mean almost every time lately. We have upped their rate for late pick up already, but they don't seem to care. We love the child but what do we do??? Its anywhere from 5 min to a half hour, my teachers are tired of staying? Do we call child protective services???

[misol]

I have a parent who is chronically late...i mean almost every time lately. We have upped their rate for late pick up already, but they don't seem to care. We love the child but what do we do??? Its anywhere from 5 min to a half hour, my teachers are tired of staying? Do we call child protective services???

What does your contract say about late pickups? Has anyone spoken to her about the matter before? If not, I would suggest that first. At this verbal warning, have a copy of her contract available to review the hours that she agreed to. Tell her that your records indicate that she has been late "40" times in the past "2" months and you wanted to discuss whether the contracted hours were still meeting her needs. At the end f the discussion tell her if it happens again that she will get a written warning.

At the written warning meeting tell her that you are revisiting the issue again because the lateness has continued in spite of the original discussion. Tell her you generally abide by a 3 strikes rule and the next step will either be suspension or termination for abuse of the policy. Make sure she signs the written warning which should include a reference to the date of the verbal warning, as well as a statement about the next steps you will take.

If you really want to keep the child, suspend him for a week and let him back. All the while I would be looking to fill his spot in case you have to end up terminating or she gets pissed and wants to pull him.

[Chickenhauler]

I have a parent who is chronically late...i mean almost every time lately. We have upped their rate for late pick up already, but they don't seem to care. We love the child but what do we do??? Its anywhere from 5 min to a half hour, my teachers are tired of staying? Do we call child protective services???

You shouldn't need child protective services (a law enforcement agency) to intercede on your behalf in a private contractual business agreement.

They haven't broken the law, merely violated the contract.

If they can't abide by the contract, declare the contract null and void and terminate the business relationship.

Because I can bet if you call in CPP, the parents will declare it null and void right there.

To assuage the teachers, I would have a policy in place that all late fees go directly to whoever stays late.

You'll have employees volunteering (and a waiting list) to get that extra cash if your late fees are anything like some people's rates.