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.

@saffty2 you’ve clearly not read my whole thread so before you start jumping on the the thread trying to protect your fellow childminder.. just back off and read the posts. I didn’t have a problem paying the 4 weeks notice but only if it was fair to pay 38% since that’s what she has proven to have worked since May and take off the 4 days for August.

Also read my responses I paid her because I can afford to just pay the problem to go away and that’s what I want her to do. Disappear and run her half assed business day away from me.

After I paid her she sent me a really friendly message with kisses included wishing me and the children all the best for the future. DP was seething because he felt she knew we would give in before taking it to court and she played on that

Also your posts are irrelevant as I have stated up post I’ve paid her and not taking off 38% which is disgusting because if she is off at all in the next 4 weeks on any of the given days she is contracted for in theory she should give those back but I doubt she will be that honest.

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

In usual times, I’d agree. I know a lot of parents who haven’t returned their children to nursery since they were closed for Covid. Most of the nurseries round our way have spaces available when usually they would have been full. Same with the after school clubs. Spaces at ours were like hens teeth two years ago, they can’t even fill half the days now.

She has been very unreliable and breached the contract herself by the sounds of it so i would have let her keep the money from the days in August and not paid her another penny. Her unreliability nearly cost your DH his job and she has caused you both alot of undue stress by the sound of it. She's being unreasonable expecting to be paid after only working 38% of the time in her contract.

Bank Holiday 'rule'- if it was in the contract when you signed it then there is not much you can do.
Irrespective of what has happened in the past, if the contrasts says 4 weeks and you've signed it then there's not much you can do either. I'm a childminder and yours hasn't behaved well, but you may just be best to pay and move on.

[quote Surelyunsure21]@saffty2 you’ve clearly not read my whole thread so before you start jumping on the the thread trying to protect your fellow childminder.. just back off and read the posts. I didn’t have a problem paying the 4 weeks notice but only if it was fair to pay 38% since that’s what she has proven to have worked since May and take off the 4 days for August.

Also read my responses I paid her because I can afford to just pay the problem to go away and that’s what I want her to do. Disappear and run her half assed business day away from me.

After I paid her she sent me a really friendly message with kisses included wishing me and the children all the best for the future. DP was seething because he felt she knew we would give in before taking it to court and she played on that

Also your posts are irrelevant as I have stated up post I’ve paid her and not taking off 38% which is disgusting because if she is off at all in the next 4 weeks on any of the given days she is contracted for in theory she should give those back but I doubt she will be that honest.[/quote]
What a cow she is. Just respond with a 👍🏼.

@phishy who is a cow me or the other poster? I don’t want to come across as a cow but I am just having a bad day as she text me today being all nice and she put 10 kisses on the response to me & I just felt very used and a bit dirty for giving in and paying her.

Unfortunately I’d pay her because if she goes small claims, you still refuse to pay, you could find you have a CCJ against your names that might impact your employment.

The thing is she is contractually entitled to the 4 weeks notice the only way around this is to dismiss her for contract issues but you can say we are not paying you notice because you haven’t done very well.

You either have to pay or

Prove your dismissal case to the appropriate level and dismiss

There’s no fudge in between

[quote Surelyunsure21]@phishy who is a cow me or the other poster? I don’t want to come across as a cow but I am just having a bad day as she text me today being all nice and she put 10 kisses on the response to me & I just felt very used and a bit dirty for giving in and paying her. [/quote]
@Surelyunsure21 I meant the childminder is a cow, sorry. I think she’s been very unfair to you.

Sorry if that wasn’t clear

@Surelyunsure21 leave a true review on the childcare website of the service provided, detailing both the positive and negative aspects of her business. It might help others when deciding on a childminder.

I would do this OP. Hopefully it will save someone else from being in your position.

I'm not quite sure why I've been labelled a nasty person when many people have said exactly what I have, the contract is in place for the final notice period. A contract is a contract and the courts do take them seriously. Yes she's been unreliable, which may or may not have been her fault, but the cost of that is a separate issue.

saffy2
Dies the contract I my work in the childminder's favour or are you just banging a drum?
Giving 30 minutes notice on more than one occasion is not on, nor is working 38% of the contracted time. She owes all those pre-paid fees to the OP. She must have done this to ALL the other parents whose children she 'looks after'.
I wonder how many pay up meekly and how many ask for a refund of the fees paid for cancelled care.
She sounds a nightmare and highly unreliable.

*Correction. Does the contract only work...

