Most large daycare centers and preschools provide notice of vacation dates when they will be closed to the public. Home daycares are not different. It’s essential to send out an advance written notice of any extended periods where the home daycare will close. These can be periods of a day, several days, or even weeks. This blog post will discuss everything you need to know about developing a home daycare vacation policy. Plus, provide you with an example of a home daycare vacation notice.
The importance of a home daycare vacation notice
Vacation notices provide parents with peace of mind. They can plan for any time off or holidays you may be taking. It gives them plenty of time to find additional care while your home daycare is closed.
The purpose of sending out notice is also just good customer service. If they receive this notice, they can plan for their own time off work or holiday vacations.
However, it’s essential to keep in mind that some families may not be able to take a vacation at the same time as your business closes. In many cases, these families will need to make other childcare arrangements during the closed period.
Keeping all this in mind, you should discuss vacation policies with any new parents who may be coming on board at your home daycare. After all, it is a service you are providing, and it’s not fair to assume everyone knows about your particular policy.
How to develop a home daycare vacation policy
Start by asking yourself what civic holiday do you want to observe?
It is common practice for clients to pay regular fees for civic holidays. If your monthly rate is $800, you will not discount it because of the holiday.
It is up to you whether to charge parents for vacation days. However, it would be best to make this clear to your clients before they sign your contract.
It should be made clear to the parents that if they wish to take their child out of your care for that day because of a holiday, they must still pay the full monthly fee. There will be no refund or credit. Since you often pay for food ahead of time, this is important. The last thing you want is to lose money because a parent took Friday off. Holding a spot for them costs you time and money.
Additionally, some providers include a few paid personal days in their contracts. In this instance, their parents would pay for 2-3 days that the provider chooses to take off during the year. Let’s say, for example; the provider wanted to take next Friday off due to a funeral. The parents would be then be notified that the provider would be taking a personal day. It is a paid day off for the provider. Adding personal days to your vacation policy will save you the hassle of issuing refunds for days taken off.
How to communicate your home daycare vacation policy with parents
You can also include details of your vacation policy on the information page of your website or in any printed handouts regarding policies for parents. It’s important to keep in mind that some families will be more flexible than others when it comes to planning their time off, and it’s always best to plan in advance, if possible.
Home Daycare Vacation Policy Example.
Example Home Daycare will close for the following holidays: January 1st, Family Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Holiday, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Monday.
Provider Holidays: Example Day Home will close for one week in the summer months (July/August) and one week over Christmas each year. Full-time parents are (not) required to pay for these closures, and exact dates will be given two weeks in advance.
Clients Holidays: Parents pay in full for their vacation time, personal days off and holidays. There will be no refunds or rate adjustments made to rates for the time missed due to illness, holidays, vacations or personal days when your child is not at the day home.
Providing backup childcare for when your home daycare is closed
Many licenced home daycares are provided with a contact for backup care for their clients when they are closed for sickness or vacations. However, non-licensed home daycares don’t have this perk. If you are non-licensed home daycare, you can consider enrolling your daycare in an online home daycare network. Daycare networks can help your clients find childcare when your business is closed. Or you can contact some other home daycare in your area and ask them if they are willing to provide backup care for your clients. And you can do the same for them.
When it comes to your home daycare vacation notice, it’s best to be open and clear about what days you’ll be closed.