Retainer Fee ?

[angeldelight]

Hello Everyone,

Could anyone give me any advice

I care for a 10mth old he will be leaving next week for a short while.

His mom quit her recent job but is going back into full time work after training at college. This means she still wants me to always care for baby but his hours will be all over the place when he comes back, part time to start then full time later.
I have no problem with this and will put the hours in her new contract

She gave me the correct notice 2 weeks ago and told me that he would be coming back in around a months time

Then last week she told me it could be 6 to 8 weeks when he comes back

Now this evening she told me it could be a few mths depending if she gets straight on the course she wants

I did mention about the retainer fee and she said she would speak about it more next week shes made it more than clear that he is coming back and she wants me to continue looking after him when he is school age etc

Where does this leave me though , do I ask for a retainer fee or just leave it and hope that I have a vacancy for him?
She is not going to be able to give me a date I do know this she is being half soaked if she gets somewhere soon she will be happy type of thing but if she dont then it dont matter either but where does that leave me ?

Like ive said before ive been a childminder for years but this one is new to me ive never had to ask for a retainer before

Can someone give me some advice I would like to give the impression that I know what im on about when I speak to her next week. In fact I would like to speak to her sooner than the day the baby leaves me - to enable her to think about what she wants to do

For example do I hold the place for a certain amount of time I get the impression from our chat earlier that she just thinks im going to be here for her.

Also how much should I charge to keep the place open being realistic. Is there a time limit on how long I should keep the childcare place open ?

Help !!!!

[Pauline]

Hi Angel,

I would ask for a retainer. I know it's easy to think that there is no need when a parent is nice and you are sure they will come back but there is always the possibility that things could go wrong that are out of everyone's control.

Imagine that you keep the place for 8 weeks then, just the week before something happens i.e. Dad loses his job, there is an illness, they have to suddenly move - who knows what might happen in the future?

You would then have had 8 weeks with no money and be left with an empty place.

Another reason for a retainer is that it shows good faith on the part of the parent and that they really do intend to come back.

If you find it hard to ask for retainers then try using the example I use to parents who question it. I say that it's like if you go holiday - you wouldn't expect the owner of an apartment or caravan to keep it vacant for you without wanting some kind of payment - it's the same with childminding, my spaces are my income and if you want to book a space you have to pay something to cover my lost income while it's being held.

[Pauline]

angeldelight said:

For example do I hold the place for a certain amount of time I get the impression from our chat earlier that she just thinks im going to be here for her.

Also how much should I charge to keep the place open being realistic. Is there a time limit on how long I should keep the childcare place open ?

Help !!!!

Sorry - forgot to answer this bit!!

I would leave it to her to book the maximum amount of time she is prepared to pay for, that's assuming you are happy to be earning whatever you arrange for that amount of time. If she books 8 weeks then still isn't ready then perhaps you could re negotiate. If someone else comes along towards the end of the 8 weeks then contact her to see if she will be needing the place or if she is prepared to pay for more time.

How much is very difficult. It depends on whether you think you would be able to fill your space quickly. If there are not many new children out there and lots of minders then perhaps you would be better with 'a bird in the hand' as it were.

The best thing to do is decide beforehand how much you would be happy with, see what the parent thinks and then negotiate from there.

Hope that helps!

[angeldelight]

Thanks Pauline the information that you have given it is helpful thankyou

If I keep the childcare place open for 8 weeks for example do I have to take a small charge from her every week of those 8 weeks ?
Or do I take a set sum like a deposit of £50 for example to keep the place open for a set date?

I just can not see this parent paying this at all to be honest, she looked angry that I even suggested it. She also had the cheek to say " well it wont stop you having another baby will it because my baby will be one when he comes back" as if that made it ok.
Parents just dont understand do they sometimes.

The baby is not walking yet and I dont really want another baby at this stage it would be too much when doing school runs etc plus I have a baby starting next April ( parents were happy to pay a retainer )

Should I just let this baby go and hope that I have a vacancy when she comes back to be honest I think that is what the parent is hoping for?

Have any of you asked for a retainer in the past , how did it work, what did you say to the parent , how did the parent react

This parent seems to think why should she be paying me something when she will be the one looking after him!!!

[babbs]

Hi

Taking a small charge always seems cheaper to the parents but you have to remember to get it off them which is not always easy!

It sounds to me like you will not get a retainer out of this parent so you might have to leave them to see if you have a place when they need it. It makes you angry though doesn't it?

I once had a parent who wanted me to keep two spaces for their two children for the whole of the six week summer holidays but were not prepared to pay anything towards keeping the spaces. I thought if I did and they didn't turn up I would lose money so refused to keep the place.

Anyway when the time came they phoned to see if I had the spaces (I'm sure they thought I would) and I could have squeezed them in but thought 'why should I' so told them that I was full!

I later heard that they were phoning around all the childminders in the area but found they were full to, they ended up almost begging them to take the children and ended up having to pay more than I would have charged!

I know some parents seem to think we are just being greedy but we have mouths to feed to and are running a business. It's the same with late payments they don't seem to care that I haven't had my 'wages' but would soon moan if THEY didn't get paid at the end of the week.

Good luck!

[angeldelight]

Hi Babbs,

I think I will do as you suggest and just ask wait till they come back, if they do that is!!

It is annoying because now I dont really know where I stand these parents just expect us to hang around forgettting its loss of income to me too
If they take ages to come back I think I will feel like doing what you did and pretending that im booked even if im not
Ive had a lot of problems with time keeping from these parents and feel that ive more than put myself out already so I feel that they do owe me something

I will keep you posted he leaves on the 11th

[cait]

I wonder if anyone, like NCMA do any leaflets for parents on this kind of thing? I always think that when it looks official and from someone other than me that parents take it more seriously.

[liverbird]

babbs said:

Taking a small charge always seems cheaper to the parents but you have to remember to get it off them which is not always easy!

One way to make sure you get payment is to ask for post dated cheques for each week of the retainer. Then you can cash one each week without having to remind the parent to pay.

[angeldelight]

After speaking with the parent again this evening she pulled a face at a retainer fee and said she does not think she should pay for something that she is not getting eg childcare whilst she is caring for baby. I suppose if I look at it from her point of view as a parent , would I like to pay someone when I was at home with the baby? Then I have to look at this from my point of view and it is unfair for me too , so who is right here ?

She said she really wants baby to come back here but thinks that at the moment she doesnt know when she can get into her college course or part time job so she does not want to give me a date because she really does not know herself. So I think she feels that she will hope for the best and hope that I have a vacancy for him

She wants to leave his pushchair here so it must means she wants to come back , not helping me much though is it

I think you are right I wish that NCMA did do a booklet or something , sometimes its so much better to give a parent something that looks official rather than having to do it yourself

[Pauline]

angeldelight said:

She wants to leave his pushchair here so it must means she wants to come back , not helping me much though is it

I think you are right I wish that NCMA did do a booklet or something , sometimes its so much better to give a parent something that looks official rather than having to do it yourself

You could always say that perhaps it's best not to leave the pushchair as you will probably have to fill the place as you can't afford to keep it open for nothing.

Plus, does the mum know that if she pays a retainer that you are then available to have the child during that time? She could then have time out for shopping, hairdressers etc. and know she has childcare available (with sufficient notice that is!) Make sure she knows that she would have to pay the extra to make up the full fee though for that day.

As regards booklets and information for parents, I'm doing a childminding promotion evening for NCMA soon and they are sending lots of information booklets/leaflets and such - I'll have a look and see what sort of stuff they have for parents and let you know. If there is anything suitable perhaps you might be able to request them from NCMA