Everyone would agree that child care providers work long exhausting hours caring for societies most precious asset - our children. They deserve to have holidays and vacations to get refreshed and spend time with their own families. The big BUT, however, is should this be paid time off that is billable to parents. What do you think? Should parents be required to pay their child care provider for holidays and/or vacation time? Some say no, some say yes. Here are the arguments for both sides.
SOME SAY NO
Some feel that it is not fair for parents to pay providers for days that they are not open and caring for their child. This view is based on a pay only for services rendered type of approach -often the case with a contracted service. When our
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According to this view, day care providers are deserving of paid time off.
WHAT DOES THE CONTRACT SAY?
Day care is a contracted service which means that day care providers can decide to include paid time off in their contracts and if a parent signs the contract, they are agreeing to its terms.
Child care providers have to decide where they stand on the issue prior to drafting a contract and as a courtesy to parents, this should be verbally stated during the discussion about rates and possibly addressed again as any dates draw near. A casual "don 't forget we are closed on Christmas Day and as noted in the contract, it is still a billable day," can help remind the parent that they should be budgeting to cover the expense.
Parents have to decide where they stand on the issue when they are interviewing providers and making a decision on which one to choose. If the desired provider has the opposite view, this should be discussed up front instead of signing the contract and making a fuss when the holiday arrives (assuming that the provider requires pay and the parent does not think its fair - if vice versa, parents, I 'm sure your provider wouldn 't mind you insisting on paying for the