Tips on Properly Structuring and Using Day Care Contracts for Your Business

Are you a childcare provider in need of a customizable contract template to use with parents? If so, you need to look no further! Our day care contract template can be easily and quickly tailored to fit your needs.

Below We’ll Cover:

• Important Details to Include in Your Day Care Contract
• Clauses to Consider Adding
• Mistakes to Avoid
• Links to Additional Resources
• How to Get Your Contract Signed

As a childcare provider, your first concern is always the health and welfare of the children in your care. At the same time, you are providing a service to the parents. As such, it is important that you make the terms of the services you provide clear to both parties to avoid uncomfortable, even costly, disputes. Creating and signing a well-drafted contract is the best way to protect you and the parents when you enter into an agreement to provide day care for a child.

When creating your day care contract, be sure to include the following details:

• Contact information for both parties
• Start date and details regarding the days and times you will provide childcare
• Information regarding the children
• Fees for part-time and full-time care
• Additional fees for things such as registration and overtime
• Termination conditions and procedures
• Emergency contact, pickup authority, and medical care
• Sick child and holiday/vacation policies
• Supplies and food
• Discipline policy
• Legal provisions

Along with the information noted above, that should be included in any day care contract, you may wish to consider adding the following clauses to your contract if applicable:

• Notification clause. This is a clause that makes it clear how each party is required to provide notice to the other party of absences, late pick up, scheduled vacation, and other important information. Including such a clause avoids miscommunication and disputes based on whether notice was given and received within the appropriate time frame.
• Medication Clause. Including a clause specifically accepting or declining the responsibility to administer medication (on a daily or as-needed basis) clarifies your role as provider and protects you, your client, and the child(ren).
• Contract Deadline. You likely adjust your policies and fees from time to time. To ensure that prospective parents have up-to-date information before deciding to place their children in your care, consider adding a contract acceptance deadline. You can use Nitro Sign to get any of your contracts or important documents signed quickly and easily!

Creating a harmonious relationship between yourself and the parents of the children in your care is a vital part of being a childcare provider. Having a clear and concise contract in place goes a long way toward preventing disputes that jeopardize that harmony. To get the most out of your day care contract, avoid making common mistakes, such as:

• Lack of clarity on hours and fees. Be sure it is clear to both parties what constitutes full-time and part-time care. For example, if the contract is for full-time care, but a child is picked up early, arrives, late, or misses a day, it should be clear that fees remain due for full-time care unless an exception (found elsewhere in the contract) applies.
• Missing policy on absences. Children get sick, go on vacation with parents, or miss days for a variety of other reasons. Make sure your contract addresses how notice is to be given when a child is absent and whether your fee will be adjusted for that absence.
• Not requiring pickup authority documentation. If a parent wishes to prevent another parent from having the authority to pick up a child, include a requirement that the parent provides a court order giving that parent the authority to do so.

• How to Write a Daycare Contract
• Child Care Agreement between Provider and Parent
• Understanding Child Care Policies and Contracts

Proper execution of any contract is crucial to ensuring that the terms agreed upon in the contract will hold up in court should a dispute arise. In today’s digital world, the ability to have your contract signed electronically is imperative. Once you have customized your day care contract to reflect the agreement reached between you and your client, sending it to your client for a signature is easy and quick with Nitro. Start your Nitro free trial today.