To find nurseries charging on bank holidays unfair?

[Revoltingpheasants]

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.

I see your point. I agree that if they charge you per day at the nursery, they should charge you for the days you could use. And the staff holiday payment should come from the overheads, not from directly charging you specifically.

I really don't understand this at all.

My DC go to nursery 3 days a week. I pay the same monthly cost every month. Some months have more days than others, some have bank holidays, it's still the same monthly fee. Even at Christmas when nursery is shut for a week it's still the same monthly fee. I don't see the issue?

I’m sorry you don’t understand. I think it is fairly clear though.

I think that’s why you often find Mondays and Fridays are the days they have availability when your enquire/ shortest waiting list - people know about this and don’t want those days if they aren’t using full time.

It could be shared across their overall pricing in theory but it never has been, it’ll be in their ts and cs, and the reason it isn’t is that it would make their “headline” rate less attractive.

Dont have Monday and Friday as your working days if you don’t want this! But then it also means you get a long break from work over Easter too!

Just to add, I have a colleague who told me she specifically avoided working Mondays for this reason.

Exactly this. I can’t exactly explain why the cost should be shared out but compare it to weekends where the staff are still effectively paid from everyone’s contribution. If no children attended on bank holidays the staff would certainly not expect a salary reduction. Similarly if you work part time the bank holidays get apportioned so you don’t miss out or unfairly benefit.

I’m a teacher @GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing , so makes no real odds to me in that sense.

As I’ve already said, it isn’t as simple as just not having those days as my working days. I am actually considering getting DD in for an extra day from September because I am a bit worried she isn’t very settled due to only doing two days and spread out so much. It wouldn’t be my first choice but it is just what is happening at the moment.

I do think being slightly put out that I am paying close to £200 for having the temerity to work Mondays and Fridays is reasonable, though!

Tbh They should up the rate so everyone who uses nursery pays for the nursery’s paid days off. Otherwise why should only the Monday people pay when nobody is attending that day? Spread the cost evenly

Yes, I think it is unfair. When I used a nursery neither me or my husband got paid for bank holidays. Thankfully they did not charge for days they were closed.

They should make the hourly rate slightly higher for everyone to spread the cost equally amongst al parents regardless of which days their children are booked in.

Have you considered looking for a different nursery that doesn’t charge for bank holidays? Particularly if she’s not settling in this one anyway

Google unfair contract terms - there is some government guidance available. Consumer terms are subject to a test of reasonableness. Generally a service provider charging a consumer for services they don’t provide would unenforceable as an unfair contract term. A lot of nurseries setting their terms don’t seem to understand this. If you are paying for a service then you should be able to access it. As other posters have mentioned it would be more appropriate for the nursery to factor the cost of bank holidays into their overall operating costs. Whether you can make any progress pushing back on this if the nursery is popular and over subscribed is a separate issue and tricky if your children are settled.

I completely agree with you.

I think it’s the days she does rather than the nursery itself that are the problem. Plus, as much as it’s annoying ‘do you charge for bank holidays’ probably isn’t the first thing I’d be taking into account! And obviously you don’t want to be ‘that parent.’ It does sting though.

The fee structure really is designed around full time clients. When you are part-time, sometimes it doesn’t work as well. I always viewed that as just one of the costs of being part-time.

Do you work, OP? Do you expect to be paid for a Bank Holiday, even though you have the day off? There's your answer.

I asked my manager about this when I worked in a nursery, and she said that a child’s days are added up and split evenly over the 12 months, so each month the parent pays the same - essentially paying like normal when the nursery is shut bank holidays/ Christmas. So you’re not paying for it when it’s shut, your monthly bill is just spread out so you’re paying the same each month

That's the weirdest accounting I've ever heard of. Staff have to be paid, premises have to be paid for, utilities have to be paid for.

And you know, by your logic, I shouldn't have to pay the little bit of my tax bill that goes towards your child's "free" hours because, you know, I don't have children at nursery. Bonkers.

But people who pay for full time are also technically paying for those days so I don't understand why you think most other people aren't? There will be a minority of parents who use the nursery Tue -Thursday indeed but that's all.

Tbh you're lucky you found a good nursery that accommodates that schedule, it's quite random to do Monday and Friday only.

But that’s the same for every business that closes on a bank holiday? Surely BH closures are just factored into overall running costs..

Well no, not really. Not unless we’re asking tax payers who work Mondays to pay more taxes.

And some people don’t get paid if they don’t work.

But that’s the same for every business that closes on a bank holiday? Surely BH closures are just factored into overall running costs..

Exactly @Nottodaythankyou123 And the charges to customers are calculated to cover the overall running costs, including Bank Holidays.

No it’s not actually. Obviously OP will expect staff to be paid for bank holidays in exactly the same way as they are paid for weekends. Her issue is the charging mechanism by the nursery which as many posters have agreed is unfair and capricious and not how other businesses deal with bank holidays.

Most part time users choose Tuesday to Thursday because of the charging mechanism which is why they always have an availability Monday and Friday. I think you’ll find that the majority of parents don’t use the nursery full time for many and varied reasons which makes the charges so unfair.

No, the staff still need to be paid

Agreed. This is also why parents not to push back against nurseries when they make extra charges for food nappies etc which is also against the rules. Doesn’t make it right though.