Do you pay your sitter if... - (a little long)

mammag wrote: they take off sick?

I had an awful kidney infection, followed by a really bad reaction to Bactrim this weekend. I ended up having to take off yesterday because I was still really light headed and felt sick if I walked around. I got switched to Amoxicillan yesterday so I'm much better today and am watching them both.

Background....

My fee options are $25/day (pay only if I have them) or $100/week (pay regardless of whether I have them). I have no problem with mom 1. She chose $100/week even though I'm only scheduled to have him 4 days a week and she pays 2 weeks ahead, never tries to short me and adds in bonus' ($, food, or gifts) quite often.

Mom 2 chose $100/week, I have him 5 days a week, and never brings bonus' of any sort (in fact I'm thrilled if she remembers to bring all the things he needs every week).

I have watched for mom 1 since he was born, mom 2 since he was 5 mos. Never requested off of either. One more bit of info, after I agreed to watch for mom 2 she called and said she'd like to leave him with her mom during the summer to save money because her older kids go there (12year olds). I said it was okay even though I knew I'd be losing around $1000 because of it.

Okay, so this morning she brought him and asked (all sweet and innocently) "how much do I owe you for this week?" to which I said "$100 still". The thing is, I feel like she is always looking for an opportunity to not have to pay. One week during the summer she brought him on a Mon, Tues, and Thurs. (Wed was 4th of July) and just gave me a check for $75 without saying anything and I told her then that if she ony wanted to pay $75 that week we would have to switch to $25/day. I didn't do that fee option to make it cheap for them. It's supposed to be a mutual benefit. The save $$ each week and I guarantee my pay. She wants to do $100 when it helps her and $25/day when that is cheaper. Which of course, makes me feel like she doesn't value the care I give her son at all.

I guess this is more a vent than a question but I am curious how others handle this with their providers.

kimberley replied: it may not be that she doesn't value the care you give her son... it may be that money is just really tight.

i don't pay my sitter when she is not here unless i am getting paid for the day (ie stat. holiday) and even then i don't pay her much on those days. but, on average, i pay her $300+ per week ($9/hr).

sorry, she frustrates you. what you do is the most important job in the world to these parents and they should appreciate it.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: Nope I say she owes you $100-If she choose the weekly fee then she pays the weekly fee. I don't think it is fair for her to get to switch back and forth on you! If she wants to pay daily then she gets to start paying $125 a week and if you get sick or he does then she can pay based on how many days he is there

Hope you feel better soon!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: That's why in my contract, my fees are clearly stated at 35$ \ day per child, the only time they don't hav to pay is if *I* tell them I am not available, for example if I take a sick day. If I'm available for them, they need to pay to keep their spot regardless of whether they bring their child.

I wouldn't accept alternate last minute pay arrangement from my boss at a regular job, why would I accept alternate last minute pay arrangements from the parents of the children I make a living from watching?

It's ridiculous how a lot of parents who send their children to daycare try to keep more money for themselves. They don't stop and think about the "thickness" of their actions. How would they feel if their boss all of a sudden decided to try to dock their pay every time they took some time off, even though usually their time off is paid? The parents are getting a great deal at 25$ per day. That's only 2.5$ an hour they're paying you for a full 10 hour day. They should feel lucky to have you give them an even cheaper rate of 100$ a week.

luvmykids replied: She should have paid you the $100...when my kids were in daycare, I had to pay a set amount a week, period. Her contract included her two weeks of vacation too...She did give the option of paying by the day but if someone called and wanted to pay full time, you lost your spot.

I hope you're feeling better

MommyToAshley replied: Hope you are feeling better.

Maybe just tell her you are changing to new billing options and only doing $25/day and remove the option of $100/week. Then there would never be a question how much she owes you.

If it is working fine with the other Mom, I would leave it as is. It's none of her business how or what the other Mom pays.

Hope you feel better.

coasterqueen replied: I always pay my sitter even when she is sick. Why? Because she goes above and beyond a lot of other times that to me it always evens out. For instance, if I have to bring the girls earlier than usual or have them stay later than usual she never complains. Or like today I need my sitter to meet me at the alteration place here in town so I can have Kylie try on her dress. She has to pack all three kids in the car and waste her gas to do this, but she didn't complain and she knows that in some form or fashion it evens out. Also, I give her days off last minute, like this Friday afternoon I told her I was taking off of work and taking the girls out for an afternoon and she'll still get paid, but it just all evens out.

