Sitter Paid Vacation or Not

The majority of providers require pay regardless of vacation, absences, etc. However, some do make accomodations such as half pay for the time out or 2 weeks of unpaid vacation time per year, which would mean you would still owe the other 4 weeks, or 1/2, but I would talk to her about it since it is an extended period of time unlike a week or two. In my job we work with homes and centers and almost all have vacation policies similiar to what I described above.

Because of the length of the time you are going to be away I would definetly speak to the provider. 2 weeks is all I would pay.

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Because of the length of the time you are going to be away I would definetly speak to the provider. 2 weeks is all I would pay.

I ran a home based child care. Parents should pay 1/2 of what they would usually pay. It is not the caregivers fault that you take six weeks of vacation. She is holding a spot for your child that she could otherwise fill. Remember, she does not make an hourly wage and has to rely on child care fees to help her financially care for her family.

if u want your spot when you get back, yes, you pay. why should your sitter lose her income just bc you are on vacation?

This is normal, because she can not put another child in your child's place while you are gone. You are paying to have a spot for your child when you return. My sons preschool allows for one week free if they are out, but anything over that I have to pay. How would she pay her bills if half her kids took the same 2 weeks off and she did not still get paid? One mom suggested having her call if someone wanted your spot and than starting to pay? If I was the sitter I would never allow that! Either you would pay or I would give the spot to another family. The sitter has bills to pay too, and has to be able to plan accordingly.

What would you want for yourself and your family if your were in her shoes? What would you want if you were a day care provider? I say if it is in your power to be a blessing bless her. She blesses your child by taking care of him twice a week in your home.

Totally normal. It can be looked at in one of two ways:

Either you're paying to keep their spot, or you're paying for a whole year's tuition that is divided into 10 or 12 monthly payments.

The only time when it's NOT customary to be paying for the days and time slots is when it's a drop in or "pure" hourly schedule, so that you're paying different amounts each month, or are having a card punched.

My son's preschool was 10 months. Then there was also a 1 month summer program. As long as the child was in the school for the end of the 10 month term... their spot was guaranteed come fall. How much each parent paid each month was determined by how many days their child *intended* on being there.

So when we were 1/2 days, 3 days a week we paid HALF of what one of his friends paid for full days, 3 days a week. When we added another day, the tuition went up accordingly. But it was all based off of the idea that we would be there for the whole 10 months. Obviously, with a 2 week break in December/Jan... if a family started in december and quit in January they were paying more per "hour" than a family who started in a month without a school break. Because this wasn't an hourly or drop in school. It was based off of a yearly tuition, divided into months, DETERMINED by the number of days.

We could take a month off... but we'd still need to be paying the tuition UNLESS we were willing to risk losing out day and time slots.

It is a common practice, that vacations are paid... to the Sitter. Still.
They have to KEEP your child's slot, open.... whether or not you are there.
THAT is why.
SHE did not at-will, decide to not have your child there for 6 weeks. You did. Regardless of the reason.
Or she could just get another child to fill your child's spot when you are gone for 6 weeks... thus, you are like giving up, your spot.
It is also up to the family... what or how many vacations they take and for how long. It is out of the Provider's control.
Your Sitter, did not know ahead of time that your family takes 6 straight weeks of vacation, before you signed up your child.
Rules are rules. If she makes an exception for you, she would have to do that for ALL the kids' families. Then, her business.. would be hurt.

An analogy would be, school. If a child's family... takes a vacation DURING the school year... the child, is STILL responsible for ALL the homework accrued during that time, and the child will be 'absent' and it does affect their attendance stats. There is no exemption. The child/family, chose, at will, to take a vacation at that time, during school. It is not a Teacher's personal decision. It is the family's decision to go on that vacation... despite the ramifications.

Or another example would be work vacations. 2 weeks is the usual 'paid' vacation time for most Employers/Employees. IF you then decide to extend your vacation, then you would NOT get 'paid' for that lengthened vacation. It was due to YOUR personal, decision. And your Company vacation policy, does not pay for vacation beyond 2 weeks.

The decision, to take 6 weeks straight vacation, is your decision. NOT her 'responsibility' to accommodate it.

all the best,
Susan

Unless otherwise agreed upon, YES.

