Pick up on time
Ludwigsburg: Daycare centers will soon collect late fees from parents
© Andrey Kuzmin / Adobe Stock
There was a problem in day-care centers and school care in Ludwigsburg: children were apparently picked up late on purpose. Therefore, there should now be a “fine”.
Although these are isolated cases, they already lead to difficulties. When asked by ELTERN, press spokesman Peter Spear from the city of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg said that the deliberate misconduct of some parents had also led to a further burden on the respective specialists. So now there are consequences. From April 1st of this year, day-care centers and schools can charge 30 euros for a half-hour delay.
The change is a done deal
Which may sound a bit exaggerated at first reading, serves, among other things, to relieve the burden on the skilled workers. After all, they have to wait until the parents, who are deliberately late, pick up their children again. The new regulation is intended to encourage parents who take advantage of the fact that their children continue to be looked after even if they are picked up late, to be punctual. Then it is “not fair to the vast majority of parents who keep their childcare times punctual”according to Spear.
Are all delays affected?
Cases of force majeure, such as road closures, an accident, breakdown or similar, are of course excluded from the delay fee. Instead, the aim is to use the measure to at least partially cover the additional care and administration costs in day-care centers and in school care. It will also hopefully ensure that regularly late parents meet their contractual obligations.
How often does a delay like this even happen?
The problem of late pickups is not widespread. Citywide there are about five to ten cases a year. “The delays start at ten minutes, but can also be up to 40 minutes,” explains Peter Spear. “The primary concern here is to protect our employees in our day-care centers and, of course, to protect the children as well.” It is not only the skilled workers who suffer from being late due to overtime, but also for the children a permanent and massive lateness by the parents is a burden.
Basically, the decision is not about punishing occasional late arrivals through no fault of their own, always and without exception. It is expressly meant repeated lateness. Before the late fee takes effect, a conversation with the parents is sought several times. “Of course we would be happy if we never had to use this tool,” says Spear.
Source used: City of Ludwigsburg
This article originally appeared in ELTERN.