Do I pay DCP in this instance?

august06mom

Our in-home DCP is in the hospital. Do you think I am supposed to still pay her for the week, or for however long she is unavailable? I feel really bad for her because she is a single mom and I know she needs the income very badly. At first, we were going to have to pay a second daycare for the week, and I didn't feel bad not paying her because I didn't think it was fair for us to have to pay twice. However, some family members stepped in (thankfully), and now we aren't paying someone else.

I am not sure how long she is going to be out for, and I don't know what the protocol for this is. There's nothing in our contract about it. When DS is sick, I obviously pay, but this is different, right? WWYD?

oparcm

I would pay for this week and then I'd see how it goes.

Kersbear

Did she attend at all this week?  If so then I would pay for the full week.  I wouldn't pay for the other weeks (unless you want to), but I'd probably make some meals or try to help out her family however I could while she's in the hospital and home recovering.

august06mom

He didn't attend at all this week.

CleoKitty

If there's any way that you can manage to afford it, I'd pay her for this week just out of kindness. After this week I probably wouldn't pay if she'll need more time off, but it would be a nice gesture if possible.?

MichelleWP

What does your contract state regarding vacation/sick pay? I would probably tell my families what I plan to use (I'm a daycare provider), but you shouldn't need to pay beyond that...

CleoKitty

Just realized that your original post said that you ended up not needing to pay for childcare this week: YES, pay her! She's a struggling single mom who now has the stress of being ill and not having a job that provides her with paid time off. It would be the kind, compassionate thing to do. Besides, you'll win good karma points. ;-)

hopefulmom

She probably has a vacation (or two) built into the contract.  If you can find out if she will be using her vacation time then you can just pay her.  If she is not using vacation time then I would not pay her.  Is this sometihng sudden that came up or was it an emergency.  I suppose if you can afford it and want to pay her as a nice gesture you could for this week but after this week if she is still not watching your DC I would not pay.

GreenEggs&Ham

I would pay her by all means.  we should all get sick time. please don't try to profit form her misfortune.

championmama

I must be the odd ball.  There is no way I would pay her.  I'm sorry she's sick, but she didn't provide the services agreed upon.  Honestly, I don't thinking any IHDCP would even expect the payment where I live.  But, PP is right - it would be nice to take a meal, or offer something else nice like that.

august06mom

GreenEggs&Ham:

I would pay her by all means.  we should all get sick time. please don't try to profit form her misfortune.

I know it's late, and you're probably not going to see this, but I had to respond. I am NOT trying to profit from her misfortune at all. To be honest, times are extremely tight for us as well, and we just gave her an extremely generous Christmas bonus (two weeks salary). Plus we had to pay for two weeks when he only attended one day each week because of snow days and because he was sick. I understand about needing sick time, but I'm not trying to profit from her misfortune. All of the backup care I've been able to find has cost twice as much as she does, so I'm trying to prepare for what might happen if she's out for several weeks. I probably should have mentioned that in my OP.