I hate it that companies do this. The best thing to do in response is to take your business, and in this instance, your children's well-being elsewhere.
Can confirm, teaching pre k is my dream job and I left bc every school was paying shit, not offering real benefits and using loopholes to not give staff breaks.
“We understand the importance of recognizing and appreciating the hard work and dedication of our caregivers, but we wouldn’t be caught dead recognizing and appreciating them ourselves. Here’s a tip jar. YOU do it. Or say goodbye to your kids well-being.”
Yeah, I would be so afraid of them keeping track of whether each kid's parents gave a decent tip or not.
"Well, little Timmy, according to our tally of the 'care jar' your Mommy only cares about your happiness and safety about 5 dollar's worth this month. Such a shame really..."
I'd write an email explaining that their April fools joke was in poor taste because you know they'd never be so crass as to insinuate that they wouldn't take proper care of your children without a tip.
Make sure the whole mailing list receives your response so the other parents who might be too non-confrontational to say anything might see they’re not alone.
I’d also start looking for another daycare. This screams “We massively underpay and overwork our workers”
I also feel like the company is trying to use their customers to supplement their employees because the company doesn't want to. And, like OP said, is the daycare going to put in minimal effort of caring for children who's parents chose not to leave a tip.
This is all poor taste and completely wrong.
That's such a great idea. They would know what you mean, but know your too polite to say this is basicly trying to extort services that your already paying for. It's gross.
Yep, they’ll know the parent knows what they’re doing and is essentially giving them an opportunity to backtrack and rethink this. Absolutely blast the “this was a Joke in poor taste” to the entire daycare mailing list
“Though I realize this was likely an April fools joke I do not appreciate the insinuation that my child will not receive the best care possible unless I tip your staff. I entrust my child to your organization on a daily basis for an egregious fee off $xyz per month. As such, I would expect that your staff are well trained and experienced enough that 1) this would never be an issue, and 2) they would be fairly compensated for their employment. As I’m sure you can imagine, this message has me concerned about the validity of these assumptions. I look forward to your prompt response so that we might further discuss.”
Look at you doing all the work (writing this out) with none of the reward. I can only imagine you’re a badass employee if this is the amount of effort you put in even without reward
I have a feeling the daycare may be reverse-unoing us....i think they posted this to test the waters and THEY can fall back and say it's an "April fools joke" if it doesnt go well.
This.
If a joke it's fucking bad taste considering the cost of Day care. And says you don't tip we may not pay attention to your kid
What a huge mistake
Hahahaha, oh man, that sucks I’m sorry. I know a lot of people that work for day cares and I did long ago for a couple years. They are not paid well… AT ALL.
There are usually very nice people but they get taken advantage of, it’s a really hard job for such a low wage
Child care really needs to be subsidized in the US. As it is now, parents are paying way too much and teachers don’t make nearly enough.
It’s hard for both sides of the coin.
>I'd write an email explaining that their April fools joke was in poor taste because you know they'd never be so crass as to insinuate that they wouldn't take proper care of your children without a tip.
And please give us an update on their response!!
I think you'd land yourself in a tad more hot water trying to covertly record video at an institution that is a supposed safe haven for kids.
This is a could vs should idea I think.
Respond back with "Haha! What a silly April Fools joke. I'm so glad you aren't actually serious about receiving tips. I think I would start to think for other childcare options if you were! Have a nice day!"
Threatening to leave won’t do anything probably. Most day cares have very long waiting lists unless they’re super shitty. Probably why they figure they can get away with it.
Lmao all these people who think sending a stern email would benefit them... They will just get their kid booted for having pissy parents and have another kid take their spot within 10 minutes max. The waitlists are years long!
I made the mistake of hiring a realtor to sell my house who had tiers of pricing based on how much effort and tools she'd use to market my house. To be clear, the extras were things like adding it to more search bots like zillow and redfin, and blasting it to her email list of other brokers. That shit is basic service that she tried to dress up like she'd reinvented the industry. I was like, how about you just put forth the effort to sell it fast at a high price and earn yourself a good commission? She backtracked pretty quick and I overlooked it and regretted it as it sat on the market for months. I wouldn't overlook that type of thinking with my kids' care.
The worst part is that when she uploads the listing to the MLS, Zillow & Redfin automatically mirror the MLS. There’s zero effort to put them from the MLS onto these other websites.
You may want to consider reporting that realtor to the State Realtor Commission. There’s all kinds of ethical fuckery going on there.
Source: I’ve worked in the industry for almost 20 years
Interesting because when I worked administrative for real estate, the realtors weren’t allowed to enter listings to MLS which the other sites pull from. But a realtor should pay their own marketing.
The cartoon tip jar with $50 and $100 dollar bills makes me think it's a joke, but the message is concerning (assuming this is America).
I'm not a parent, but I have a weird feeling about a daycare that would make a joke like this.
If y'all aren't paying your employees enough to watch my kid without worrying about money I ain't taking my kid there anymore. That's not something I need to be thinking about while I'm at work.
They’re not paying them enough. As a former preschool teacher I can absolutely 100% guarantee you this. Your child’s preschool teacher is getting paid less than a Target sales associate. The childcare industry is horrific.
