Paying for bank holidays

[tuppenceworth]

I'm not sure if this is usual practice but does anyone else have to pay for bank holidays even when the nursery is closed??

DS goes to nursery two days a week, Thursday and Friday, and he loves it but I just wondered if paying even when your child isn't there, even if they've sent him home and said he can't come back for x number of days (i.e. sickness and diarrhoea) is usual?!

[Gillian76]

I would say no to paying for days nursery is closed, but yest to days when he is sick. Do you have a contract/terms and conditions? Should be in there I would think.

[Hattie05]

Yes paying for bank holidays is normal - staff still have to get paid therefore they charge parents. Be glad your child doesn't do Mondays

Yes paying for sickness is also normal.

[hulababy]

Agree that paying for Bank Holidays and sickness is normal. Afterall they still have to pay their staff on bank Holidays.

[HappyMumof2]

yes, seems to be standard with most nurseries.

Most (if not all) childminders would also charge for days when your child is sick. Some charge for bank holidays, some don't.

[Chandra]

We pay as well, but I believe we only pay 1/2 fee (not sure though)

[jolly4]

i was looking for this as i have been told i pay for friday and monday , but at christmas when we were off i didnt have too pay ,i pay 20 pound a day and my daughter is full time ,not my fault that it is good friday they are closed i dont see why you have too pay for a service that is closed

[TaiTai]

my daughter only goes to nursery one day a week - on Mondays . Nursery policy is they charge bank holidays, but they very kindly agreed that because we would end up being buggered every time - twice in May, which would be very disruptive for dd, only going twice a month - we can put dd in on another day during those weeks. sounds a fair compromise to me. suits me because i work from home and it doesn't really matter what day dd does.

[bluebear]

Our nursery charges for bank hols and for days off sick or on holiday, as do the other local nurseries I have looked at.

[GeorginaA]

Nope, I got a refund for the bank holiday this month (ds2 goes on a Friday). Didn't realise it wasn't standard, tbh!

[jolly4]

anymore comments about paying for nurserie when it is closed bank holiday

[anchovies]

Part timers at our nursery don't pay for bank holidays but those who go full time do. Everyone pays when they are ill though.

[jolly4]

do you think they all have different policies, i really need too read spec dont i , i need too see in writing ,i personaally dont agree i should have too pay especially if it is closed i agree if my child is ill that you pay also i pay if i am away on my choice of holidays but not something like a closure of a nursery it is expensive enough , cant understand why when they were closed at christmas i didnt have too pay anymore advice it is a surestart nursery run by dan leisure

[aideesmum]

The nursery my ds goes to do not charge when they are closed but do charge if he is off sick.

[nzshar]

A nursery is a business and therefore has to cover costs eg staff wages, utilities and rents as well as make a profit, big or small it is irrelevant. So therefore most (not all) nurseries will charge for bank holidays, after all most(again not all) people get paid for bank holidays. If a nursery does not charge for bank holidays you can be assured they have worked out they charges to cover for these days ie slighty higher daily/weekely rate.

[MrsWood]

Yes, we pay too. But one thing that I do find annoying is Xmas period. Nursery decides to stop working on 20th Dec for example and starts again on 3rd January (give and take) - we still have to pay usual fees. Although this doesn't bother me anymore, when my dh and I ran our little shop this would be a nightmare - busiest time of the year so we both had to be there, paying for nursery which is shut and paying somoene to look after our dd as well. I think for the days they CHOOSE to shut, we shouldn't have to pay.

[LeahE]

Yes, we pay bank holidays and when closed between Chistmas and New Year. As pp said, they still have to pay the staff so it needs to be factored in to what we pay them somehow (so if we weren't paying specifically for those days it would just end up being factored into the regular daily rate).

[eidsvold]

We paid monthly and that would have included bank holidays, when she was off for almost 2 weeks with chicken pox, when we went to Australia for three months etc. They have allocated that place and they can't farm it out for a few days. Staff still have to be paid and the nursery costs met.

[FairyMum]

Yes we pay. It is a business like others have already said. I don't work bank hols either, but I do get paid.

[threebob]

It's fair enough for illness - but I do think that if they worked it all out and charged everyone a little more on days they were open then it would even out better. After all they have to pay the staff on that day, but it's to retain their services which everyone uses on the other days.

Ds's nursery seem amazed that nobody wants Mondays until I pointed out that you get no holiday leave because it all goes on Public Holidays.

With my system it would make Friday and Monday popular as well, which would mean they were at capacity all the time and would actually make more money.

[jimmy2]

When my DS was in the nursery 3 days a week one of his days was a Monday. If there was a space, they would let me swap the monday for another day for a £5 admin fee. But yes, I did pay for Bank holidays & sickness

[cardy]

I don't pay for bank holidays but I do pay for sick days any other days (e.g. holidays) if my dd doesn't go in.

I have asked once or twice to swap days (when they have spare places) but they don't allow that, you have to pay for an extra day.

[glassofwine]

We don't pay for bank holidays and the staff are not paid either - I know as I'm on the committee (it's a non profit nursery). We do pay for our allocated days for the term and regardless of if the child attends for whatever reason.

[Blu]

Of course staff have to be paid, as in any other job, BUT I think the cost of those holidays should be spread amongst all the parents. If you do wed and thursday, you get (potentially) 7 more days for your money over a year than someone who does Monday and Friday. I thik they should increase the cost slightly over all the days they are open and then NOT charge for bank hols - this would be fairer.

[Blu]

oops - the same point ThreeBob made!

[andyrobo237]

I dont pay when the nursery choses to shut - xmas and bank holidays, but I suspect it is averaged out over the whole year and worked out at a daily rate. The staff (like me) get paid holidays so it seems fair that a nursery should cover the cost of this somewhere. If you sat and compared daily rates given the actual number of days the place is open, different nurseries in the same area would work out the same for a whole year.

I have to pay if dd is sick, as they can't use that place for anyone else, but as it is attached to a school, the holidays are optional and you only use what you pay for - so when we have 2 weeks off in August I have no childcare to pay.