Nursery charging for days closed over Xmas

[Peanutbutteryogurt]

Does anyone elses nursery do this? It's literally charging for Christmas day and for all sessions DD would've attended between Christmas and New year had they been open. Is this the norm?

I used to work in Preschool and did all the fees and invoicing, and we only ever charged for when we were actually open.

They have the option of swapping sessions to use a different month, but these must be in addition to her usual days, and she already attends as often as I want her to at the moment. I'd rather have the extra hundred quid for Xmas tbh.

Lots of nursery’s do this. It depends what’s in the contract you’ve signed up to but I do think it should be challenged in the courts for having unreasonable terms.

Well I’m going to ask the only question that matters.... what does your contract say?

I know for my child’s nursery the fees are calculated as

Daily rate x no. of days a week x 48 weeks then divide by 12 for our monthly fee

As they are closed 2 weeks for Xmas and we get 2 weeks to choose our own holiday time.

Some places charge you for days they’re closed.

Some places don’t, but their daily rate will be slightly higher to reflect that.

Either option is normal.

Yes ours did except for Christmas Day, they made it clear when we signed up as well. Common with private nurseries as staff get holiday pay too!

Yes ours charges 52 weeks a year. It’s so frustrating, especially as they are closed longer then both our works so we have to take annual leave to cover some of the days, I wouldn’t mind so much if it was just the days off we have anyway. But childcare waiting lists are horrendous around here and DC love it so we just have to suck it up.

And the reason they get away with it is that it’s a great daycare so people are willing to pay it.

My daughters nursery doesn't charge.

The nursery I work in changes over Christmas, however it states so in policies and contract. I imagine yours will be the same

Charges sorry!

So how are they supposed to pay their staff ?

Our nursery does this too.

Number of sessions per week, x 52/12 and that's our monthly rate.

Luckily my work is shut for the same duration as the nursery so no extra.
I figure it accounts for holiday pay and we love the nursery so just go with it.

It does say it in the terms and conditions but doesn't offer any explanation as to why and how it is justified.

NaomiFromMilkShake

Well, like many other preschools, nurseries and schools, the staff's salaries are calculated by number of weeks worked then divided by 12 so they're paid the same each month. So staff would be paid for 51 weeks a year rather than 52. I don't think it's the norm in many other jobs to be paid for hours you don't work when the business is closed?

If they didn't charge for 52 weeks of the year then the daily rate would be higher. I would rather have the higher rate and only pay when they are open otherwise if you use it on a Monday you miss out big time due to bank holidays.

Our fee isn't calculated by sessions over the year, it's calculated month to month so changes monthly depending on how many sessions she'll attend.

I didn't use nurseries, but friends and childcare students I know say this is usual.

@NaomiFromMilkShake

Do you understand basic economy? No other business is able to charge for a service they aren’t providing. If I wrote to a client and said here’s my bill for the work I did and here’s a bill for some work I would have done, had it not been a bank holiday they’d dispute it, quite rightly and think I was an idoit. for some reason childcare providers take the absolute mick.

Why this remains unchallenged is beyond me. It’s clearly unjust.

I assume staff at nursery get holiday pay? Do you? & I expect they still have to pay rent/rates/ water/ & other bills

Of course they get holiday pay, but I don't see what that has to do with all parents being charged over a period they're closed.

I have worked several jobs where my salary has been calculated by hours worked a week X weeks worked a year / 12. Holiday pay was added into the hourly rate. That way they get paid the same every month and they can still pay their rent and bills.

The nursery’s running costs over the course of a year can either be divided by 52 weeks or 51 (often minus bank holidays too). If you split it over 52 weeks the cost per session is less and the cost per month slightly more even. If you split it only over the 51 weeks the nursery is open the cost per session goes up but you do pay a bit less in December because you’ve already paid that money between Jan and Nov.

My nursery charges for bank holiday but not for Christmas closures....I actually thought they did until an email reminded us we aren’t charged.
Doesn’t bother me tbh- I’m paid for bank holidays and child care providers arent hardly the most well paid.

I work back office in a nursery, and as people say there are two choices, we charge the same every month, or we up our daily rate and don't charge for Christmas week. The second choice would mean that our headline price appears less competitive with local market. In both cases parents pay the same over the year, so the first option wins. As well as this, there is very little savings in costs over Christmas, staff still get paid, rent is still due. The legal challenge idea makes no sense, we provide a service, that's payable in line with terms of a contract all parents have signed, if they don't like that terms, or our service, they are free to give notice and go elsewhere

Ours change for bank holidays and Easter but only charge for 50 weeks of the year to allow two weeks off at Christmas.

OnlyFoolsnMothers snap.

My nursery charge by number of days in per week x 48 weeks / 12 months so you get 4 weeks of holidays to accommodate for time away, sickness, bank holidays and Christmas.
I would check your contract and see what it says.