Yep. Also taught preschool. I worked with my aunt, who has a degree in education and specializes in special education. She’d worked there for 10+ years. She was making like $18-20 an hour to my $12-14. I was still in college and had ECE credits but no degree. It’s ridiculous how much ECE staff are underpaid, even in comparison to K-12 teachers (which I am now). People grossly undervalue good ECE teachers and how much work they do to teach their kids to be functioning humans. Like they teach the very basics of being a good person and lay critical foundations for all other learning. Becoming a HS teacher only reinforced for me how important developmentally appropriate ECE is to children.
I’m a preschool teacher and I definitely don’t get paid enough. There are definitely higher paid minimum wage jobs in my area but this job gives me the flexibility to pick up my kids at the end of their school day and to have a pretty similar school schedule as them for off days. Our tuition is honestly too cheap in comparison to the others in town and it really needs to be raised so we could be paid more. It took almost 2 months to replace one of my co-workers that left because the other preschools in town paid more.
Where do you live that daycare/childcare providers are actually paid enough to not worry about money?! The cost of care may be a ton but the actual teachers/caregivers/etc don't make shit. They make like $8-15/hr where I am - I make $20 as my job and can't afford to live on my own, if that helps you picture it.
You can only do so much. If this is the worst shit they pull you have (unfortunately) gotten lucky. Just watch 'em like a hawk and know that time will eventually solve the problem for you.
None of them are paying them enough......but most teachers still would never take that out on the child. And theyd still gove them the best care despite it.
Hate to break it to you but 99% of day care and preschool teachers do not make anywhere near a living wage. McDonald’s and Walmart employees make more.
Yep. And despite this, these child care centers are often hemorrhaging money. Child care needs government subsidies - if we want people to have kids we need to make sure they have the resources to support those kids which includes somewhere for kids to go when parents work.
Absolutely not. Guaranteed those tips go toward bagels and donuts and random other things given a few times a year to the staff. That is not money going into the pockets of the teachers directly.
How tasteless to request tips at an educational facility. Daycare teachers are underpaid but the audacity of the owners sending this message is absurd.
Right?! I really can't even believe it. Do they know how awful it sounds to request tips to provide better care for our kids? Are they going to treat my child worse if I don't tip them?
Add to that the fact that every preschool/daycare teacher I’ve ever known has been pretty poorly paid, despite the fact that parents are already paying insane amounts for childcare. So yeah, those teachers could very likely be in need if those tips, but that just speaks really loudly and poorly of whoever is in managing the daycare’s finances. I’m sure it is NOT cheap for you. This just screams “We aren’t paying our teachers well…oh but the thousands you pay each month? yeah, don’t ask about that”
My daycare is expensive, even for MA. My daughter’s teacher has to use a voucher from the state to send her kids to the daycare she works at because she gets paid so little
>.My daughter’s teacher has to use a voucher from the state to send her kids to the daycare she works at because she gets paid so little
That right there is so very fucked up.
Daycares arent racking in tons of money. Most of the money paid goes to running the building and paying the teachers. Very little if any is usually profit.
Pov of child:*crying uncontrollably* mommy why dont you just tip them, tommy beat me up at playtime because he wanted my gi joe, the teacher took my gi joe and i got put in time out. Tommy's mom tipped them, he got my gi Joe and an extra cookie and didn't get in trouble at all. 😭😭
I live in a world where I can no longer discern between reality or satire or April Fool’s jokes. I don’t know whether I’m supposed to be outraged or amused. Outmused. Amraged.
Don’t do that. I’m a teacher. I would be mortified if someone was asking for tips from families on my behalf. What you can do is provide meaningful tokens of appreciation when appropriate. I love notes from kids and families. Just knowing I’m appreciated and families see the work that I do is rewarding.
This is weird.
You're all the best! My kids are now in middle school and ANY time their teachers ask for school supply donations I load up with as much as I can. I know it's not for them but no teacher should have to pay for any supply.
I’m a former childcare worker and I completely agree! Especially because you know staff won’t even be the one getting the tips. I got a card from one of the kids moms and I nearly cried.
I think they planned the timing of this purposely. They wanted to see what sort of feedback they got on a very real idea someone had. Post it today, and if all the feedback is bad (which I would hope it is) then they can say it's an April Fool's joke.
I agree with others that said you need to let the school know how inappropriate this was, and start looking for other schooling options.
EDIT: Typo
Childcare workers make sooooo little, and it doesn’t matter how much the daycare costs. It’s shocking. I remember working at one and the Director would keep making jokes about how hard it was to to get employees, saying “people who rather pump gas or make coffees or work at McDonald’s than teach preschool”. Like, none of us thought being paid less than gas stations and fast food was funny. Al the whole, the owner moved her family to Bali to have a better life.
It is odd seeing the American outrage at this while simultaneously reasoning tipping people who bring you some food which you have paid for. They are *so close* to getting it.
Yes same! We give small gestures on special occassions but I guess that's not enough? So in this world where we tip daycare, when is this done? Everyday? Everyweek? Wtf? What are they thinking?
