To not pay the childminder

[Surelyunsure21]

Hi all,

I am hoping to get some advice on a very tricky situation. DP and I have always seemed to find it impossible to find good reliable childcare and as a result we have bit the bullet and put both our DC (aged nearly 3 years old and 18 months) in nursery over 3 days. They are due to start next week which is lucky as I start a new job on Tuesday, it is my dream job so I don’t want anything to mess it up.

Previously to this we have had a childminder for the last 10-11 months however she is highly unreliable.. DP started a new job in February and he was hoping to pass his probationary period this month.. since May the childminder has been incredibly unreliable to the point where on the days where he is working from home he ends up looking after the children, in between working. His job is a lot more flexible for this.. my previous job was in a contact centre so it impossible to even grab a drink when it was not scheduled.

The childminders excuses were always legitimate and obviously there would be no payment for the days they didn’t do but we didn’t mind paying.. we’d rather have smooth childcare than none. The one issue with payment and it was a little something was that they insisted on getting paid for bank holidays even if we didn’t need to send the children (which we didn’t) and if we wanted or needed too it was double fee. We never sent them but we just thought the whole process was ridiculous.

So long story short the childminder has been that unreliable in the last few months that it nearly cost my OH his job. They have chosen to extend it for 3 months but he cannot work from home anymore and he basically doesn’t get any privileges for 3 months (it’s better than being fired though)

I’m due to start a new job and he’s in a probationary which should have ended and we’ve just put our house on the market too sell and move closer to my new job so obviously cannot afford for anything to screw it up. I sat down with OH and we rang a few nurseries in our new area and one had space to take them from next week so we signed them up and paid the deposit.

We then text the childminder to advise them that we would not be requiring their services any longer as they have been so unreliable they have nearly cost my OH his job and that as a result of this we would not be returning them in September and we would not be paying anymore money.

There is a contract in place and the childminder has advised us that there is 4 weeks notice so we need to pay for September. The childminder got paid for August and has taken a further 4 days in which they now owe back to us. We advised again we would not be paying anything.

We even calculated that the service provided since May has only been 38% of the contracted days so we think they are in breach of the contract. They are threatening legal action so just wondering who is being unreasonable?

Are you being serious?
You are happy to pay her when she takes legitimate time off (even though you are not contracted to), but you are unhappy with paying her for bank holidays (which are in the contract, I assume?).
And now you don’t want to pay her for the termination period, which I again assume is in your contract?

If they have only provided 38% of the contracted days I think they are bluffing about legal action/small claims. You won’t see a refund for days already paid but I would cut my loses and ride it out. I am stubborn though and hate chancers!

YANBU. Ignore any legal action threats until something comes through the door (it won't).

So there is a contract in place, which you are in breach of by not giving notice?
The waffle about the house, probationary period, dream job etc is not relevant
If you are breaching the contract, the childminder can of course take further action?
You state that her reasons for not providing the service are "legitimate"
You choosing not to pay is not.

@Still1nLove we aren’t happy to pay for days when she doesn’t take time off.. we either ask for the fee to be returned for those days or she will ask for an occasional day extra so she doesn’t lose out on too money which sometimes when I’ve got housework to catch up on or something I will agree too or I will accept overtime with work. I’ve stopped doing that as of late though because it was making payments messy.

I am not overreacting but August’s payment was only £200 for our fee because she has taken that much time of in July which we paid in advance for.

I’m not happy about the Bank holiday rule because no one else I know works like that. She should charge double for taking the children but nothing if she doesn’t take them.. we shouldn’t have to pay for her being contracted that day but still not taking them.

@captainpillows and working 38% of the contracted days since May is not a breach? My OH nearly lost his job which meant there would be no payment anyway

Only providing 38% childcare is pretty shit. I would be arguing she was lakeside in breech of contract and not be paying either.

What we're her allegedly legitimate reasons for not providing the service you were paying for?

@Still1nLove that’s supposed to be for the days she does take off*

I completely understand where you are coming from. However I would offer her 2 weeks paid notice as a "goodwill gesture" although perhaps you could offer her 38% of 4 weeks as a starting point...

How much do you really want this to go to small claims court?

Are the DC going to nursery full time? If not use some of the 4 weeks notice with childminder as they settle into the nursery?

I think it really depends if the reason for legitimate.
Where they closed due to covid?

She sounds unreliable not sure that means you can waive the notice period.

Although I can kind of see the point that if she was not offering you a reliable service in August (how many days she did miss in August?) then it’s not unreasonable to think you had to make urgent alternative arrangements for September.

I would keep the bank holiday stuff out of it (presumably that was in the contract that you signed up to?) but j personally would write and say due to you not being available to provide the service consistently we had no choice but to make alternative arrangements urgently and therefore don’t feel it’s reasonable to pay in lieu of notice.
You’ll have to see if she really does take you to small claims

If she’s not had an unreasonable level of absence in august then you should’ve given her notice so that she could fill your slot

You have a contract, and regardless of anything else, you need to pay the final fee , they will have no problem getting legal support for this, I am a chilminder and have had to take legal action to collect payment I am due, this doesn't actually usually cost the childminder anything/next to nothing, so she absolutely take this further as you are in breach of contract.
Just pay it and move on hope the nursery works out better

Sad tale but n excellent example of nursery care over childminders. You get what you pay for sadly.

I sort of get you OP, but it’s pretty standard to pay childminders for bank holidays. In fact your new nursery will probably charge you.

How about I ask you this? Do you get paid for bank holidays? Does your husband? Why do you think your childminder is not entitled to be paid in the same fashion?

I would be VERY concerned a nursery had space for two children from next week.

Have you been there? Looked around?
Asked other local parents about it?

Never put your child in any sort of care on Mondays. Trust me nursery will charge you too

If your day is a Monday,
Most nurseries will charge you for that Monday as staff still need to be paid

There were issues with a bath leak through the ceiling, boiler broke down numerous times so couldn’t take any children, she has been sick countless times and last month was household members and COVID.

We weren’t happy that when we checked the contract recently we realised the opening hours state 8-6.. she always bangs on about them being collected before 7:30 and once she text asking them to picked up before 5PM because the football match was on

The nursery will charge you for Mondays too
But they will be closed!

Take the bank holiday out of this then as we don’t actually mind and aware that yes we both get paid for bank holiday but it comes out of our holiday entitlements.

The service since May 2022 we calculated that she had only worked 38% of the contracted days. She owes us 4 days for August already. We have offered to let her keep these and after the poor service she should just take that and leave it.

The issue we have with paying this is what if she is off sick during September and it falls on one of the days during the 4 week notice.. she isn’t going to say anything especially when we wouldn’t be sending the children so how that would reasonable or fair.

We have said if she pushes it she can have 38% of the 4 weeks notice minus the 4 days for August which she owes us and that equates to about £60 (a day fee)

May 2021*

@WaterIsBest yes I’ve been round and looked at both rooms for my children, I am quite familiar with this setting as it is back in my hometown which we are planning to move back too. My step niece went too this and my mum and I used to pick her up. It is lovely

If you breach the contract by not paying the notice period she will have a case against you and could well get that money plus costs back via court action. Equally if you think she's breached the contract, you can also take court action. You can't just not pay unfortunately.

Surprised a ‘good’ nursery has availability

The nursery i worked at had 18 months wait for a place