Day Care Teacher Benefits

Depends on the area and the daycare. In Boston it wasn't that normal to have a childcare discount but in Colorado it has been fairly normal. However, one company doesn't offer the discount till their one, another till they are two, and another doesn't have a policy and it's just up to the owners. I can see why the teacher may leave because day care teachers do not earn enough to pay for daycare themselves. I am a stay at home mom right now for this reason. I would be making nothing if I worked and paid for their daycare (even with just one kid). You should find out more information because it also affects you even though it is a company change (and it can be very hard to find good daycare teachers!).

I can see how the teachers with no children might feel greatly short changed in this benefit exchange. I worked in a child care situation (my first "professional" childcare job after high school..with a real paycheck and training needed, etc)...the gal who would become my manager for a while was offered this benefit. She had 3 kids and they counted in our numbers as well. In this experience it was taken advantage of, so my experience is pretty negative.

However...the teachers you speak of agreed to this when they were hired (no offset of pay if they had no children). Too late to cry foul after the fact. Plus the teachers who hired on WITH this agreement in place might have done so due to this benefit. Like another poster stated...I would have said teachers check into the legality, etc of a place of employment revoking benefits like that? Wouldn't there be a process? I don't know, but it sure seems unfair!

Child care is a great expense for parents..but is also is for those of us doing it (I do home based care). For center based places I am sure liability insurance is a big big expense so don't be surprised if you hear that from the program directors if you get to that discussion point.

I wish you well. A good program can really be based on good teachers and less turnover. Incentives like reduced childcare for their own can sure help that! Those parents have a vested interest in the place being successful, well kept and thriving.

I am a teacher at a private school, and although many private schools around the valley have the benefit of the teachers kids going to school for free, our school does not. The private school I work at also has a daycare with it. Teaching in the school a teacher gets 15% off the first child and 30% off any child after that with enrollment fee free. In the daycare a teacher who works full time gets 15% off the first and 30% off any child after that but if they do not work full time they do not get a discount. If the teachers are dedicated they will stay.

I think that this is an issue for the employees to discuss and take up with their employer and the State Dept. of Labor if any laws are being violated. The types of benefits the facility provides should not be of any concern to their clients.

Your only interest should be the quality care being provided to your son. If your informed by his teacher(s) that she will be leaving and this concerns you, then you should speak up.

Do you know if the daycare program is full? If the program is full and the staff are being offered a 50% discount, than the day care is losing money. If the spots that were being filled by discounted children were filled with full-paying parents than the school would most likely be meeting it's budget.

A very similar situation occurred at the Park District where I was a director of youth programs for many years. In our all-day program, there were three employee's children attending at a 50% discount. It was $500/month to attend, so the the program was losing $750 per month. Multiply that for 12 months and we were losing almost $10,000 per year. The all-day program was covering the losses we were seeing in the 3 hour preschool classes, so any shortage in the all-day program budget was affecting the entire early childhood program. In short, we couldn't afford to continue to offer an employee discount when the program was full. Therefore, employees had to pay full price for any class that has a waiting list. If there was no waiting list, then they could receive the discount. It was either that, or close the program and/or lay off staff.

While your situation may be different, keep in mind there may be a budget situation at play as well. Please don't make assumptions regarding the decisions management of the center had to make. There is often a bigger reason that the parents AND staff are simply not aware of. Believe me, I've been in management of child care programs and the perceptions staff/parents have of policy and procedure changes are usually way off from reality.

As far as the staff without children complaining that they deserved a raise because they didn't get a similar benefit is ludicrous because they don't have to pay ANY childcare costs at all. They already receive the benefit because they are childless anyway.

I work in payroll and have done some HR in the past. Benefits should be presented in writing when they are hired and equally offered to all eligible employees. The benefit is there & available to the teacher's with no children even if they don't use it (maybe someday they will). It's the same as a health insurance benefit offered to employees, some take it & some don't. Some receive more benefit (Families) than others (Singles) because of the cost difference of the premium. If the company decided to change the benefit or rescind it and notified the employees in writing then that is their choice & right to do so.

Weren't all the teachers informed at date of being hired that they had the right to free or half price rates for their own children. I'm not sure it is legal to rescind this benefit if this was the term that the teachers were hired under, even if just verbally told this. All the teachers and the owner need to recognize this is the policy that their current staff were hired under. Now I could see if a new rule were made that "new hires" could not bring their children.

As a preschool teacher myself, when looking for a job, I made sure I got discounted or free childcare. We are underpaid, and this benefit sure helps. It's a hard topic... Now as a family child care provider, I can only care for 8 children, & for a year I didn't charge my sister-in-law for her son. It hurt my income, but in return she volunteered & helped in my daycare. Maybe the owner of the school was loosing money... Has she mentioned this to the teacher?