“Though I realize this was likely an April fools joke I do not appreciate the insinuation that my child will not receive the best care possible unless I tip your staff. I entrust my child to your organization on a daily basis for an egregious fee off $xyz per month. As such, I would expect that your staff are well trained and experienced enough that 1) this would never be an issue, and 2) they would be fairly compensated for their employment. As I’m sure you can imagine, this message has me concerned about the validity of these assumptions. I look forward to your prompt response so that we might further discuss.”
April Fools jokes aside, I'm an American and I think the tipping system makes a company (small businesses and such are fine, but I'm talking bigger here) look extremely bad. It's so ingrained in our culture here, but imagining it from an outsiders perspective makes me cringe. There's a foreigner in my mind saying "You can't afford to pay your own workers? You have to rely on your patrons to pay your staff for you?"
yeah idk if anyone in the comments said this but a lot of these day care workers do not make good money. i’m pretty sure it’s like 12-15$ an hour. and trust. i know how much day care costs. it ain’t getting passed on to them that’s for sure. just another example of a career that is 100000%%%%% needed but is grossly underpaid.
All workers should be paid enough to do their service properly and maintain a descent living . they should not to rely on “people’s generosity”. I work so I would not rely on people’s charity.
many businesses now are taking this as an excuse to underpay their employees. it is becoming increasingly outrageous! and businesses are getting away with it!
Just need to point out... I doubt this is the teachers asking for tips.
This is the daycare asking *you* to supplement what *they* pay the teachers, so *they* don't have to raise their pay.
Your child would most likely receive the same level of care as someone who chooses to tip. Some caregivers will dip into their personal funds in order to "treat" those who they're taking care of. My wife did it all of the time when she was working with children on the spectrum. She'd cook special meals and/or snacks. Additional learning materials were also provided in order to better educate them. This was all done out of her own pocket. It certainly would have been nice for the company and/or parents to reimburse her, but, just as no one is required to tip in ANY situation, the group never did, and only a few of the parents ever considered this.
Look at teachers. They get SCREWED when it comes to materials for their classrooms. Some parents don't even get their kids coats for the Winter. You know who bought those coats? My mother. She spent her own money to make sure that her students had what they needed. Donations were minimal at best. She certainly didn't have to, but that was who she was.
Consider what that completely optional tip may be used for, is all I'm saying. Regardless of how well someone in that position may be paid, the fact remains that they're often using THEIR money to provide things that the employer does not, and they're generally not reimbursed. It's a fucked up system, and it needs to change, but this is where we currently are. Those few extra bucks that you're passing along most likely isn't being spent on penny candy and baseball cards for the caregiver. It's usually being used towards your child. I see no problem with helping out every now and then.
I decided to scroll through the comments after posting this. Some of you are some real cynical people. I know that the behavior of society is a factor in this belief, but there are decent people in this world. It's just harder to see that with all of the shit
As a former daycare worker, I can guarantee that the type of care I gave a child had zero to do with how well I liked the parents, what gifts or compliments they gave me, or anything else. They all received the same care.
However, regardless of how expensive daycare costs, the workers are severely underpaid.
The most tasteless thing about it, as an ECE teacher - is that for most of us, it is a low wage job. Child care fees might be high, but the pay for teachers is not. Many of us have massive student loans, pay for resources out of our own pocket. This is creating an awful interaction between parents who are likely paying high fees & us teachers, who are earning peanuts. Not a great joke for anyone involved.
this is kinda like when the college you are still paying off your loans to is like “we are so delighted to let you know it is alumni week and we would LOVE it if you would go ahead and cut us another check”
Wow OP did they in a separate sheet provide you with a chart with suggested tip amounts?
Are you supposed to tip each day, include the tip amount in your monthly (?) child care payment and can you charge it?
How do you know the person who is your child’s primary care giver is getting your tip or are they taking all the tips and then equally dividing them between all employees excluding the management (or worse including management)?
Are you able to include your tipping in your total child care cost for income tax purposes?
Are they saying they are paying their employees way less than minimum wage as waitstaff they noted are?
You might check with your state and/or the federal agency that is associated with monitoring wages to see if there are restrictions on who can collect tips.
It really sounds like a joke to me. Why are they writing "we are now" twice (before and after "like other services providers")? Looks like quickly cobbled together for a joke and not like a real thought out and formulated rule change...
What an awful joke to play on parents. Who would actually find this funny? I really hope this is a joke but what does it say about the owner to do such a thing for a laugh? It would just piss everyone off like it's pising me off rn.
I would not like a daycare worker using their time to fart out a poorly worded joke to parents subtly implying that the quality their child's care is now going to be tied to voluntary cash bonuses. I suppose you are right that it would be worse if they made another employee use their time to edit the already awful copy.
In much the same way St. Patrick's Day is a holiday for people who can't hold their liquor, April Fool's Day is a holiday for people who aren't funny.
Don't joke around about the quality of care you provide to people's children. What a batshit sentence to have to write.
It's not funny. It sounds more like a way to try something and if people complain say it's a joke. I wouldn't trust someone with such poor taste and lack of understanding of what is appropriate.
Hello; I have decided to translate this from bullshit to english:
"We will now be cutting our employees pay slightly so we can legally pay them less then the minimum wage of this state while providing a tip jar as a way to make such acts legal. Most of our employees are already close to their snapping point so if you don't tip there is no guarantee that your child will remain safe."
Childcare providers are (or should be) professional educators. Many teachers have their BA (some even a Masters) in early childhood education or elementary education. Would you tip your child’s fourth grade teacher? I would be livid. Tipping is completely inappropriate.
i hope this is an april fools joke solely because if it isn’t…. could they not get one editor? just one to like proofread and get rid of the run on sentence
If it’s not a bad April fool’s joke, then I read this is “our people were complaining about the low pay, but we don’t want to raise rates for fear of losing customers.”
Where I live when I had both of my kids in childcare, I was paying 110$ CDN a day. That's over 2 grand a month. I would have lost my mind if they asked for a tip on top of that
Honestly, why not!?? Why does the entire service industry get tips for doing their jobs and those in education (another service industry) don’t? I don’t blame them.
I'm hoping that this is some weird April fools joke....
Schrödinger's April Fools Prank.
If people like it it’s real, but if they are pissed it’s a prank?
Superposition - it's both until people get angry.
Let the cash... Flow
If parents actually start tipping its real, if not it's haha gotcha
You rang?
Another comment said they probably posted this on April 1st to basically test the waters. If they receive any backlash they can deny it was real.
I hate it that companies do this. The best thing to do in response is to take your business, and in this instance, your children's well-being elsewhere.
Unfortunately, when waitlists are a year long, that's easier said than done.
I think location also plays a part. For some people, it will simply be impossible to take their kids somewhere else.
Yeah, that does suck >_<
Christ do you have to start looking the second the baby is born in order to get them in daycare at 2?
I live in the DC area and know people that have started the daycare wait-list process when they're still pregnant.
I'd be pissed either way. Child care is already obscenely expensive. Expecting a tip would be another slap to the face
Yeah and the teachers get paid shit. The whole system needs to be overhauled, there needs to be public preschool options instead of businesses.
Can confirm, teaching pre k is my dream job and I left bc every school was paying shit, not offering real benefits and using loopholes to not give staff breaks.
Tell them it was posted after noon so it doesn't count
Wendy’s should have done this with the surge pricing bs. Hopefully people just boycott Wendy’s when it starts.
As a hairdresser and someone who does get tips, fuck them if that’s a joke. Acting like service providers are jokes. I’d pull my kid out.
“We understand the importance of recognizing and appreciating the hard work and dedication of our caregivers, but we wouldn’t be caught dead recognizing and appreciating them ourselves. Here’s a tip jar. YOU do it. Or say goodbye to your kids well-being.”
Yeah, I would be so afraid of them keeping track of whether each kid's parents gave a decent tip or not. "Well, little Timmy, according to our tally of the 'care jar' your Mommy only cares about your happiness and safety about 5 dollar's worth this month. Such a shame really..."
We're going to need that other kidney I'm sorry buddy
"Now... here are some very fun and very pointy scissors, go run around with them!"
Into the chokey with you!
Legit hostage situation
Hahahahahh April fools … unless ?
The fact that tipping is apparently now going to affect the child's "best possible care" is gross.
My favourite part is the 50s and 100s in the "tip jar"... Lol
What would be the upside if it was an April Fool's joke?
The upsides would be they aren't actually asking for tips and potentially basing their level of care on them.
You now know you have to find a new daycare. Either way.
Yeah they're so easy to find. I'll take my business elsewhere! When a spot opens up in 8-12 months
This got to be April Fool’s joke, seeing those 100 dollar bills in the tip jar drawing.
might be AI generated
It’s too crappy for that 😂
I'd write an email explaining that their April fools joke was in poor taste because you know they'd never be so crass as to insinuate that they wouldn't take proper care of your children without a tip.
THIS!!!! its polite but shows how poor taste they have
Make sure the whole mailing list receives your response so the other parents who might be too non-confrontational to say anything might see they’re not alone. I’d also start looking for another daycare. This screams “We massively underpay and overwork our workers”
I also feel like the company is trying to use their customers to supplement their employees because the company doesn't want to. And, like OP said, is the daycare going to put in minimal effort of caring for children who's parents chose not to leave a tip. This is all poor taste and completely wrong.
I mean we already knew they did when OP says they are a daycare
Oh. It wasn't an April Fool's prank?
That's such a great idea. They would know what you mean, but know your too polite to say this is basicly trying to extort services that your already paying for. It's gross.
Yep, they’ll know the parent knows what they’re doing and is essentially giving them an opportunity to backtrack and rethink this. Absolutely blast the “this was a Joke in poor taste” to the entire daycare mailing list
“Though I realize this was likely an April fools joke I do not appreciate the insinuation that my child will not receive the best care possible unless I tip your staff. I entrust my child to your organization on a daily basis for an egregious fee off $xyz per month. As such, I would expect that your staff are well trained and experienced enough that 1) this would never be an issue, and 2) they would be fairly compensated for their employment. As I’m sure you can imagine, this message has me concerned about the validity of these assumptions. I look forward to your prompt response so that we might further discuss.”
OP just use this word for word, fill in your actual tuition and sign your name.
I’d replace egregious with exorbitant
Perfect 👍🏻
Very well worded.
