Difficult Situation

I don't think that child to adult ratio is even legal. I think in OH it's suppose to be 1 adult to 7 kids and that's a lot to handle for one person. I don't know what you can really do though. You could bring it up to her that you at least need her to tell you what everyone needs before she leaves. Perhaps on the days when her child has speech therapy, you can arrive a little earlier so she can give you the run down. It shouldn't be up to you to provide things like milk since she is the one running the daycare.

there is really no option but to have a conversation about this. it can be done in a very professional and non-accusatory manner. make sure you use 'I' statements (eg 'i need to know in advance if i need to provide breakfast recipes' not 'you left me in the lurch with the no-milk situation the other day' or 'i'm fine with doing laundry for the daycare' not 'you gave me your family laundry to do the other day.' if she's a good employer who just has been going through a haywire time, she'll get the hint and shape up. if she comes unglued, she was planning to take advantage of you long-term and you need to vamoose.
khairete
S.

Is that even legal? 1 adult to 11 children? I would think that it is not! Maybe you can go online and check your state statutes about that.

It would probably be easier to talk about this sooner rather than later. Perhaps ask for a list of responsibilities, this way you can talk about anything that you think is inappropriate. And if she asks you to do something that isn't on the list you can say that you don't recall that being part of the job requirement.

Good luck!

That sounds like a very dangerous place to work and a dangerous place to send a child. I wouldn't risk my son in a situation like that. If lightning struck and the house was on fire, could you get everyone out of the house and control them (have them stand in a line across the street while fire trucks showed up?)? Do they even have fire drills?
No way is she licensed to care for that many children (and if infants are involved it's even worse) and I'd say there need to be AT LEAST 2 - 3 adults watching those kids at all times. Please find a new job, and turn report this woman to the authorities. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen and a tragedy if any of those kids are injured or killed.

I agree with most everyone's comments. I just want to bring up another very important point. Your employer AND you are putting these kids in danger. I know you wouldn't mean to put them in a dangerous situation, and you are doing your best under the circumstances. But it is impossible for one person to be able to watch that many kids all alone. If something were to happen to one of them under your care it would be horrible in more ways than one. Do the parents of these kids know that this is happening? I'm assuming not. You need to address this right away, not only for yourself, but for the kids. Good luck.

On first glance, it appears this nice lady is violating day care licensing laws regulating child/staff ratio, employee training, and nutrition (being out of milk) as well as labor laws regarding wages. You could contact (and probably should) contact the Dept. of Children & Family Services (DCFS) and/or your local Child Care Resource & Referral Services (CCRS), and, as for the wages, the Federal Dept. of Labor.Talking to your employer may or may not help. She's very lucky licensing didn't make a visit to her home when she was out. Maybe some of the parents will talk with her.

Put your name on Craigslist and start babysitting for people. You will make more money than you are now, and you will not be in a dangerous and illegal situation. This woman is going to be liable is any injuries occur(and they will, from what you are writing) and you might be, as well. The fact that she couldn't even take the time to tell you the status of each child before leaving is inexcusable, not to mention the fact that she should have arranged for a substitute for herself. And...how could she be "out" of a basic substance such as milk? I would take the advice of the other moms and resign as soon as possible. There are other childcare jobs out there that will be more secure and better paying.

If all of the children are over the age of two it is legal and she has a license for a group home. But I do not think that it is legal for her to be paying you less than minimum wage unless she is doing everything under the table. But the state can come in and inspect the home at anytime. You would have to be CPR trained , First Aid trained, and have continuing education hours in Child care (20 hrs a year) also be current with a TB test.
I would speak with her about exactly what she expects from you. I would also let her know what you feel comfortable about doing and your responsibility. For me I would not be doing the family's laundry. Or trying to put together a meal that has not been planed out. If she is getting reimbursement from the food program it has to be a planed and well balanced meal. ( The food program can also come and inspect at any time if she is working with them). I ran a home day care for 15 years I would have never put some one in the position that she has put you in. That is alot of responsibility and liability for one person.I also never applied to be a group home because the ratio of 1 to 12 even with all of the children are over two is more than one person can handle with out back up near by if needed.

Hi,
You need to sit down with this woman with out children there, maybe early morning and tell her you need to talk to her priovately asap. Begin by telling her honestly that are not comfortable being put in situations like the one she left you in that day. Before talking with her I would look into what the state child to cargiver licensing regulations are for in home child care. I assume she is a licensed in home child care provider.You may not know this, but there are a certain number of adult caregivers required per child cared for in a home that is licensed by each state. The number varies from state to state. Failure to meet this important care giver to child ratio means she is in jeopardy of loosing her license. It sounds like she may be in violation of not meeting the requirements. You could easily find out the number of adult care givers to children needed per household if you google State of IL home daycare regulations. SHe sounds somewhat neglectful of the children she is responsible for and would not be someone I would continue to work for. What woud you have done if one of the children got seriously hurt under your care in her home with no one to help you? I'm not sure, but even you may be liable as well if this occurred. If she is hostile when you talk with her and does not change things asap I would not hesitate to report her to the state child care licensing dept. This can be done without identifying yourself I believe they have a hot line. The parents of the children under her care need to be aware of this if she is not meeting the ratios. Good luck

This is the reason why I chose a center daycare over home daycare. You never know what you're getting when you leave your child in a home daycare.

Anyway, if I were you I'd quit and find another job. She doesn't sound like a good person to work for.

