Mumsnet Talk

Hello all,

I have read around the internet for others that disagree with these 2 month notice periods that a lot of nurseries have.

I think the whole idea of 2 months notice is unfair and unreasonable.

Having looked through my contract with the nursery it is clear to see that these contracts are effectively based on employment contracts, with sections that 'allow' you 2 weeks holiday and the like.

Therefore I am going to challenge the right of a nursery to decide to go further than an employment contract, further than a rental contract, further than a mobile phone contract.... and pretty much any other contract in existence!

I would think that such a notice period would need to be justifiable.....

What are others thoughts?

I know some will say 'if its in the contract you have to pay' but I disagree.

If you were to go to an employment tribunal and were fighting your right to work for a competitor (quite a normal occurence), and your contract said you cannot, then you would win, if your contract said you cannot 'in the UK' you would win, if your contract said 'for a period of 12 months' you would win......
However if it said a specific competitor, or 6 months for example, or perhaps only within a specified geographic area..... then the judge would probably deem it fair and reasonable to apply with the terms of the contract.

But if a contract is deemed to be disproportionate and unreasonable in its make up then it is unenforceable.

What are peoples thoughts? anyone fought the argument before?

Regards,

Ben

Why?

Mobile contracts, rental agreements etc - these all tend to have a minimum of 12 months (6 more common in rental though) - I think you are comparing chalk and cheese to be honest. Filling a space in a nursery is absolutely nothing like getting a new customer to sign a mobile phone contract.

That said the nursery I used required one month's notice. But two would have been fine. I don't think that it is unreasonable.

Your post made no sense at all to me.

We have a 6 week notice period. If we had to reduce this in all likelyhood overall fees would go up as it generally takes this long to fill a place, by the time you have offered/acceted/settled.

actually I have no idea why i put mobile and tenancy agreements in there.... I must have been thinking about 2 seperate matters at the same time.

I still think that 2 months is disproportionate.

Disproportionate to what?

If you had to give 2 months notice that you were leaving but the nursery could shut down with no notice then that would be disproportionate but you can't compare a nursery to any other type of contract, that's just daft.

Are you angry because of a situation you are in or is it just a general objection (my nursery asks for one month)

2 months notice isn't disproportionate to employment contracts - my last contract was 2 months notice. My husband's is 3 months notice on either side.

I really don't see what you're so cross about, sorry

I think two months is fair enough to be honest....I own and manage a nursery and parents usually need to book in 3 to six months in advance, therefore we require as much notice as is possible.... Having said that, we only ask for four weeks Also, with regards to employment contracts I have been interviewing staff for my nursery recently and some have been asked to sign contracts to say that they need to give 3 months notice....

A deputy or manager is required to give six months notice

I think contracts are relevant to the field you work in tbh

I think two months is reasonable. Someone else might be using a childminder but be on the waiting list for your current nursery. So, once you give notice, the nursery would need to contact people on the waiting list, who might be a) on holiday or b) thinking about their next steps should be. They would then need to give the childminder notice (which is usually around 6 weeks, in my experience). If the nursery notice was also 6 weeks, either the parent or nursery would lose money.

Oh, and yes, re employment contracts - 2 to 3 months is common, with up to 6 months in more senior roles.

When you say you are going to 'challenge the right of a nursery' what do you mean? In the High Courts? If you don't like a contract, don't sign it and go elsewhere. If you have signed it, tough titties - you should thought about it before. It's a service, they can offer it on whatever terms they like as long as it's not illegal, which it isn't

I was quite shocked that the person I interviewed was required to give 3 months notice.... it was because she had worked at her existing nursery for more than 2 years. Might have to change my employment contracts

Back to the OP tho.... I would prefer it if my clients gave me as much notice as possible because usually when you call parents on your waiting list, obviously they have had to sort some other childcare arrangements out and noone would want to then unsettle their child when they will have bonded with staff or a childminder etc, unless they are unhappy, hence our 3-6 month booking in

Sort of related...

Are we not entitled to a "cooling off period" or similar, when it comes to getting deposits back?

Our 2.5 year old loved his first nursery - it was known for being the best in town - but we've just moved house across town and moved him to a new nursery - settling in went well, but this, his first full week, has been disastrous...when we drop him off the carers are all sat around like lumps at the table whilst the kids sit silently in the other room with a pile of stuffed animals...cried when we picked him up on day one, said he didn't want to go back...and has had near panic attacks each morning in anticipation of being left there...and each morning it is the same. they clearly don't give the kids enough attention. coming up on end of week one and we're very unhappy - we want to pull out but are annoyed we will lose our deposit.

any chance of us getting it back?

thank you.

My dd nursery asks for one month notice which I think is fair. The nursery that my son went to only required 2 weeks notice. I think that good nurseries have no problem filling their places.

I think that nurseries are more comparable to private schools than mobile phone companies. A private school requires 1 term notice which is 12 weeks.

Hi there

yeah i think that two months notice is quite alot. I would think that one month should be more than enough for a good nursery to fill the space.

It really doesn't work like that, you would need a child of simlar age, wanting the exact same days to fill the space, or a parent wanting a space from the exact time the other one ends. Once found often they would have made alternative arrangements when waiting for a space so have to change these.

We find 6 weeks a middle ground, giving us enough time to juggle the rooms, search waiting lists, contact parents to check they still require a place, offer, complete settling in visits and then start.