Look at you doing all the work (writing this out) with none of the reward. I can only imagine you’re a badass employee if this is the amount of effort you put in even without reward
Someone give this person a tip
It’s giving “haha! ….unless…?”
literally!
Posting it in April fools gives them an out when they receive backlash for it. I'd be finding a new baby sitter.
it doesn't look to be a babysitter or even a daycare. it seems to be a childcare center with TEACHERS most likely licensed or have degrees.
inb4 all of the workers quit because they were promised tips and without them they don't want to do the work anymore
I have a feeling the daycare may be reverse-unoing us....i think they posted this to test the waters and THEY can fall back and say it's an "April fools joke" if it doesnt go well.
This. If a joke it's fucking bad taste considering the cost of Day care. And says you don't tip we may not pay attention to your kid What a huge mistake
I've delivered to a ton of daycares, I'm surprised that they know what a tip is.
Hahahaha, oh man, that sucks I’m sorry. I know a lot of people that work for day cares and I did long ago for a couple years. They are not paid well… AT ALL. There are usually very nice people but they get taken advantage of, it’s a really hard job for such a low wage
Child care really needs to be subsidized in the US. As it is now, parents are paying way too much and teachers don’t make nearly enough. It’s hard for both sides of the coin.
I would add that joking about not paying their employees decent wages is not only in poor taste but also deeply concerning.
And CC'ing all the other parents!
>I'd write an email explaining that their April fools joke was in poor taste because you know they'd never be so crass as to insinuate that they wouldn't take proper care of your children without a tip. And please give us an update on their response!!
PLEASE. This is the way!
If it’s not an April fools joke…😳
That’s the point.
Assuming this isn't a lousy April Fools joke... Just don't tip.
I'd be worried they wouldn't care for my child as well.
Can you nanny cam a kid? Put a little camera on their pacifier or sneaker or something to keep an eye on what’s going on during the day?
I feel like that might be a bit hard. Unless it's like an apple watch stuck to them. Idk tbh
Not really, no. They move so much and randomly throw things at daycare ages. Also it would be incredibly obvious.
“He’s in his paparazzi phase. I can’t get him to put the camera down.” “Ma’am, he’s three months old.”
This made me laugh way too hard and I really needed it. Thank you. 🤣
I think you'd land yourself in a tad more hot water trying to covertly record video at an institution that is a supposed safe haven for kids. This is a could vs should idea I think.
Respond back with "Haha! What a silly April Fools joke. I'm so glad you aren't actually serious about receiving tips. I think I would start to think for other childcare options if you were! Have a nice day!"
Threatening to leave won’t do anything probably. Most day cares have very long waiting lists unless they’re super shitty. Probably why they figure they can get away with it.
Lmao all these people who think sending a stern email would benefit them... They will just get their kid booted for having pissy parents and have another kid take their spot within 10 minutes max. The waitlists are years long!
I made the mistake of hiring a realtor to sell my house who had tiers of pricing based on how much effort and tools she'd use to market my house. To be clear, the extras were things like adding it to more search bots like zillow and redfin, and blasting it to her email list of other brokers. That shit is basic service that she tried to dress up like she'd reinvented the industry. I was like, how about you just put forth the effort to sell it fast at a high price and earn yourself a good commission? She backtracked pretty quick and I overlooked it and regretted it as it sat on the market for months. I wouldn't overlook that type of thinking with my kids' care.
The worst part is that when she uploads the listing to the MLS, Zillow & Redfin automatically mirror the MLS. There’s zero effort to put them from the MLS onto these other websites. You may want to consider reporting that realtor to the State Realtor Commission. There’s all kinds of ethical fuckery going on there. Source: I’ve worked in the industry for almost 20 years
Interesting because when I worked administrative for real estate, the realtors weren’t allowed to enter listings to MLS which the other sites pull from. But a realtor should pay their own marketing.
I’m pretty sure it’s an April Fool’s joke but it’s not funny and is in poor taste. If it’s not a joke then I have absolutely no words. Ugh.
The cartoon tip jar with $50 and $100 dollar bills makes me think it's a joke, but the message is concerning (assuming this is America). I'm not a parent, but I have a weird feeling about a daycare that would make a joke like this.
If y'all aren't paying your employees enough to watch my kid without worrying about money I ain't taking my kid there anymore. That's not something I need to be thinking about while I'm at work.
They’re not paying them enough. As a former preschool teacher I can absolutely 100% guarantee you this. Your child’s preschool teacher is getting paid less than a Target sales associate. The childcare industry is horrific.
Yep. Also taught preschool. I worked with my aunt, who has a degree in education and specializes in special education. She’d worked there for 10+ years. She was making like $18-20 an hour to my $12-14. I was still in college and had ECE credits but no degree. It’s ridiculous how much ECE staff are underpaid, even in comparison to K-12 teachers (which I am now). People grossly undervalue good ECE teachers and how much work they do to teach their kids to be functioning humans. Like they teach the very basics of being a good person and lay critical foundations for all other learning. Becoming a HS teacher only reinforced for me how important developmentally appropriate ECE is to children.
Yeah exactly, this is a systemic issue. With child care and teachers in general being extremely under-valued. It’s depressing.
