Paid holidays for caregiver - typical?

[missym]

We haven't signed a contract with our caregiver yet because her computer has been down, so I was unaware until today that we have to pay her for holidays even though she doesn't provide services on those days. Is this typical? I wouldn't mind except I work part-time, so I don't get paid for holidays. Also, she's taking the day after Christmas for a holiday, so I'll have to pay a back-up sitter and still pay her.

Also, is it pretty typical to have to pay for days when you keep the child home sick? This makes more sense to me than holidays.

Thanks for any input!

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03

[LucyG]

Our sitter (in-home daycare) gives us ten days a year to take off for free. I am a teacher working part-time, so we will probably use one free week at Christmas, and another for my spring break. We have to pay for major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.), but not at all during the summer (when DD will be at home with me). We also have to pay on days when DD is sick or does not go to the sitter for some other reason. We have the option of using some of our ten free days in those cases, but have decided to take them in blocks as I mentioned previously. I hope that helps!

[parkersmama]

When we were using an in-home daycare, our situation was pretty similar to the one described by LucyG. We were also given 10 (I think) days for vacation but were requested to use them in blocks of 5 rather than spread out (for planning purposes, she said). We did pay for all holidays but the daycare was open on many of the minor ones (Veteran's Day, President's Day, etc). We did pay when the baby was sick as well.

We have also hired someone to work in our home before. We paid her holidays, too. Basically, with her, I paid her the same amount every week regardless of how many days she worked that week. She made a weekly wage, rather than hourly, so I always paid even if I stayed home for some reason and she didn't come.

I think the situation you're describing, while regretful (especially the days you'll be double paying!), is pretty typical.

[missym]

Thanks, ladies! It just sort of threw me, since we're new to this; I'll be interested to see whether her contract has the 10-days free, as well. I appreciate the responses!

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03

[drsweetie]

Hey Missy, neither of these things sound unusual to me, since our former sitter worked this way too. You might also want to check to see what her policy is regarding how much notice you have to provide if you decide to change caregivers -- we were just in a situation where the day care we were on a waiting list for had a sudden opening, but we had a two weeks' notice deal with the sitter, so this week and next we're paying not only for the new day care but also the old sitter. :-( Oh well.

Ellen

[Piglet]

Our caregiver has the following policy:

- we pay for all statutory holidays (i.e. Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.)
- we pay if we are the ones taking DS out
- we don't pay if she can not have DS that day - i.e.- her own vacations we do not pay for

So each month we pay a fixed amount (let's say $400) and we deduct any days she took off from the next month's pay (so if she was on vacation for 1 week, we take off about $100 the next month). If DS was sick and we took him out for a week, we still pay $400.

I had a friend who switched to my caregiver because hers was insisting that she was to be paid even for her own holidays - my friend was then paying for a full month PLUS paying a babysitter to watch her son for a week of vacation time!