Your wrong to say no one else charges for bank holidays when they are closed. A lot of nurseries do, the one my children go to does. Luckily for us we do not send them Mondays but if we did we would contractually have to pay.
You cannot just terminate childcare provisions at the last minute because you have 'luckily' found an alternative. You haven't given her an opportunity to fill the spaces she has now lost. If the contract says 4 weeks terminate notice then you owe her the money whether you choose to send the children in this period or not. Again, nursery will have a terminate agreement, not just you pulling them out as you please.
If you were not happy with the terms of the contract you should not have signed up to her services 🤷🏼‍♀️
You say her reasons have been legitimate (assuming a lot of covid issues/contacts). We live in strange times at the moment and although I empathise your husband has had a lot of upheaval I think it could be safely assumed that many a household have struggled with the balance of work and childcare/home schooling over the past 18 months and it's his work that should be more sympathetic to the situation if anything.
So in answer to your question, you are being unreasonable! Pay the woman her dues, as agreed in contract, and next time plan better so your not stung with 2 childcare bills!

I would block her for one thing. Just draw a line under the whole shitty experience and focus on your future, your new house and your husband getting past his probation. I still think you were right to just pay her as that is what your contract says, but I totally get your anger and frustration over the past few months and the impact it has had on you all.

Yanbu, but I would pay your notice. Where I I live childminders know other childminders. They blacklist people. So you won’t ever get a childminder that part of town.

If you will need school pickups when they are older etc, make sure you make it above board.

...and next time plan better so your not stung with 2 childcare bills!

See, I think this is really harsh. The OP was happy with the contract but the childminder kept closing all the time. How on earth could the OP have known that would happen and planned accordingly? The OP was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't risk relying on the childminder for another month as she was so unreliable, but she was still stuck paying the notice period. It's a crappy situation, but none of this is the OP's fault.

@Debetswell

I would pay the childminder a £5 a week. Drag it out. She obviously has no respect for your employment situation.

I think that's very unfair to say. I'm sure the childminder is not happy to just close shop for the day when she knows she isn't going to get any payment as she is self employed! If her ceiling came down, her boiler was broken and she has to abide by the rules of covid what is she meant to do!? It's the risk you take with childminders. Although up until recently while classes from nursery were being sent home for contact isolation too and you just had to get on with it unfortunately

[quote Surelyunsure21]@1frenchfoodie two wrongs don’t make a right but when it has nearly cost DP his job and she has only worked 38% for the last 4 months.. so I should give her the money for the 4 weeks notice on the grounds that she will be honest and give us anything extra back if she is sick or her boiler breaks or any of her other excuses during September?[/quote]
She didn't nearly lose DP his job. You said yourself up the thread that they were not happy with him because he left early without the say so of a manager. He almost lost himself the job by not being open and transparent. He tried to make a good impression but has come across as sneaky so they want him in the office so they can watch him and ensure he is completing his contractual hours. A lesson for future on honesty and good communication

@BeenAroundTheWorldAndIII he left early because the childminder was shit!

38% is piss poor and indefensible.

@BlackShadowCat

...and next time plan better so your not stung with 2 childcare bills!

See, I think this is really harsh. The OP was happy with the contract but the childminder kept closing all the time. How on earth could the OP have known that would happen and planned accordingly? The OP was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She couldn't risk relying on the childminder for another month as she was so unreliable, but she was still stuck paying the notice period. It's a crappy situation, but none of this is the OP's fault.

On reflection it did sound harsh. Haven't had my morning coffee 😳 But unfortunately we have all experienced the knock on effect of childcare provisions closing. Nurseries have closed with minimal notice due to covid, staff sickness, snow days. It always has a knock on effect on work life. It's likely the OPs children will be sent home over the next 4 weeks from nursery too when they get every bug going mixing with new kids. So some provisions will still need to be considered. The covid rules have changed now for contacts (and assuming the boiler is now fixed). So it may have been sensible to keep the children in childcare during termination and sign up for nursery at the end of the 4 weeks.

[quote phishy]@BeenAroundTheWorldAndIII he left early because the childminder was shit!

38% is piss poor and indefensible.[/quote]
But the OP already said she felt the reasons for closure were appropriate and defendable? So which is it?
And how much of that closure time excludes covid guidelines and law closures? I chose a nursery for this reason. Obviously a nursery has a variety of options in an emergency whereas a one man band is limited

[quote phishy]@BeenAroundTheWorldAndIII he left early because the childminder was shit!

38% is piss poor and indefensible.[/quote]
Sorry missed your first comment (must make more coffee!)
Leaving early is a separate issue than doing that off your own back without permission. He looks sneaky now and untrustworthy. He should have been honest about his need to leave and how to rectify the situation, ie, make the time up, take some annual leave, take unpaid leave.
This is where he went wrong, not the having to leave to collect the kids in an emergency part

Do you have a stated percentage of days she should work in the contract, or a stated number of sick days/holidays allowed?

If not, the 38% part is your own doing really. You've known how unreliable she is for a good few months, and you both just let her do it. You should have fired her after the 3rd excuse and found someone else. If it is in the contract, then you've again been a mug and let her take you for a ride.