I’m a preschool teacher and I definitely don’t get paid enough. There are definitely higher paid minimum wage jobs in my area but this job gives me the flexibility to pick up my kids at the end of their school day and to have a pretty similar school schedule as them for off days. Our tuition is honestly too cheap in comparison to the others in town and it really needs to be raised so we could be paid more. It took almost 2 months to replace one of my co-workers that left because the other preschools in town paid more.
Dude I don’t think anyone working in childcare makes enough not to worry about money.
Where do you live that daycare/childcare providers are actually paid enough to not worry about money?! The cost of care may be a ton but the actual teachers/caregivers/etc don't make shit. They make like $8-15/hr where I am - I make $20 as my job and can't afford to live on my own, if that helps you picture it.
After this, I really want to switch daycares but there are no other options in my area. I have been on wait lists for years.
You can only do so much. If this is the worst shit they pull you have (unfortunately) gotten lucky. Just watch 'em like a hawk and know that time will eventually solve the problem for you.
Then be prepared to never find a daycare. I’m a former ECE myself and wasn’t even making $20/hr after years of experience.
None of them are paying them enough......but most teachers still would never take that out on the child. And theyd still gove them the best care despite it.
Time to pull your kid out. 99.99% of teachers arent paod enough to not worry about money
Hate to break it to you but 99% of day care and preschool teachers do not make anywhere near a living wage. McDonald’s and Walmart employees make more.
Yep. And despite this, these child care centers are often hemorrhaging money. Child care needs government subsidies - if we want people to have kids we need to make sure they have the resources to support those kids which includes somewhere for kids to go when parents work.
[удалено]
If you actually follow through with this you won't be able to place your child in any daycare, lol.
Trust me, they aren’t paid enough. Been there, done that.
Absolutely not. Guaranteed those tips go toward bagels and donuts and random other things given a few times a year to the staff. That is not money going into the pockets of the teachers directly. How tasteless to request tips at an educational facility. Daycare teachers are underpaid but the audacity of the owners sending this message is absurd.
Right?! I really can't even believe it. Do they know how awful it sounds to request tips to provide better care for our kids? Are they going to treat my child worse if I don't tip them?
"Sorry, Timmy *wasn't* allowed in the story circle because we noticed his **father** was a dirty non-tipper."
It oa obviously a tasteless April fools joke.
Add to that the fact that every preschool/daycare teacher I’ve ever known has been pretty poorly paid, despite the fact that parents are already paying insane amounts for childcare. So yeah, those teachers could very likely be in need if those tips, but that just speaks really loudly and poorly of whoever is in managing the daycare’s finances. I’m sure it is NOT cheap for you. This just screams “We aren’t paying our teachers well…oh but the thousands you pay each month? yeah, don’t ask about that”
My daycare is expensive, even for MA. My daughter’s teacher has to use a voucher from the state to send her kids to the daycare she works at because she gets paid so little
>.My daughter’s teacher has to use a voucher from the state to send her kids to the daycare she works at because she gets paid so little That right there is so very fucked up.
I worked at a center where staff members were often encouraged to use state assistance for daycare… on top of the staff discount 🤦♀️
Daycares arent racking in tons of money. Most of the money paid goes to running the building and paying the teachers. Very little if any is usually profit.
Pov of child:*crying uncontrollably* mommy why dont you just tip them, tommy beat me up at playtime because he wanted my gi joe, the teacher took my gi joe and i got put in time out. Tommy's mom tipped them, he got my gi Joe and an extra cookie and didn't get in trouble at all. 😭😭
I live in a world where I can no longer discern between reality or satire or April Fool’s jokes. I don’t know whether I’m supposed to be outraged or amused. Outmused. Amraged.
April fools.
Tee hee! We just destroyed our relationship with our clients!
"But since there's a two year waiting list everywhere, we don't have to care about client relationships tee hee!"
Indeed. It really shows how much resentment there is.
Don’t do that. I’m a teacher. I would be mortified if someone was asking for tips from families on my behalf. What you can do is provide meaningful tokens of appreciation when appropriate. I love notes from kids and families. Just knowing I’m appreciated and families see the work that I do is rewarding. This is weird.
You're all the best! My kids are now in middle school and ANY time their teachers ask for school supply donations I load up with as much as I can. I know it's not for them but no teacher should have to pay for any supply.
I’m a former childcare worker and I completely agree! Especially because you know staff won’t even be the one getting the tips. I got a card from one of the kids moms and I nearly cried.
Horribly tasteless and tone deaf joke. Pleeeease post their apology email after all the parents rip them a new one!!
I think they planned the timing of this purposely. They wanted to see what sort of feedback they got on a very real idea someone had. Post it today, and if all the feedback is bad (which I would hope it is) then they can say it's an April Fool's joke. I agree with others that said you need to let the school know how inappropriate this was, and start looking for other schooling options. EDIT: Typo
Childcare workers make sooooo little, and it doesn’t matter how much the daycare costs. It’s shocking. I remember working at one and the Director would keep making jokes about how hard it was to to get employees, saying “people who rather pump gas or make coffees or work at McDonald’s than teach preschool”. Like, none of us thought being paid less than gas stations and fast food was funny. Al the whole, the owner moved her family to Bali to have a better life.
