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Original poster

To find nurseries charging on bank holidays unfair?

111 replies

Revoltingpheasants · 24/03/2026 07:25

Is it just me who finds the system at most nurseries so unfair and frustrating? DD attends on Mondays and Fridays which means that for the Easter holiday she will only go once at the start of the holiday and once at the end.

It seems so unfair as it would be different if she attended Tuesdays and Thursdays.

OP posts:
Original poster
Revoltingpheasants · 24/03/2026 07:37

Goldeh · 24/03/2026 07:37

Even if they were "free" and not charged for, you'd still get end up paying for it another way because the overheads associated with that "free" day would be accounted for in their overall pricing structure.

But that at least would be shared and not solely on the Monday (and to a lesser extent Friday) children.

OP posts:
Fupoffyagrasshole · 24/03/2026 07:37

mine shuts at Xmas for 2 weeks and a week at Easter and we still pay 🤷‍♀️

it is what it is - written in the ts and cs and made very clear several times before you join

place is always full - wait list long and people dying to get a place - so I guess they can do what they want !

might feel unfair but what can you do about it

Goldeh · 24/03/2026 07:37

Even if they were "free" and not charged for, you'd still get end up paying for it another way because the overheads associated with that "free" day would be accounted for in their overall pricing structure.

Original poster
Revoltingpheasants · 24/03/2026 07:35

The thing with the payment of staff is that this should be a cost that’s shared evenly amongst clients, not only the clients who use it Mondays (mostly.) I can’t really think of any other setting where this happens. I don’t begrudge the staff the day off; that’s not what I’m saying.

OP posts:
CandyEnclosingInvisible · 24/03/2026 07:34

Unless they hid their Ts&Cs from you before you signed up, they can do what they like. No one forced you to choose that nursery or to choose Mon & Fri as your child's nursery days. Nursery employees still need to eat the same amount of food, pay the same amount of rent & bills etc in weeks with a bank holiday so they need their income to be the same every week. Except for a fractional difference for lighting and heating the costs of running the building are the same in week ordinary weeks and bank holiday weeks. But nursery that charges differently for different cuatomers depending on what their specific weekday choices are and how many bank holidays fall on those days is going to have to do a lot more ccomplex accounting than a nursery that keeps it simple, and that will lead to higher staffing costs raising prices for everyone. Why should all the other nursery customers have to pay more just to facilitate the tiny number of customers that choose such an unusual pattern?

RosesAndHellebores · 24/03/2026 07:33

Because statutorily nursery staff have to be paid for bank holidays, just like the rent and utilities.

Brewtiful · 24/03/2026 07:32

Well presumably you also want paying for the Monday and Friday you're not at work in the same way the staff do.

It's very obvious why they still charge and will have been made clear to you at the time of enrolling her in the nursery.

tnorfotkcab · 24/03/2026 07:30

It's always been the way a d would have been in T and Cs

Sartre · 24/03/2026 07:28

I sent DC to a nursery attached to a school - not a school nursery, it had provision from 0 months - 4 years but it was linked to the academy. They charged extra for provision during school holidays! Just really needed a nursery place and that was the only one with space at the time.

Iheartguacamole · 24/03/2026 07:27

Unless you work on bank holidays then what’s the issue? Nurseries have costs that still have to be paid eg staff costs.

NewYearNewMee · 24/03/2026 07:26

Private workplaces still need to pay staff on holidays like bank holidays, so you either get “charged” for those days - or they’ll have to up the rate on other days to cover it.