I was wondering what is standard for an in-home daycare. My friends daycare lady called at 6:45 this morning saying she was closed because it is snowing outside. She doesn't have to drive anywhere with the kids or go anywhere for that matter. All the parents take their kids to her. Does this sound odd to anyone? I don't understand why she closed today. Not to mention the fact that she is not discounting for the parents either. So they all had to take the day off to stay home with their kids with no notice.
Let me know what you think.
Most daycares will charge if you decide not to come, but will not charge if they decide to close. That is not fair to the parents, especially at the last minute, just because it's snowing?? I would be upset and definitely mention something to her if it were my daycare.
It depends on the contract or manual on what she has laid out for snow days. If she has said that she is closed when the local public school is closed then it makes sense. If there is nothing in the contract about snow days then they don't have to pay. My son's private preschool was closed due to Cherry Creek being closed.
A lot of home daycares close in my area due to weather, if it's bad enough that most places of employment, schools etc shut down. Some remain open ONLY for the parents who must work despite bad roads.
I personally refund for days I close down (except paid holidays). If it's expected to get worse etc. She's probably just doing what she can to keep the parents and kids safe.
I do find that odd. Trying to be nice here..but maybe she is thinking that it is going to get bad and doesn't want the parents to have to drive in it or have the kids stay longer then needed. I am in home provider and I would have not canceled due to the weather. I always leave that up to the parents especially means they live in the same town as I do.
I think what she did was out of concern and safety for you and your kids. The schools in the area may have been closed thus she too closed accordingly.
I personally would be pleased that has such concern for your kids. There were lots of accidents yesterday due to the snow, cold and ice you should be pleased that she cared enough rather than pissed.
ASome Biz have day care centers in the building others I would assume that your boss would understand if you had to bring your child to work for the day---as many have on snow days before thee.
I would refuse to pay her for today. My sitter closed for two days during the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and it was because she had wires down across her driveway and trees on her house. I opened my house to her on the 3rd and 4th days to have all of the kids at my place and she was more than happy to do that. My sitter NEVER closes because of snow, and we get our fair share in MD. We go to her, she doesn't come to us, normally. And I drive a large SUV with 4WD...so snow is no issue for me either. That is crazy.
There are a few places around here that close when school does, and I would never use them. Plus 645 is WAY too late to call out for the day when you are a daycare.
When we had an in-home daycare provider, she had a certain number of paid days off built into her contract. I was annoyed at first, but figured she deserved a paid holiday like anyone else and she was worth it. But, if that wasn't worked out in the contract with this person, then they can't claim that parents should have to pay for yesterday. The only excuse I can come up with for her is that her kids were home because of a school closure and there would be too many kids in the house.
Were the public schools also closed for the day? If not then I think shutting down for the day was an excuse for her to get the day off
It doesn't sound fair, or normal, IMO. She should deduct that day from the week's payment.
All of the daycares (in home or otherwise) that I know follow the school district schedule. If the school is closed (holiday, in service, snow day) then the day care is closed. Usually they tell the parents to watch the news in the morning to see if the schools are open (on snow days).
I don't understand why a daycare would close because of snow. If she drove kids to and from school, I could see her saying that she wouldn't be driving that day. It is weird. When my granddaughter was in daycare, if the daycare closed, we didn't have to pay. If we went on vacation or the child didn't come for some other reason, we still paid. If this is the way the day care is going to operate, I'd tell my friend to look for another. Who can afford to stay home every time it snows!
I would have your friend read her contract she signed. If she didn't sign a contract, then I would think she doesn't have to pay her. My boys go to a daycare facility and they only take off the major holidays and we know in advance when they will be closed. They would never close because it was snowing. But that is what happens when you pick a in-home daycare. We too have to pay for time not there or if the kids are sick because it is in our contract. So your friend will need to read her contract to make sure what is expected of her. Good luck to her.
As a childcare provider, I find this odd, unless she is a teacher's only childcare. I am, and when we have snow days where teachers do not have to report, I close the daycare.
Otherwise, I think it is silly for her to close and I would refuse to pay her. Sounds fishy.
I think that's ridiculous. If she doesn't have to drive anywhere, she should not have closed. Sounds like she was looking for an excuse to take the day off. It's really not fair to the parents especially since she's not discounting. She'll be lucky if she doesn't lose any clients over this.
I cancelled daycare 4 times in 27 years. Once because I was really really sick and knew Id be going to the Dr and didnt want to have kids with me for that. I was bad enough that my husband was coming home to get me to take the the ER. I called a friend and she came and stayed and called the parents. It turned out to be a rather large kidneystone. I called off once when we were remodeling the kitchen and the painters were coming to spray and I just didnt want the little kids exposed to that. The other time was when I gave birth at 5:25am on a Thursday. I called the parents to let them know I wouldnt be able to have their kids that day and Friday. They all came back Monday tho, and I never charged for a day I didnt have the kids, even if parents cancelled, or didnt show up. Cancelling because it snowed is a bit extreme and she must have wanted out of the day of work. I wouldnt pay for that day, or Id ask for a day later extra for free.
I do home daycare in MN (almost 15 years), so we get our share of ice and snow issues. I have never called daycare off..even when and Ice Storm knocked out the power..we made do with a small generator).
However, there have been many times where I sat here with one kid, parents were of course very late...hours once..due to the roads. I since decided that if the schools close..then the State advises no travel...I can make that decision to close as well. But I get no paid vacation days, so if I made that choice, it would be unpaid. But...if I stayed open, but no one showed up..if they all took the common sense route and stayed home and off the roads, I would still get paid. But in the end it would work out for everyone I am sure. I am pretty easy going that way.
I will assume there is snowy weather there. I get Facebook updates from a College my daughter is considering in Colorado (Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design) and there update about an hour ago said something about classes going on as usual this afternoon....
So my only thought is she may go by state advisories if any are in place, or if the schools closed, she uses this as her policy guidelines and all of this may be in place to serve as a blanket policy to attempt to keep everyone safe? They should make sure they read the policies so they are prepared for such events.
