Work as an infant teacher and get pay my kids tuitons. (Howe: day care, how much)

[jacinta]

So I started this job getting paid 10/hr working 9-6, 1hr of lunch (no paid) and I was paying $200 monthly per kid. I have 3. Later I decided that working until 6pm was too much and asked to leave at 3. My boss said 3:30 with 1/2 hr lunch and.... you won't have a paycheck anymore. Looking at my kids being so happy I agreed. But (here's the but) today she said that my almost 5 year old is going to move to the kindergarden class and because that class starts at 8:30am I need to be there by 8:30 and start working at my class too. Leaving same at 3:30.

So I though it for a while and decided to quit, she said she'll think about the decision of letting me go at 3 instead of 3:30... now still I don't know if I want to stay or not.

Any opinions?

[Jennibc]

Is someone having you work for free? That' not legal. I am not sure if I understand what you wrote.

[love roses]

Are you working at a parent's day out or a day care? Lunch hour isn't usually paid, as far as I know (I could totally be wrong here). $200 a month sounds like a lot for having your kids attend where you work. I work at a PDO and I had my daughter there at a significant discount ($65 a month). But, this was a 2 day a week program, not 5 days a week. Is your job vital there? Are you a teacher or a teacher's aide? If you leave earlier, do they have someone else to cover those last 3 hours for you? I think she can knock time off your lunch if she cuts your working hours, but to say you won't have a paycheck is wrong. If she's a certified business then she legally can't do that. 8:30 doesn't seem like such a stretch about your kids kindergarden class. If you have to be there by 9am then getting there a little bit early at 8:30 ought to be doable. I would leave if she's threatening to not pay you.

[jacinta]

No, I do not get paid. Basically my work pays for my 3 kids tuition now. I do not get a paid check. I'm a lead teacher in the infant room. They do send a "teacher" to cover me for the last 3 hours. I don't mind getting there at 8:30 but that if I leave 30 minutes earlier too. When I told her I did not agree with her adding 30 extra minutes of my "free" work she didn't care. She said that's how it's going to be. Then at the end of our conversation she said -I'll think about it, letting you leave at 3, instead at 3:30- but know I'm not even sure if I want to work for somebody like that.

[jacinta]

Oh by the way, it's a full time day care. I told her I don't need a break and she told me I "have" to take a 30 min break by law.

[Jennibc]

You cannot have a barter arrangement like that. It amounts to her paying you under the table so that she is avoiding paying taxes. She should be paying you a wage, along with your FICA and other payroll taxes.

[mimimomx3]

You should calculate how much your hourly rate is. So, the salary is $10/hr, you're working 8 hours a day, gross is $80 x 5 = $400 x 4 = $1600 month, more or less pretax. You had to pay $600 for childcare, so you were getting $1,000 a month pretax.

Now, you're going to work 6 hours a day, $10 x 6 = $60 x 5 = $300 x 4 = $1200. If you were getting paid, you'd have to pay back $600 for childcare, and you'd be getting $600 pretax. I can see where that $600 would disappear in taxes. So, yes, it would be a wash.

At that point, I would consider working at night when your husband can watch the kids. It doesn't make financial sense.

[jacinta]

I know, it doesn't make financial sense. The thing is my agreement was to work 9-3:30 but know she's telling me about how high tuition is that I need to be there at 8:30, and I just found out (from a teacher there) that some parent made a comment about the teacher that receives the babies in the morning (since 7:30am) being by herself until I get there at 9 (having about 6 babies by herself) and that makes me think: -that's why she really wants me there- because somebody complain about it, because she's so short on staff some times and she's not whiling to hire somebody now I have to be there earlier. And plus my assistant happens to be a computer artist "want to be" but she has this job in the mean time I TOTALLY TOUGH HER HOW TO CHANGE A DIAPER!! Why a teacher's job is so low graded when we TEACHERS do a LOT for kids? and parents pay a lot too.

[jacinta]

btw I'm not an english native spoker I do not have a bad grammar, I learn how to speak and write in english a few years ago only. (please don't judge about this)

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

You should calculate how much your hourly rate is. So, the salary is $10/hr, you're working 8 hours a day, gross is $80 x 5 = $400 x 4 = $1600 month, more or less pretax. You had to pay $600 for childcare, so you were getting $1,000 a month pretax.

Now, you're going to work 6 hours a day, $10 x 6 = $60 x 5 = $300 x 4 = $1200. If you were getting paid, you'd have to pay back $600 for childcare, and you'd be getting $600 pretax. I can see where that $600 would disappear in taxes. So, yes, it would be a wash.

At that point, I would consider working at night when your husband can watch the kids. It doesn't make financial sense.

A person making only 1200 a month with three children is not likely to owe anything in federal taxes and since TX doesn't have a state income tax I don't see how it's a wash. It is likely the employer is breaking some employment laws here. It would be better to work the hours, get paid and then pay tuition if you really want to keep your children there. However, it seems like it makes more financial sense to pull them out and stay home with them.