Most daycare centers and in-home family daycares have standard hours of operation. However, sometimes clients need care before or after the hours you have set. But what happens if it becomes a habit or someone abuses your kindness? We asked the fans of OwnADaycare on Facebook who are daycare owners:
“Suppose I have a client that knows your business hours are 6am-6pm and I did her a favor by watching her children a few times AFTER hours and now she continues to ask. Should I get paid extra for afterhours care or should it be the same as her normal daily rate?”
Here are some of their best answers:
- If the contract said she only needed care until 6pm and she’s staying several hours later, I would definitely ask for more money.
- I charge $8 per hour past 5:30 plus their daily rate. No way I’d do it for free or work a 16 hour day for a 12 hour rate.
- Would a parent stay after work for free? No way! Make them pay more and people suddenly will stop needing
- That is so aggravating when we do something as a favor for a short period of time and the parent expects us to continue. I would simply tell her NO and that you close at 6 pm SHARP, if she needs later hours then she should find somebody else. Otherwise, yes, I would absolutely charge more per hour for after hour care. If other parents hear you are doing this, they may start wanting you to watch their children later also for whatever reason. I am also open from 6 -6 and know that it makes for a very long day!
- You should definitely get paid for the over time. You need to explain to her that you did it a few times just as a favor and that you can’t continue to do it without extra pay. Set a specific rate that you need her to pay for the extra hours and stick by it. Also, don’t feel guilty if you can’t or you don’t want to. You have every right to say no. We all need time with our families and time to ourselves.
- I charge $20 an hour past closing time in $5 per 15 minute intervals. It’s rare that I have anyone picking up late here.
- What she is doing is taking advantage of you. Stand up for yourself and stick to your contact. No way should a child be in care 12 hours at regular rate. And no way beyond a normal work day of max of 10 hours at your normal rate. Anything above and beyond should be at least 1 1/2 to twice your rate.
- It depends upon how valuable your time is!! Personally, I would only provide care within the hours that I have set, otherwise I would charge extra for my time. Friend or family, it doesn’t matter! I value my time and the time I have with my family.
- Charge her an increased rate for those hours & she will stop asking. I just had a parent contact e (via text) for overnight care for 3 children (1, 4 and 5). I told her that I don’t usually do overnight care and the fact that she wanted that on top of weekends (I don’t do those either) I told her $90. I asked what her budget was and she said $45, I told her that I couldn’t accommodate her. Basically, don’t over extend yourself or sell yourself short.
- I consider anything after my closed hours to be after care and would charge an increased tuition fee for that time.
- If you’re doing her a favor, it should definitely be worth your while (charge for it). Plus it’s into what would be another shift-I’d let her know on days you are able to accommodate her extra needs Its going to be an additional (whatever the price is) How many children?? I would personally add 10 an hour(or any portion of an hour)
- I have in my contract 10.00 an hour for evening and weekends and this is on availability and arrangements must be made in advance. So answer to your question YES you should be charging more. If she worked over her scheduled hours she would expect to get overtime and that is an extremely long day.
- If you are tired of working late tell her NO. You do have a life after day care, and it will take a toll on your family time and life. She can only take advantage of you if you allow it.
- We charge any time after 6:00 pm and make sure that parents give us a written note signed by either parents or single parent’s, that they are aware that these are not child care hours. You should let the parent know that you did it as a favor the first couple of times. However, give her the amount you will start to charge.
- I offer babysitting in addition to my child care hours. I have to be available, I’m not going to twist my schedule into knots & bend over backwards. If my calendar has space and I feel put to it, I’ll do it. My babysitting rates are different than my child care rates. For babysitting, I charge $10/hour for the first child + $5/hour for EACH additional child. I’ve had a few families coordinate their schedules & ask for babysitting for their children on the same night & then split the babysitting cost down the middle, which I’m totally fine with! I actually encourage it! Bottom line, it has to work for YOU.
- I will do occasional overnights/weekend care. I charge $55/night per kid & and either my babysitting rates for the days (if they’ll be picked up before noon) or an additional $55/kiddo for full days (pick up after 12pm). I also need to have car seats & they understand that we’ll be going about our normal family weekend activities with the kids.
- I started charging $1- $2 every 30 minutes, it got her attention but don’t let them take advantage of you, when u watch kids later that goes into your family time which you need and your family needs it too
- I ask for $7.50 per child per hour after hours AND they need to have asked, and gotten permission at least 48 hours in advance. That keeps them from calling at the last minute and trying to avoid late fees, and leaving me with no choice. Hey I’ve got a life too!
- In California we can have a child up to 23 hours in a day. They can be picked up for an hour and brought right back. With as tight as we always are here, this one seems crazy to me. But then again if I watch a friend’s kids for the weekend it would still fall into this law.
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