Blessings.....

It completely depends on your sitters contract. I can tell you that my contract stated that each family was entitled to 2 weeks of unpaid vacation time per year. 1 week was a week they chose (their vacation) the second week was my vacation. If they took any other time off thru the year they were to pay for their spot. It was my income and I was not taking off 6 weeks. I had bills etc to pay. Now if they chose to not pay that was their choice but it was with knowing they may loose their spot. Most people who are able to take off extended amounts of time like your talking about are getting paid vacation time. You are in effect the daycare providers boss. Why would anyone want to short her money? Daycare providers are caring for the country's future. It is a job which has crummy hours and crummy pay. But the care a child receives shapes them for the rest of their lives.

She can't fill that slot just because you aren't there, so she's entitled to something. She may agree to half since she will have somewhat lower expenses (snacks, for example). But if you value this provider, you'll keep your slot. The 6 weeks you might be able to negotiate if she could fill that slot temporarily and make back some of the money.

With all the sitters that I have had this is how the vacation/time off policies have worked - if I have to pay someone else to watch my kids b/c the sitter is unavailable then I do not have to pay my reg fee; but if I take off and my sitter was available to watch my children then yes I still had to pay.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

in our contract with our sitter, she gets 2 weeks paid vacation and we get 2 weeks unpaid. Other days we take off we pay for.

It depends on how you work with your sitter, meaning you can take that leave and re-enroll him when you come back, but like others have wisely said, you cant expect her to keep a slot open for your child. If there's a big chance that slot might be taken and you don't have or want to go elsewhere, the I advice you pay not for that time, but for that slot. Talk to her, maybe you can get a bit of a discounted rate, maybe?

Unfortunately the answer may be "yes" you have to pay the time off. I took a 2 week vacation but my daycare provider only charged me one week. My son also goes to an inhome daycare. Just like a center, there are costs and maybe an employee so they are depending on a certain amount of money weekly from their families. Not an easy thing to consider paying for time yorur child isn't there, maybe you can talk to her and see if she can give you a break.

Sounds like according to the contract you do have to pay for it, but perhaps you could talk to her about it, such as only paying half? That is what I did with my home daycare person during the summer, since I am a teacher and didn't need the services in the summer. She might be more flexible since you are only 2 days a week anyways. However, you have to keep in mind that it is a business, and she need a reliable income. Good luck!

Well what you are paying her for is to be there guarantee.What that means is that you will always have her be there at all time and she will only be available to you exclusively.It's not her fault that you went on vacation .It's normal to have a nanny being paid while you are gone and on top of that you feel secure that you will have a responsible nanny when you come back.My boss are paying me no matter if they are there or not and for me I am guarantee to be their only nanny.If you don't want that then you will have a hard time finding someone in the future.

I say this totally depends on the situation and your arrangement with the provider. With my son, if we go away for a week or the sitter goes away for a week, we don't pay. I'm currently pregnant with my third child and getting ready to go on maternity leave for 12 weeks. I will still have her come to my house for a few hours/day to help with my son while I take care of the baby and that's because I'd still have to pay her (I can't expect her to have no money for 12 whole weeks) BUT I can't see paying her for 12 weeks and getting nothing out of it (especially when I can really use the help).

That being said there ARE daycares which do allow unpaid time away so it's not unheard of. We live near a center where they allow you take the entire summer off unpaid because a lot of the parents are teachers that are home all summer. You could just have a discussion with your provider and see what she says. Maybe you can come up with a compromise where you pay half or something.

It depends on their policy. My son's daycare allows 1 week off every 6 months, after 6 months. If you want to take a leave of absence, talk to the sitter, but know that there is a chance that you will lose your place. You can also try to do the leave, and if there is interest, maybe have them call you, and then you can start paying?

Yes, you are holding that spot for your child. The caretaker shouldn't be giving up income because you decide to go away. They can be getting another child to fill that empty spot if it is not paid for by you - that is only fair.

I am not sure...since my "babysitter" is usually family members but I had seen this topic on the site called the skinny scoop. Here are what other moms are saying about this situation...

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/paid+vacation?utm_ca...