why do daycares charge for time they dont work for?

[tapies2324]

I think it is nonsense to pay for childcare days when my kid isnt attending the childcare program. Am i the only parent that feels like holidays and sick days should be no cost?

[Tea4Tas]

I paid my sitter for 5 days a week 52 weeks a year. IF she choose to take a vacation for a week we weren't on vacation (and she never did) then she would not have gotten paid for those weeks. As a State worker I got a ton of holidays-Christmas-Thanksgiving-New Years day-MLK day-The 2 Monday holidays in the spring and summer-and the 4th of July. I also got 2-5 weeks of vacation in the 20 years I employed her.

I thought that was very fair, as she never ONCE required me to get a sick child (although I did go and get them pretty often)  If one of my kids was sick-she dealt with it-just as she would have if HER child was sick.  She had great back-up care if SHE was sick (either her Mom or her husband) She was a real gem.

[preacherskid]

I am okay with it. They still have costs that need to be covered, and if every parent didn't pay for the full week, I know our daycare would not be able to meet costs, they still have all of their overhead costs, their food costs are the same, the teachers still have to be paid and so do the owners. I have no issue with it personally, I don't begrudge them the income. They are an awesome daycare and they do a great job. If we could afford it I would pay them more than the stated rates because I know sometimes they have trouble meeting all their costs because our DFS is slow about sending payments. I think it is worth it after the trouble I had with our first daycare, then trying to find a place with two openings in different age groups. But that's just me :)

[trfgirl56701]

When my sil did daycare for us we just wouldn't pay her for the days she didn't have ds. Of course we provided everything he needed except the water to mix his formula. There were several times she or her kids were sick and she didn't bother to let us know until after I was there to drop ds off and it was too late for me to call off. Then we had to deal with ds catching whatever they were sick with so we thought it was only fair that she didn't get paid since she caused us to lose money for staying home from work and possibly taking ds to the dr.

I understand daycares charging when your child isn't there though. LikeBrennaLyons said they're not likely to be able to fill that spot for just one day especially if there isn't much notice. 

[Meglet1970]

Quoting LyTe684:

Does your job give you paid sick/vacation/etc. Days?

[tapies2324]

Thank you all for your replies. 

[IBNeaters]

The daycare I used to go to got major school holidays and a week vacation.  She was taking care of my child as I went off in the world and made a living-plus 4-5 other ppl's children.  Shouldn't she get PTO?  My job gives me PTO and her job is a hell of a lot more difficult.  

[adulation]

It sucks, but I understand it.  For the days they were open and I didn't send my kid, it's not like the staff gets a day off too or the daycare closes and minimizes utility costs for that day. 
For the holidays, i mean, the only thing that bothered me about our daycare was that since it was a montessori school they would be closed for a whole week or 2 that I still had to pay for, so I thought a $50 for that month would have been nice considering I had to find alternate daycare for my child for those days.  :/

[tapies2324]

awesome reasoning. kid is there half the month thus pay is half off. RIGHT On! who pays for a service not rendered?? a 

Quoting adulation:

It sucks, but I understand it.  For the days they were open and I didn't send my kid, it's not like the staff gets a day off too or the daycare closes and minimizes utility costs for that day. 
For the holidays, i mean, the only thing that bothered me about our daycare was that since it was a montessori school they would be closed for a whole week or 2 that I still had to pay for, so I thought a $50 for that month would have been nice considering I had to find alternate daycare for my child for those days.  :/

[CorpCityGrl]

It really annoys me, but I also get that daycares need a consistent stream of revenue to run and that's why it's done.

[Babujai]

 The daycare still has to pay their teachers for those days so no, I don't have a problem paying for those days.