at having to pay for nursery fees when they were closed for 2 days last week - I work on a contract basis so dont get paid :(

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I work from home on a contract basis so was peeved at having to pay for 2 days worth of nursery fees whilst the centre was closed......days in lieue (sp?) weren't offered, just a request to pay.

Legally where do I stand if I don't pay - I walked there with my DS both days to find them shut?

lesbianmummy1, did you charge if parents couldn't get to you due to snow? ....it's not your fault and you are still available for work.

i did not have that situation daftpunk but we would have negotiated had that been case I also negotiated with girl who should have been at school as felt unfair to take standard rate when 6 hours of day she should have been at school. I however had over a week off last month as my son was in hospital so did not get paid

Depends on the contract. If there's nothing in writing then you are only obliged to pay for the services provided. tesco couldn't do my delivery - I woudl not expect to pay for that. They may well have had to pay their staff but that's their problem. London uinderground is not paying the 10% of staff who did not make it in on Monday by the way. it's quite common. I and my sister weren't paid last week for work we couldnt' do because of snow.

If the nursery was closed you should not have to pay. Service not available.

If the nursery was open and you couldnt get there then you should.

My nursery doesnt charge for bank holidays, or periods of closure.

I can have up to 4 weeks holiday at half fees. ( i know im lucky)

I also have to pay for any sick days or days decide not to send son. Which is fair enough.

I'm not being paid for not attending work yet I still have nursery costs. Its seems unfair but some you win some you lose.

I work in a school. Any staff who couldn't make it in due to snow last week won't be paid.

in a school? really? that is shocking imo
so you think the tesco delivery am wh couldn't do his job because the roads were closed because of the snow shouldn't get paid?

what about postmen who couldn't empty the postboxes, the dustbin men who couldn't empty the bins? should they also not get paid for 2 days

It turn managed to turn up for work but unable to get out on deliveries, collect rubbish, open for business but customers didnt come in then yes you should get paid.

If you couldnt then no you shouldnt. I heeded the warning not to travel unless absolutley necessary....well I dont get paid by my son and I were not injured and thats worth millions to me.

I would imagine that MOST places are not paying staff that couldn't come in, and I think that's right

It should be annual leave, or time in lieu

I think if the nursery was closed then you shouldn't pay for those days

My nursery made staff walk in from miles around in order to open so that they wouldn't have to deduct anyone's fees!

Depends if you see employers as people with a bottomless pit of money ( our money as tax payers) or not. If a nanny can't get in and you pay an agency nanny double the rate fo you can get to work I think you'd feel a bit cross if you had to pay the nanny too

I'd rather carry on paying than the poor staff have to walk miles in the snow

so it seems 50:50 as to whether I ought to pay or not.

I'll get a copy of the contract tomorrow and read it in detail about adverse conditions....

Thanks for your opinions.

Shouldn't businesses have insurance in place? For loss of earnings due to natural occurances type things.

I believe the businesses shouldn't charge, and should still pay their employees.

It is rather frustating. I think the problem is that different people have different ideas of "snowed in" and a lot of people were taking a "snow day". I safely managed to drive past the nursery and a further 6 miles to work because I doubt any of the 20odd patients waiting to see me would have particularly impressed if I called in and cancelled all their appointments. Which is what my DH had to do since he had to take an extra day off (unpaid) to look after DS since nursery was closed. I don't expect the staff to be unpaid (although we are if we don't work) but I do expect the nursery owners who are charging quite extortionate fees in some cases to take on some of the losses rather than it all being on the parents.

yanbu

the nursery offers a service and it was shut, so you shouldnt have to pay

if it was open, you decided that you werent driving there etc, then you would have to pay

So the OP should pay if nursery shuts but she gets there and she should pay if nursery stays open but she cannot make it??? Isn't that cake and eat it?

I think YABU.

Employers have a duty of care towards their employees. The access to my son's nursery could not be made safe so the nursery was closed. I will not be happy if I find the staff have been docked pay. They are paid badly enough already and should be paid in these exceptional circumstances - two days in ten years is hardly going to break the bank.

I'm clearly in the minority but I couldn't give a monkey's whether I've been charged for it or not. I don't have much money either. My concern is that the staff are treated properly and aren't forced to take risks to get to work, as people elsewhere I know have been.

Of course it's not much snow but there's no provision down here for this kind of weather as it doesn't happen often enough to make it cost effective.

It's not a question of whether staff get paid though, is it? That's up to the employer, whether it's a business or a council or whatever. Organisations who employ people should make provision for this kind of thing in the same way that they pay non-statutory sick pay (I know a lot don't).

Whether the staff get paid isn't my problem and that issue is between the manager and the staff. How the employer deals with the staff and whether they get paid is irrelevant to my OP.

My issue is that I am being charged for 2 days where they were closed yet I was able to make it to the centre both days.