I say, you are probably like that as well in some form or fashion and should get paid the $100 still.

Kaitlin'smom replied: when I had a week agreement with my sitter I paid it unless she took off, we agreed on this cause I would have to find other care and normally pay them, she did not think it was fair to make me pay twice.Or if I took vacation time she had plenty of notice and I did not pay then either. When Kait started pre-school we went to an hourly ammount and I pay her the hours she has her I normally round up when its an odd ammount to give her a little extra. I do try and give her extra when I can cause she has taken good care of Kait since she was 6 weeks old, she is like family and they need all they can get with all the medical bills from her sick son.

moped replied: I don't think it matters if you are sick or not - they still owe what you agreed to!

That sucks....

lesliesmom replied: If my DCP takes vacation, then the parents don't pay for that time. If she is sick (which I hardly ever remember happening in the 6+ years I've been with her) I generally pay her (although I'm sure others don't). She also gave us a list of paid days she receives (i.e. holidays). Nothing out of the usual, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. If we take vacation time, as long as we give notice, we pay, but a reduced rate (50%) - and that is more or less to "save" their spots. I think she should pay you the $100, that's the pay arrangement she chose and she should stick to it.

momtoMegan&Alyxandria replied: I didn't go through and read all the posts so sorry if I repeat a lot.

I pay my babysitter on a weekly basis. For Megan I pay $70/wk while she is in school and weeks that she isn't in school it is $90/wk. I pay $100/wk for Alyx.

When my kids aren't there for sickness reasons I still pay for a half day. If they are only there a half day I pay for a whole day. If Linda takes the day off then, I don't have to pay here. I also don't pay her for holidays (ie Labor Day, Christmas) because she is usually off from all kids then as well. I also don't pay her when I have vacation days off. I do give her a christmas bonus and a gift from the kids (well in the past it was only from Megan).
On weeks (like when Meg started school) that Meg is only in school for 2-3 days and out the rest I split up the week with her weekly rate. So when she was with Linda all day on Mon and Tues and then went back to school on Wed I paid her for two days at the $90/wk and 3 days at $70/wk. She wasn't expecting that. She was only going to charge me the school rate.

Thats what I do anyway.

luvbug00 replied: I say she owes you $100. period

bawoodsmall replied: She owes you the money. It sounds like she isn't a very good person to have. I kinda have it lucky because where we take Aiden and Em I do not pay when I am on vacation. I also did not have to pay when I was on Maternity leave with Aiden. Thank god because I did not get maternity leave from work. I only had about 4 weeks paid which was 4 weeks not paid. It was well worth it though.

Jackie012007 replied:
well said and exactly what I was going to say - I work for an in-home certified daycare provider and in her contract it's $25 a day - the parent chooses full-time or part-time. We get paid even if they choose not to bring their kid - the only time she doesn't charge is if she closes the daycare because of illness or whatnot.

redchief replied: I don't think you can force her to pay you 100.00 and still have a job. I do, however, agree with Dee Dee, that perhaps only offering this woman the daily rate might be the answer. I'd add, as Rocky said, that if she chooses not to bring her child on a certain day that you would normally have him, she owes for that day.

jcc64 replied: I tried to treat my DCPs like professionals. That is- they got paid sick days and vacations. If I cancelled or picked up early, I still paid them for the full day. I paid well, as much as I could afford, and it did send us into SERIOUS debt, but I believe there is nothing I'd rather over spend on than childcare. I treated them well, and they all returned the favor. It's management 101, really a happy employee is a good and loyal employee. It just makes sense to keep the person that is taking care of the most important thing in the world to me as happy as possible.

mom21kid2dogs replied:


I had a different arrangement with my sitter. If she was sick she provided a substitute (whom we knew and were fine with it) so I always paid the agreed weekly fee. If, in the event , the sub couldn't work it out, I didn't pay her because I would need to pay my own sub (or use a vacation or personal day). I did pay her 1 week vacation every year and obviously paid even if my daughter was not there.