Most of the moms here gave you formal advice for an informal arrangement but Suz T. hit the nail on the head. Speak up for yourself and what your expectations are. As for the rate of pay, that's the part that is taking advantage of you. Know your value, know your worth. Speak up and you will feel better.

It's standard procedure in business to have a written job description, so both the employer and the employee know what is expected. Do you have one? If you don't, you need to ask for one, so you'll know whether she expects you to, say, do family laundry once in a while and can decide whether that's something you want to agree to. In your kind of job, you should also be able to expect notice of what you need to do each day so that you'll be prepared. It takes organization on the boss's part, but that's what a good employer does.

Perhaps your boss is under a lot of stress right now and not thinking ahead. But you can see how that stress affected you and even the children. You've been working for this woman only six weeks and that's not necessarily long enough to be able to jump in and take charge at a moment's notice.

Although you sound like a person who would be willing to go an extra mile in an emergency, the communication lines must always be working.

Can you talk to her and ask her to work all this out with you? If she says she can't, or is too busy, or gets angry, then you may have to choose between keeping a job with a substandard employer or trying to look for another place to work.

(Just read the other responses. Yes, check out the legality of the whole arrangement to protect yourself!)

I would start looking for another position. It sounds like she's taking advantage of you big time.

Let her know just what you told us. She knows that she is taking advantage. Let her know that you don't mind helping the daycare but you have your own family responsibilities and if she wants helo with hers it will cost extra. If she hired you for the daycare that is your job, you are not her house keeper too. That would require more pay.

It is illegal to earn less than the minimum wage. So if you are being paid less than minimum wage you need to tell them that they are legally required to pay you the minimum wage.
There are also legal staffing ratios for daycares for the safety of children and it sounds like this day care is not following those ratios. You should work out what they are and then work with this employer to ensure they are met. It does seem as though you are being taken advantage of and I would start looking for another job immediately.

I think you need to talk to her as tactfully as you can. I've done daycare and heaven knows some days are more crazy than others, but this doesn't sound like a good situation to me. That's a lot of kids for one or two people!
The other thing I don't understand is why you're being paid less than minimum wage. I know jobs are hard to come by right now, but I'd have a tough time being happy with that. I'm not sure what the two of you have worked out in that regard, but something isn't right on that level first of all.
I think you have a right to feel taken advantage of and as for doing the family laundry...I simply would have said I didn't have time to get to it and if she got mad, oh well.
Are you an assistant at the daycare center or are you her housekeeper?
I used to make good money cleaning people's houses. I got paid $10 per hour and that was 20 years ago. It was very hard work, trying to clean a house in 5 hours and going to the next, but I could make $100 a day. Some places just wanted dusting or the floors waxed and the bathrooms cleaned. Some weeks they'd have me organize the kitchen cupboards and clean the oven and refrigerator. Then they'd have something different for me the next week. I really didn't mind it. Most of the people were at work when I went in. They left my check and instructions on the counter and they just came home to a nice clean house. However, I had one woman, her husband was an attorney. She was awful to work for. The harder I worked, the more she piled on. It got to the point where it was obvious her kids didn't even have to clean up after themselves anymore and I was to clean their rooms. Change the sheets, make their beds, clean 3 bathrooms as well as do the laundry and it got to the point where she literally would leave a weeks worth of dirty dishes in the sink for me to do. (NO dishwasher, either). She didn't even rinse things. Do you know how long it takes to get week old baked on pasta off a baking dish? If they spilled food on the floor, they left it. And, she wouldn't pay me for one second over 5 hours but complain I didn't get to everything. I told her I can do this OR that, or work in cycles every week, but I couldn't spend 2 1/2 hours just in the kitchen AND polish all silver in the dining room AND get her antique rugs out to hand beat them to get the dust out along with everything else every week. The end for me came when not only wouldn't she compromise, she had nuts enough to tell me where to find the ladder in the garage and carry it inside so I could climb up and clean all the skylights on top of it. I really liked her husband, who was a personal injury attorney of all things, and I told him I drew the line at climbing on ladders and breaking my neck. That was it for me. He was nice and gave me a good letter of recommendation.
My point is, some people will just take advantage and you have to stick up for yourself.
Hopefully you can have a positive talk with her and although you were able to manage the situation last week, you don't want her getting the idea that it will be fine in the future. You don't want to dump on her, but hopefully she'll listen to you.

I hope you get some great responses and I wish you the best.

I agree with busymommy. I'm not sure this is a legal ratio. I found some Illinois guidelines online:
http://www.atoz-childcare-directory.com/Illinois-daycare-...

This is definitely something to address. But even if she drops some kids and provides everything legally it's okay for you to speak up. Tell her what you are willing to do and what you do not feel is part of your job. You want the children taken care of properly and safely, and you want to be treated fairly. Just be honest.

first off it sounds like you and her need to sit down and have a conversation of duties.

It is ILLEGAL for YOU to be alone with the kids for any amount of time unless you are cpr/first aid certified and have had a background check and other stuff done.

And I was paying my aide $10 an hour, if you are making less then $8 an hour, then you need to have better job rules - for that little I would NEVER expect you to do alone care.

I think you might need to find another employer.

This probably won't get any better and you are not being paid enough to do the amount of work that you are doing. Honestly, you could make more money babysitting (we pay our babysitter $10/hr) or starting up your own home daycare with a couple of kids than you would at this place. Chalk this one up to a good learning experience.