Just starting on the child care merry go round and have been able to secure only 3 days/week at a local centre. Their fee structure says you have to pay for public holidays (even though the centre's not open) and for any care your child would normally have taken when you're on holiday, even if you have given 2 weeks notice - in order to 'keep your place'. I last used child care around 8 yrs ago and don't remember it being like that at all. Is this standard practice now???

Also, can any one make recommendations for care between Waramanga and Civic? As, if this is not standard, which I'm hoping, I'm keen to find another centre, even if I stay at this one for a little while and move out when my turn comes up again on another waiting list!!!! (Any one with a few spare $ want to start a child care centre? I'll work for you, but no $ to start it up, or else I wouldn't be stuck in this position!)

Hey there. It is totally normal. We pay for childcare and until ABC took over the centre that Harley is at we also paid for holidays. With ABC if we give two weeks notice for a two week holiday, then we pay half fees.



Thanks

Rohan & Harley 1 Oct 02

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My DS goes to Christopher Robin in Turner & the centre &
staff their are excellent, I am due to go back to work in a
couple of weeks & have also only been able to get 3 days
after 18m on waiting list for both boys, this time I could not be
bothered trying other centres as I am happy to stay their &
wait for f/t care to come as they are close to work.

We also have to pay fees for public holidays/sick days, the
staff still get paid so it doesn't worry me, I haven't taken
holidays so I am not sure what the situation is with these. I
recall seeing a note in one of their newsletters that p/t kids
can make up days missed for public holidays if needed.

Hi There,

I use family day care and the rules there are such that you don't pay for public holidays (?I think?), when the carer is sick or on holidays. You pay for your childs sick days and if you give 2 weeks notice half fees for personal holidays.

BTW - if you can stand having kids in your own home the costs for becoming and FDC carer are minimal......

Rach

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Thanks for that info. Doesn't this stink!!! Potentilly they could be getting paid twice for our spot - you when your not there and an occassional care child in your position at that time.

Re; FDC, can you tell me what they look for? I'm trained as a teacher but we live in a rental house and have a german shepherd - my two concerns re being accepted as a carer, otherwise it is very very tempting, I have to say.

The childcare centre I use also has fees for public holidays and if we go on holiday. I can understand why they do that - staff have to be paid on these days anyway, and salaries are the biggest cost in running a centre. The centre I use doesn't do occasional care, so they can't get the money elsewhere if my child's place is vacant for the day.

I guess that if they don't charge for public holidays etc the daily fees will have to go up to make up for it. On the upside, at least I get charged the same amount every fortnight (no less if there's a public holiday) so I can set up an automatic payment.

You're lucky you can get 3 days. I can only get 2 days, and I was on a waiting list for over a year to get that. But it's worth it for a really good centre.

My DS is at community-run centre and it's the same. I think we're entitled to so many days absence that we can not pay for (it's not many and I'm vague on the details) and we have to pay for public holidays. This is really annoying as my DS's days are Monday and Tuesday!
I cna see why you have to pay even if you're on holiday, but they're shut on public holidays so I think that is a bit cheeky.

This is my first post - so I hope I do this right!

oholweg - With FDC the rules are different depending on which scheme you are with - the one that covers tuggeranong you pay for public holidays, your holidays and your sick days (all at full cost). If the carer is sick or on holidays you do not need to pay them.

If you want to be a carer, the requirements are also different between schemes. The best thing to do is ring them and they will send you out some info on what they want/need - usually you need to do their course, have a first aid certificate and have a safety inspection done on your house.

With the dog you would need to have an area where you can lock the dog away from the children if the need should arise and their food/water bowls need to be inaccessable(sp?) to the children. Rental house is no problem - as long as you can make it safe enough to pass their safety requirements (childproof locks on cupboards etc). We have quite a few carers in our scheme who live in rental properties, so its not impossible. Hope this helps a little

i just rang the YWCA FDC which covers the gungahlin area and basically they send out forms and then once they receive them back they will organise a time to come out and see me and check out my house. They said that they have a traineeship so that carers do it on the job and get a Cert 3 in Child Care - which appeals to me. It is something like $3.62 per hour that the carer gets in hand (after tax) and it does not affect your family tax benefit (i don't think) - so if you have one child to care for it could be a nice little earner per fortnight extra.

Rach :-)

This message was edited by RachieD on Friday, 2 September 2005 @ 1:36 PM

Thank you everyone for the information and advice. MOst helpful.