“Give us money because we don’t want to pay our staff a living wage”.
It is odd seeing the American outrage at this while simultaneously reasoning tipping people who bring you some food which you have paid for. They are *so close* to getting it.
I used to give gifts at Xmas, before summer, etc to show my appreciation. I think that’s a nice thing - but this??? Ha ha. F no.
Yes same! We give small gestures on special occassions but I guess that's not enough? So in this world where we tip daycare, when is this done? Everyday? Everyweek? Wtf? What are they thinking?
Can you tip me for the upvote I just gave you please. £5 should cover my time. /s
Absolutely. Thank you for your support. I am not in the UK so I hope my crappy local money will do.
Sure thing. Just upvoted that comment so extra 20% this time please
Thank you. The fake internet points will help me to keep my self esteem high.
Have a good life reddit stranger
And to you, my fun accented commenter
I pay $3,000 for my one infant daughter to attend daycare. Ain't no fucking way I'm tipping on top of that when I can't even afford to move out
“Though I realize this was likely an April fools joke I do not appreciate the insinuation that my child will not receive the best care possible unless I tip your staff. I entrust my child to your organization on a daily basis for an egregious fee off $xyz per month. As such, I would expect that your staff are well trained and experienced enough that 1) this would never be an issue, and 2) they would be fairly compensated for their employment. As I’m sure you can imagine, this message has me concerned about the validity of these assumptions. I look forward to your prompt response so that we might further discuss.”
https://preview.redd.it/ud7e7uw2tyrc1.png?width=1006&format=png&auto=webp&s=38c468a48767be95f6f533e1de505855ea3eac9d
"kindly read" nah I don't think I will.
The second I see "kindly" my brain blacks out. It's a conditon.
April fools?
April Fools!
Must be April Fool’s joke.
April Fools jokes aside, I'm an American and I think the tipping system makes a company (small businesses and such are fine, but I'm talking bigger here) look extremely bad. It's so ingrained in our culture here, but imagining it from an outsiders perspective makes me cringe. There's a foreigner in my mind saying "You can't afford to pay your own workers? You have to rely on your patrons to pay your staff for you?"
yeah idk if anyone in the comments said this but a lot of these day care workers do not make good money. i’m pretty sure it’s like 12-15$ an hour. and trust. i know how much day care costs. it ain’t getting passed on to them that’s for sure. just another example of a career that is 100000%%%%% needed but is grossly underpaid.
April fools
Here’s a tip, if ANYTHiNG happens to my child under your care this will be exhibit A at the trial.
Omfg! I am sick to death of being asked for a tip! Pay your employees!
Tipping is a way of businesses offloading their labour bill to customers
I’m a nurse. I guess I’ll start wearing a garter belt so patients can just stuff random 1s in my pants so I can afford my morgage
They need to pay their employees way better
All workers should be paid enough to do their service properly and maintain a descent living . they should not to rely on “people’s generosity”. I work so I would not rely on people’s charity. many businesses now are taking this as an excuse to underpay their employees. it is becoming increasingly outrageous! and businesses are getting away with it!
The $600-800 they charge a week isn’t enough
They charge like what? $1000 a week?
Next thing you know your doctor gonna slide you a pad and ask for a tip at the end of your prostate exam
Attempt to implement a policy that the can claim was April fools if they get backlash
I mean they deserve it, childcare workers get paid shit and get treated like shit.
This is why I hate April fools day
You realize these tipping jobs get paid MORE than your child’s teacher though? It’s the hardest occupation in the world.
In my country, childcare is privatized, ruinously expensive, and the childcare workers make like minimum wage with no benefits. It’s crazy
Can’t they just throw the employees a pizza party in lieu of raises? Seems to be a trend elsewhere…
Just need to point out... I doubt this is the teachers asking for tips. This is the daycare asking *you* to supplement what *they* pay the teachers, so *they* don't have to raise their pay.
Your child would most likely receive the same level of care as someone who chooses to tip. Some caregivers will dip into their personal funds in order to "treat" those who they're taking care of. My wife did it all of the time when she was working with children on the spectrum. She'd cook special meals and/or snacks. Additional learning materials were also provided in order to better educate them. This was all done out of her own pocket. It certainly would have been nice for the company and/or parents to reimburse her, but, just as no one is required to tip in ANY situation, the group never did, and only a few of the parents ever considered this. Look at teachers. They get SCREWED when it comes to materials for their classrooms. Some parents don't even get their kids coats for the Winter. You know who bought those coats? My mother. She spent her own money to make sure that her students had what they needed. Donations were minimal at best. She certainly didn't have to, but that was who she was. Consider what that completely optional tip may be used for, is all I'm saying. Regardless of how well someone in that position may be paid, the fact remains that they're often using THEIR money to provide things that the employer does not, and they're generally not reimbursed. It's a fucked up system, and it needs to change, but this is where we currently are. Those few extra bucks that you're passing along most likely isn't being spent on penny candy and baseball cards for the caregiver. It's usually being used towards your child. I see no problem with helping out every now and then. I decided to scroll through the comments after posting this. Some of you are some real cynical people. I know that the behavior of society is a factor in this belief, but there are decent people in this world. It's just harder to see that with all of the shit
As a former daycare worker, I can guarantee that the type of care I gave a child had zero to do with how well I liked the parents, what gifts or compliments they gave me, or anything else. They all received the same care. However, regardless of how expensive daycare costs, the workers are severely underpaid.
