Contracts & Policies Questions and Answers: Part II
This is Part II of my answers to questions raised during a recent webinar “Early Childhood Education Program Contracts & Policies 101: How to Establish and Maintain Effective Business Relationships with Parents.”
You can listen to the webinar for free and download the power point and handouts from the webinar sponsor Early Childhood Investigations (scroll way down to the bottom of the page).
Contract/Policies
Q: "Should our rates and hours of operation be in our policies or our contract?"
A: Put them in your contract. Your fees and hours of operation are the two terms of your contract that are legally enforceable. All other program rules and procedures are policies that can't be enforced in court. So, limit your contract to: 1) names of the parties, 2) all fees and hours of operation, 3) termination language, and 4) signatures of the parties. Put everything else in your policies.
Q: "I don't let parents take my contract and policies paperwork home. I have a desk out in the lobby where they can fill out the paperwork. Sometimes I send out the paperwork to new enrolled families weeks before they enroll."
A: Nothing wrong with this. Don't sign the contract or policies until after the parent has signed.
Q: “What are the pros/cons of listing my hours of care in the contract versus listing the hours of my operation? I currently list my hours of care so I can make sure I’m meeting my licensing ratios.”
A: It’s always best to put in your contract the specific hours you are agreeing to care for each child, rather than the general hours of your operation. Each contract you sign with parents can contain different drop off and pick up times. You should make a separate decision with each parent about what their hours of care will be. You don’t have to offer care for the same number of hours for each parent.
Q: “Should all my rules about money be included in my contract? For instance: fees for late-pick up and bounced checks, holiday pay and vacation pay?”
A: Yes. Put all matters dealing with money and the hours you are caring for children in your contract. Put everything else about how you provide care in your policies. Creating two documents can help you more easily manage your business.
Q: “Would renewing my contract be the same as putting an ending date on my contract?”
A: No. You don’t want to put an ending date on your contract because it can create problems later if the parent doesn’t sign a new contract before the old contract expires. You can renew your contract every year, or as often as you want. If you decide to make changes, put them in writing and sign the new agreement.
Q: “What if I put my late pick up in my policies. Can I still do something different for one family?”
A: Yes, you can have different policies for different parents. Your late pick up fee can be $1 for one family and $2 a minute for another family. You might base this on the second family being late more often than the first family.
Q: “My policies say that tuition is late if it’s not paid by 5:30 p.m. on Friday (for next week). Would my late tuition fee start as of Friday at 5:30 p.m. (day 1) up to the day they finally pay it, including the day they pay?”
A: You can do whatever you want. If you charge $5 a date late payment fee, and the parent pays you on Monday morning, you could charge $20 (for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) or $15 (for Friday, Saturday and Sunday). It’s up to you. Whatever you decide, be clear in your contract how much the parent will owe if they pay late.
Q: “Is it fair to charge parents for a holiday if I am closed for that day?”
A: It’s up to you to decide what is fair. Many parents get paid for holidays, so I think it’s reasonable for you to get paid for holidays.
Q: “In Miami centers do not require parents to sign contracts. Is that not a deterrent for a parent to enroll their child in our center? How can I make this more parent friendly?”
A: It’s possible that some parents may not want to enroll in your center because you don’t have a written contract that they can sign. They may feel uncomfortable that you are not going to follow reasonable rules regarding their child or they may feel that you might terminate care without being fair to you. You can always write up written policies and procedures that your center will follow, even if you don’t require parents to sign an agreement.
Q: “I need suggestions on what to charge employee’s children.”
A: There is no one standard that centers follow when they care for their employee’s children. Some centers give a discount in this situation and some don’t. If you do give a discount, you need to count the value of the discount as part of the employee’s salary (subject to payroll taxes).
Q: “Would I have to rewrite the parent handbook if I decide to use different rules for different parents?”
A: Yes. This would require you to revise your parent handbook to reflect the rules for each parent.
Tom Copeland – www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://www.123rf.com/photo_52409981_contract-review-flat-illustration-hand-with-magnifier-over-contract-page.html
To learn more, read my book Family Child Care Contracts and Policies.
