Question - Saint Paul, MN

Hi A.. I have a home daycare business, as well. Do you have anything in your policy book about your time off or the parents time off? What I have done in the past for the parent's maternity leave is require partial payment for the time, they can bring the older child if they want (most do). Like if someone is full time, I require payment for 3 days per week, whether or not they use all 3 days. I am still holding their spot, so I should not have to be out all the money, but I don't feel right charging full rate. As for my own maternity leave, if you have paid time off, I would take it (such as paid sick/personal days, or cut out some paid holidays in place of maternity leave). Otherwise I would not expect to be paid - unless you already have something in your policies about getting paid for extended time off. Congrats on your new little one and be sure to take time off to enjoy him.
S.
mom of 3 and daycare provider for 20+ yrs

I have heard a variety of ways to deal with this issue. I had a friend who was charged one day /week in order to hold her spot. Since she was charged for the day, she decided to send her child to daycare 1x/week. (She had planned to keep this child home with her.)

I think it is very normal to charge to "keep the spot" but I certainly wouldn't charge full time rates.

You mentioned you were both pregnant, but didn't mention the timing. Is it possible her maternity leave will overlap with yours? or....is it close enough to your maternity leave that you would appreciate the time without an extra child in your home? If that is the case, it may impact your decision.

I would think that any time you took off as maternity leave, would be unpaid.

I used to do daycare for teacher's children, and i charged them for whole weeks...even when a holiday fell on the week. (thanksgiving, labor day, etc.) However, i didn't charge them when they had an entire week (MON-FRI) scheduled off...Christmas break, Spring Break. Part of this was b/c it seemed fair to me, and part of it was b/c I really did not want to care for their children at all during those long breaks b/c i wanted "family time" with my own children.

I think its up to you as the provider what you want to do but i know a friend of mine is due with her second and she still has to pay full time for her oldest to keep her spot there weather she goes or not and she has to pay the deposit for the second to hold his spot there. i do believe the daycare provider does the same. we are hoping to have a second child within a year and i do believe we will have to pay for full time care while i would be on maturnity leave weather my son goes everyday or not. some may be different though. i think its kinda up to you. i do like what they previos post said about charging for part time anyways. good luck and congratulations!

It has been a while since I have used a daycare provider, but when I did I was required to pay my weekly rate whether my son was there or not. As for paying my provider, she had a set list of days that we were required to pay her that she had off. We didn't pay her when she was on vacation and I don't think she would have required us to pay if she took maternity leave. I think it would be reasonable for you to expect to be paid for the child you currently watch while her mom is on maternity leave. I also, think it would be reasonable to ask for a deposit on the new arrival. But you need to do what you feel comfortable with. Good luck and congrats on the new baby.

First off, you need to add a clause about this to your policy. If you don't have something in there now, you can NOT charge them for maternity leave.....for either of you. If you don't have a clause in your contract, it's still the beginning of the year, I suggest you send home a new contract immediately for signature.

Every year at the beginning of December, I would send home an updated contract for review and it was due by Jan. 1st as that is when any new rules would come into play. And if any family chose, it gave ample time for a 2-week notification of leaving- before the Jan. 1 deadline- if they did not agree with any new rules. (I NEVER HAD ANYONE LEAVE ME!)

I did daycare for 5 years. I had NO PAID MATERNITY LEAVE. I took 7 weeks off after the birth of my daughter, a c-section.

For other moms: If they had a child in care, that child was required to pay my minimum. If they were full-time I allowed them to drop down to the PAYMENT of the mimium 30 hours. WHETHER THEY CAME OR NOT. The baby had 6 weeks of "free time" before I started charging. Either the baby started at 6 weeks or I started getting my FULL payment for BOTH kids at 6 weeks.

As for NEW BABIES with no other children in my care. I required a $100 deposit to hold their spots. This was non-refundable but it held an infant spot for the parents for up to 4 months BEFORE THE BABIES BIRTH. Then they still had their normal "free 6 weeks" after.

If you have any other questions just let me know... I had like a 10 page contract because every year I added more clauses to take care of any issues that came up throughout the previous year. My first one only started at 4 pages. LOL.

In the contract with my first daycare lady I pay no matter if I take time off or her. So, when I was pregnant I would have had to pay for care for my oldest child no matter if I kept her home or not with me while I was on leave. Luckily I gave her my written termination notice three weeks in advance per her contract. I didn't have my child in there but a couple times a week to wean her from there and I had to pay as if she was there. Technically, she should pay you for the child she has there while on leave unless you state something in your contract about maternity leave and giving them a break. I'd personally be so greatful if my daycare lady would not charge me anything as long as my child or children were pulled out of care during my maternity leave. I'd hope my daycare lady would reserve my spot too. If you're up for it I'd give her a card or something in writing letting her know that she is expected to pay while on leave, however, you will waive that because you know how tight things can get while on leave. I don't know. I had 6 weeks paid and the other 6 weeks were unpaid and to pay for daycare too I don't think I could have made it those additional 6 weeks. Good luck in your decision. If you really need that income I'd let her know that you still need payment but I think that would be so hard to tell them. Maybe 1/2 rate or something. I'm not sure.