Childcare when you teach?

[ChocolatePizzaRedWine]

Hi folks--

I teach at a health club that is part of a hotel. The club provides childcare for members while they work out, and has been allowing instructors to use it while they teach.

Last week, we received the following memo from personnel:

It has recently been brought ot our attention that the aerobics instructors are the only personnel in the hotel who are allowed to use the babysitting facility offered in the Health Club during working hours. Since there is no possibility of this being offered to all (hotel) employees, we have decided to eliminate all (instructor) babysitting privileges, effective on March 1, 2005.

Now I know that the management is certainly within their rights to cancel childcare privileges, though to call this a fairness issue is kind of bizarre. (What's next? Paying all instructors minimum wage to be fair to the house-keeping staff?) Obviously there's more to it than meets the eye. We'll work through this -- or we won't, and those of us who need childcare will find other places to teach.

But the whole thing makes me curious. What do you do about childcare while you teach? Does your club offer it? Is it free or do you have to pay? Do you have other childcare arrangements that don't involve your club? Or do you just not teach when your little ones are at home?

Thanks for your input!

Take care,
Tara

[42rebecca]

I will only teach at a club that offers me free babysitting - I invest quite a bit in myself and material needed to teach and paying for childcare on top of that would make this a losing venture all of the time. I know I'll never get rich doing this but I certainly don't want to lose out in the deal.


Good Luck on the daycare and maybe you could suggest they offer one free hour per day to all employees instead of cutting it out completely.

[soflgal]

All the clubs where I teach that offer childcare offer it free of charge for the instructors. I never even thought twice about weather it wasn't going to be given to me free becasue that is just the way it has been everywhere I teach. My son goes to school now but he has been coming with me since he was 6 mo. old he's now 4. And like I said I never gave it a second thought. If he has to come with me now he does happily.

I don't think it's right that they are taking thoes privlidiges away from you guys.

[JFK]

As a fairness issue they could offer everyone the one or two hours of free babysitting a few times per week that instructors enjoy. To take it away is ridiculous. Perhaps they could offer it to you at a deeply discounted rate? I have always gotten free or reduced rate childcare when teaching. When I go in to work out I expect to have to pay for it myself.

I did used to teach at a Y that didn't have childcare (and later, when they added it, I was unimpressed and opted out) and I paid a sitter to come to my house while I taught. After paying the sitter for 2.5 hours and collecting only for 1 hour of teaching, I was paying to teach. I kept doing it because I loved the people at that facility. But when that gig ended a few years ago, I did not seek out another one that cost me money. ;)


What you are dealing with is really frustrating. I can see the hotel's perspective, but your point about paying everyone minimum wage to be fair to housekeeping is a good one. After all, upper management probably gets free hotel rooms and such, do the instructors? Housekeeping certainly doesn't.

[fitquest]

The instructor's have to pay for childcare at our facility. $32/month for up to 2 hours per day OR $4 per hour PER child.
I think it's ridiculous to have to pay while we are working. I don't mind paying if I'm not teaching.
Occasionally they talk about the possibility of the instructors not being able to use childcare during prime time hours (whether they are teaching or not) but this has yet to happen.
Now that my kids are older and love going to play with their friends at the gym, I'll bring them to the childcare room and I will read a book poolside for some theraputic alone time. :)
Like someone here said, It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness!