AIBU nursery want to be paid when my child wasn't there

[angie1984]

So i have a DD who is two and started nursery in October last year, when my husband started working, they were very good allowing us to switch days as we needed as they weren't full at the time, I was about 5/6 months pregnant at the time and stated at the initial meeting it was only going to be until I went on maternity leave, in January.
So January rolls around and its the last couple of weeks before I go on maternity leave on 24 th so we tell them and our daughter that she won't be coming much longer, when it gets to the last week we state that it is the last week and then when we get to the last day, we state we won't need them anymore, until I finish maternity. During this period but i'm unsure when, they ask if we would like to keep our DD on their books for when i return to work, which I say yes but that she will not be in for the next 6 months while i'm off.
Got an email early Feburary about an invoice for the whole of the month of Feburary which having just given birth i assumed was an error on their part. Today i've had another email stating I need to pay ASAP, called the nursery who say i didn't give four weeks notice, which i probably didn't officially. They are charging me for the four weeks.
AIBU to think this is very CF while I admit I do not think i gave them four weeks notice, we spoke with them about it at many pick ups. And when I received my invoice at the end of January I double checked that this included all the days she was doing in January, when I spoke to them on the phone I point out that we had spoke to them about it at least 2 weeks prior to her leaving, they stated they would get back to us. Should I pay for two weeks or nothing at all. No one once mentioned this four week notice period and when i booked her in for her last few weeks and then stated she would not be coming after the 24 th or in the weeks that followed.

YOu are in the wrong.

and if you want ANY chance of them taking your DD back and maybe baby when you go back to work, you'll pay quietly and apologise for the misunderstanding.

Notice to withdraw would be set out in your contract and would usually be required in writing, not by telling them at pick up/drop off

To be honest with you, I'd have kept the child in nursery as the routine will make adapting to new baby easier, give them their own sense of individually And also babies are fecking hard hard work but that's just me.

I'd imagine your discussion wasn't noted anywhere in the system & keeping a place for your child for 6 months in my eyes would require payment.

I thought everyone knew it was a months notice.

Sorry, OP, you’ve got to pay up AND clarify if you are paying to hold her space until she is due to return.

Pretty standard in nurseries.

Sorry OP but the mistake is yours and you are liable to pay.

If you knew when you were going on mat leave, you should have just written the letter for notice there and then. Instead, you just said “we’ll be leaving soon” “this is her last week by the way”. I had parents do similar things, saying “We will withdraw her in the summer” “we’ll be moving in autumn” - but until the date is written down, words mean nothing.

I strongly suspect your nursery paperwork will state that it requires a month/4 weeks notice in writing. 99% of nurseries do, even for school leavers.

You didn’t give adequate official notice. You pay your bill. If anything, they may even let your daughter attend for that month. But you need to pay, you are the one in the wrong.

Think of it like leaving a job. You always have to put it in writing. Just saying it counts for nothing.

I work in a nursery and if for example your child is on holiday for a week you will still have to pay a discounted price to keep the space open for your child. By agreeing to keep her on the books means another child won't be able to have that space so you'll have to pay to ensure you keep it. You either have her taken of their books and risk not having a space when required in 9 months or you'll need to pay. This has been how it's worked at the two nurseries I've worked at and at the one my daughter attends

Did you give them notice in writing? Saying something to the staff on pick ups and drop offs is not the same. they might have assumed you did it properly.

It's standard practice to give notice.

And don't bank on getting the same place in 6 month's if you're not paying a retainer!

"I work in a nursery and if for example your child is on holiday for a week you will still have to pay a discounted price to keep the space open for your child."

I have to pay full price if on holiday at my nursery.

Check your contract/terms - it will probably state you need to give a month’s written notice.

The staff in the playroom probably have nothing to do with contracts or billing so if you just told them you were leaving in two the message may not have got to the manager.

It doesn't look as though you gave them a firm date when you would not need their services.
According to your OP, you eventually told them a concrete date the week before, and still not in writing.

I'm guessing that you should have given a definite leaving date, in writing, at least a month in advance of the leaving date, unless your contract says otherwise.

No, I don't think the nursery are being cheeky. What are they supposed to think? You advised them back in October that your maternity leave would be starting in January. How would you have felt if they'd taken you at your word back then and refused to admit your child after December?

Going against the grain here, I think the staff should have let you know about the months notice when you first told them you’d be going on mat leave. I think they have been unfair.

I use a CM rather than nursery and I would be pretty disappointed if she turned around and charged me for a full month I hadn’t even used just because she didn’t get written notice... You did give them plenty of verbal notice so I think they’re chancing it tbh.

@Nowayorhighway I teach in a private school. I don't know what is in the contracts.
I always tell them to contact the direction if there are any questions behind pick up arrangements. I would assume the same of most organisations.

Ffs! You didn't give them notice AND you wanted 3rd kept on their books. Pay up.

You have to pay if you want to keep your daughters place.

Dd not 3rd. I hate Silk

I can chat to the PTs or the receptionist at the gym and tell them I’m leaving but I have to put in proper written notice if I want to cancel my membership. Equally, I might tell my boss and colleagues I’m leaving my job but it’s not official until I have handed in a dated notice letter or email.
Presumably it’s the same at your nursery. You had a written contract with terms and conditions for you and them when you joined and that can’t be broken verbally. A verbal indication of intent to staff doesn’t seem enough to me.

I think the staff should have let you know about the months notice when you first told them you’d be going on mat leave. I think they have been unfair.

Why? A key worker or frontline childcarer would naturally take it as part of a chatty two way exchange of information about the child’s care. The same as mentioning how they’ve been eating, minor illnesses, bumps or bruises that day, house moves coming up. Just natural discussion between carer and parent. Contractual and financial matters are dealt with by management.

Who would assume that employed adults who presumably have signed any number of contracts in their lives (work, rental, financial etc) don’t know that they have to be formally cancelled with notice in writing?

You need to give written notice.

And I do think it's a big cheek to take her out for six months, pay nothing and expect to be able to have her go back whenever you want.

I cannot possibly have read this correctly. You expected to pay nothing at all to keep your child’s place open for six months?

A verbal contract in law is still a contract

You will have signed an iron clad contract. 4 weeks written notice is standard.

In fairness though they could have been clear about what retaining a place actually means, rather than casually asking. Sure, they know it means you have to keep paying, so do lots of people on here- I wouldnt have known. I would have asked for something in writing, at which point I am guessing it would have been explained. A full months bill when you are on maternity leave is savage, yes OP should have checked, and should have given notice in line with the contract; but I don't see why the nursery couldn't have advised that along the way.

Sorry - as pps have said, you didn’t give proper notice.

If I were you, I’d ring the nursery, own up to your mistake, and see if they can forgive all or part of the month’s fees, as a gesture of goodwill. You may be lucky.