Day Care Contract ?

[1xmom]

I am brand new here and have a question about day care. My DCP gave me my new contract for the next year and I was kind of surprised at all the time off she was asking for. Now, I really like this DCP and my dd who will be 4 in Feb. loves her. Her fee is reasonable, but to me she is asking for a lot of paid time off. She wants 2 weeks vacation, 12.5 holiday time, 10 personal days and any sick time needed whenever. All this will be paid time. My problem is that I have no back up and last year I had taken off whenever she needed off but next year she is asking for more and I really can't afford to do that b/c I will end up having to pay her to be off, plus someone to watch my child whenever she can't. I had also called the YMCA Day Care a couple of weeks ago and they would have an opening soon, their rate is only $10 more a week than I am currently paying my DCP and since they are a center, back-up won't be as much a problem. AM I being unrealistic w/the days off or is that the running rate nowadays?

[Marlena]

I suspect at least some of it will depend on the norms in the area in which you live. Where I am, 1-2 weeks paid vacation, 1-2 weeks paid sick leave, and 10 paid holidays are the norm. This year, my nanny exceeded her paid days off (no matter how you sliced 'em), but that was ok, as there were extenuating circumstances, so I paid for those days anyway.

12.5 paid holidays, 10 personal days (1 would be as much as I'd give; when my nanny needs personal days, she usually uses her sick or vacation leave), and unlimited paid sick leave seems really unreasonable to me. If in doubt, I compare it to what I am offered at my job. If it exceeds what I get, myself, it's too much (particularly as it virtually guarantees that I'll need to find secondary coverage somewhere and pay that person/place while I'm simultaneously paying my primary provider - that will never do, IMO).

[LiamnEmma]

that seems a little extreme to me. She's asking for 6 weeks of paid time off, plus sick days? How many would be considered overboard? I'd at least say that the 10 personal days can be used for whatever, including the sick time, but no extra sick time, kwim? I have had in my home care and center based care. There are advantages and disadvantages to any situation, so I don't feel like I can help you make that decision. Currently my children are in a very small center based church-run (not our religion, but close enough) daycare that they and we love immensely. Maybe take a tour of the YMCA. Maybe discuss the contract with your provider and see if she's willing to negotiate. Maybe she just wants to see what you're willing to bend on? It should work for both of you though. Good luck.

Leah

[1xmom]

Thanks ladies. The time she is asking for is more than I get at my job. I plan to tour the Y within the next few weeks. Since my dd will be 4 I wanted to get her into something more structured. I'd like to get her in Pre-K but everything is pretty full right now so that is one reason why I was checking into the YMCA.

[HollyBearsMom]

Everything else seems reasonable except the unlimited sick time. My sons DCP come to our house and she gets all holidays off that I get which is 10 and 8 sick/personal days to use as needed plus 2 weeks paid vacation. However I have yet to dock her for going over nor have I rolled over any days she didn't use. Unltimately she is too valuable to us that I don't feel the need to "nickle and dime" her. She knows that and has never taken advantage of it. My son truly loves her and we trust her implicitly

I would think she would negotiate with you but if not I hope the Y offers you everything need. Once you have toured the Y you might want to set up a meeting with your DCP provider and explain everything to her. Unless time off is more important than $$ to her she might decided its not worth losing you all together.

Good luck no matter how it turns out!!

[1xmom]

Thanks for the replies. I did take a tour of the Y last Friday and liked it, but they currently do not have any openings for her age group. They do have a half day program that I'm more than likely to put her in. Just starting out, I'll do 3 days/week to see how it goes, and gradually go up to five days. It will be a little more expensive but I think worth it in the long run. The holidays and two week vacation time aren't too much of an issue w/me but in the long run I'll be paying out more to her than I would the Y b/c I have double pay everytime she is out.

[EFmom]

My dcp doesn't expect paid vacation as such. If we don't use her when she is available to work, for times like school vacations (dh is a teacher, so he is home with the kids then), we pay half. She deliberately picks her clients where one of the parents is a teacher. I think she makes out OK this way, because there are several weeks where she gets paid half but doesn't have any kids, or maybe only one or two kids for a short while. She also likes it because it means the kids are usually gone by 4pm (although they get there very early).

She always takes off for a week and a half in the spring that doesn't coincide with school vacations. She will also take a few other days (maybe 4 per year) off for various reasons. We don't pay at all for those times.

I also don't have back-up, so basically, I spend the bulk of my vacation time on her spring trip and the miscellaneous other days. This ticks me off because, as I said, she selects for families where the parents teach, yet she deliberately avoids taking the school vacations off. The spring trip is always during cruddy weather where I live--she travels someplace.

It's so much about the money, I find, it's the stress of worrying about getting off work to cover for this. Not to mention, squandering all my vacation at inconvenient times. Since dh is a teacher and can't take random days off, it means I cover all this and we can't go anywhere because he's working.

I think your dcp is asking for way too much. Ten paid personal days and unlimited sick time on top of paid vacation and holidays is way out of line.

I hope something opens up at the Y for you!