If you are running a day care in your home there are several things that you need to do before you accept your first child. Of course you probably already know about all the basic legal aspects of running your own at home day care. But the one thing that sometimes slips through the cracks is a sick policy. As we know kids always seem to get sick during the summer months, and is important that you have policy in place to prepare you for these challenges.
You are several things that can happen if you fail to prepare for this. First you can end up exposing the other children in your care to get sick. If you refuse to watch him because he is sick the parents can argue that you never stated you would not watch them if they were sick. Of course they would be correct if you do not have any sick clause included in your contract. In additional another problem that could occur is that you may lose money if all of the children in your care begin to infect one another with colds. In some states that are certain regulations regarding the care of sick children. Most require that you have a some type of certified medical professional on hand to help care for the sick children and that they be isolated to a completely separate room. This is done not only for the safety and well being of the other children, but for your own personal safety and well being as well.
If you do decide to include some type of sick policy in your baby sitting agreement or tutoring at Kinderopvang Leiden you should make sure that all the terms are clearly spelled out. You also should include that the child can not return to your home without a doctor’s note stating that they are no longer sick and most importantly that they are not contagious. Some parents may think this is too extreme and they may even tell you that it is unfair. You have to stick to your policy and make sure that you do not change for anyone. You should also make sure that at the time they are signing the contract you clearly state to them this is the policy and will not change for anyone. You may want to include exactly what you consider sick. For example some at home day care providers will not care for any child who has a cough, or who is sneezing since this is how many germs are spread. Some will even go as far as stating that if any child has a runny nose they will not be allowed to stay. This is a personal decision that you will have to make. Regardless of how strict a policy you choose the important thing is that you do adopt some type of “sick policy” put it into writing and has each parent sign it.