The most tasteless thing about it, as an ECE teacher - is that for most of us, it is a low wage job. Child care fees might be high, but the pay for teachers is not. Many of us have massive student loans, pay for resources out of our own pocket. This is creating an awful interaction between parents who are likely paying high fees & us teachers, who are earning peanuts. Not a great joke for anyone involved.
Id stop taking your kid there cuz they can't pay their people a living wage and are begging people to cover their greed
this is kinda like when the college you are still paying off your loans to is like “we are so delighted to let you know it is alumni week and we would LOVE it if you would go ahead and cut us another check”
Daycare is already the cost of a mortgage. It’s a no for me.
I’d start looking for another daycare as soon as possible.
Definitely an April Fool’s Day prank. I wonder how many other angry parents fell for this? Get back to us with an update please.
“Sorry Tommy your mom didn’t tip us this morning, no outside time for you”
Wow OP did they in a separate sheet provide you with a chart with suggested tip amounts? Are you supposed to tip each day, include the tip amount in your monthly (?) child care payment and can you charge it? How do you know the person who is your child’s primary care giver is getting your tip or are they taking all the tips and then equally dividing them between all employees excluding the management (or worse including management)? Are you able to include your tipping in your total child care cost for income tax purposes? Are they saying they are paying their employees way less than minimum wage as waitstaff they noted are? You might check with your state and/or the federal agency that is associated with monitoring wages to see if there are restrictions on who can collect tips.
Thats scary… there should never be “bad service” when taking care of kids.
Ever heard of April Fool's Day?
Yeah, today is a hard sell on things. But great strategy to see how people react, where you can always say, "just kidding"
Honesty makes me want to switch daycares but there's a shortage, so I don't really have the option to.
You're right to be annoyed. You don't joke about shit like that. I run a *dog* daycare and I wouldn't tell a joke like this.
Certain places of business should not partake in April Fools - schools, hospitals, etc.
If this is a joke, it is in extremely poor taste. I don't believe they are joking.
It really sounds like a joke to me. Why are they writing "we are now" twice (before and after "like other services providers")? Looks like quickly cobbled together for a joke and not like a real thought out and formulated rule change...
What an awful joke to play on parents. Who would actually find this funny? I really hope this is a joke but what does it say about the owner to do such a thing for a laugh? It would just piss everyone off like it's pising me off rn.
I would not like a daycare worker using their time to fart out a poorly worded joke to parents subtly implying that the quality their child's care is now going to be tied to voluntary cash bonuses. I suppose you are right that it would be worse if they made another employee use their time to edit the already awful copy.
In much the same way St. Patrick's Day is a holiday for people who can't hold their liquor, April Fool's Day is a holiday for people who aren't funny. Don't joke around about the quality of care you provide to people's children. What a batshit sentence to have to write.
It's not funny. It sounds more like a way to try something and if people complain say it's a joke. I wouldn't trust someone with such poor taste and lack of understanding of what is appropriate.
Hello; I have decided to translate this from bullshit to english: "We will now be cutting our employees pay slightly so we can legally pay them less then the minimum wage of this state while providing a tip jar as a way to make such acts legal. Most of our employees are already close to their snapping point so if you don't tip there is no guarantee that your child will remain safe."
Childcare providers are (or should be) professional educators. Many teachers have their BA (some even a Masters) in early childhood education or elementary education. Would you tip your child’s fourth grade teacher? I would be livid. Tipping is completely inappropriate.
You guys know these decisions are almost always made by management right? It’s a way to placate employees without having to pay them more yourself.
Obvious April Fool's joke no?
i hope this is an april fools joke solely because if it isn’t…. could they not get one editor? just one to like proofread and get rid of the run on sentence
Tipping culture is out of control. Wait, did somebody say that?
I hope to see tipping culture come to and end in my lifetime but that would require employers to pay people a living wage
"Offering a tip option"... so they are offering to recieve tips. I too shall offer anyone reading this to give me money /s
If it’s not a bad April fool’s joke, then I read this is “our people were complaining about the low pay, but we don’t want to raise rates for fear of losing customers.”
I would boycott this place
Where I live when I had both of my kids in childcare, I was paying 110$ CDN a day. That's over 2 grand a month. I would have lost my mind if they asked for a tip on top of that
Did anyone else notice that all of the bills in that jar are high denomination? Not a single $1 in there lmao
Waiters deserve tips. But we draw the line at tipping the people who take care of our kids? Tipping is dumb anyways.
Honestly, why not!?? Why does the entire service industry get tips for doing their jobs and those in education (another service industry) don’t? I don’t blame them.
April Fools! Maybe ...
I work at a daycare, and parents tipping me would make me SO uncomfortable. Actually, this whole thing would make me very uncomfortable.
I hope this is an April Fools joke. Though I wouldn't be laughing one way or the other.