To all the Childminder, What are my rights!!!

[Babedestiny]

Hi ya. I decided to take my child out of my CM and put him in a nursery.He is eligible for the Govt funding. I have alreday gave her my 1 month notice , so her last day would be Aug 16.As it is the holiday period, i had to pay the full fee, which i am willing for the 1st 2 wks but for the last 2 weeks, my CM is going on her holiday and i have been told to pay the full price during that period even though my son is not attending.Is that true?Very confused. Is there any number that i can call to enquire more about this topic?

what does your contract state?

What has happened in the past when your childminder has gone on holiday?
What is written in the contract about pay arrangements when childminder is closed/away?

What country are you in?

The NCMA contracts state that notice periods must not include either party's holiday time. So your notice period comes to an end in 6 weeks and paying for 4 of them.

If you don't have NCMA ones then i'm not sure.....

When did you give notice ... was it 16th July? or later?

Do you normally pay your CM for holidays?

If your 4 weeks notice includes her 2 weeks holidays, then your notice period may not end until 2 weeks after she returns, depending on your contract.

What Nicknacks said if you have NCMA. It should say on your contract what her policy is.

The usual arrangement is that notice periods may not include either party's holiday, so if your childminder has two weeks prearranged holiday during the notice period, that would just make the end of the notice period two weeks later - which will be academic if you have already taken your son out and started him at nursery as obviously you would otherwise choose either to send him for the notice period or make payment in lieu of notice.

NCMA Disputes
That webpage on the NCMA website says "Notice should not be given by either party at the start of, or during, an agreed period of holiday."
It does not say what happens if notice is given BEFORE a period of holiday.
So in my view, if notice is given Before a period of holiday then that holiday period is still in the notice period and is paid as per usual.

That webpage also says "The childminder must provide their childminding service during the notice period or they could be asked to pay the parent the amount of the fees due in lieu of notice."

So that to me means that if the childminder does not provide childcare during the notice period, then they may need to repay money for that period of time.

So it's all a bit tricky. Thus why I feel we need to know what happens usually when the childminder goes on holiday - are they still paid then, or not. So if notice had not been given, would you be paying the childminder even though the service was not available?

My (NCMA) contracts actually say "Notice of termination of the contract must be given in writing and should not include a period of holiday of either party or childminder's paid time off".

Thanks alot for the quick response. Having looked at my contract it says, it should not include a period of holiday.But i have just given the notice period during my CM holiday, so what will happen?I have been asked to pay the full fees? Is that ok?

I have already given her the letter and my son last day should be Aug 16 but as she is on holiday from Aug 8 to Aug 18, my son last day would be next week.I have been told, if i continue with her from september onward, i would only have to pay half during the holiday period. But as i am leaving this month and putting her in a nursery from September, she said that i am liable for full fees.....so i don know whether she is right?

If the period of notice given in your letter is not valid - as in this case where you say you have not taken into account your childminder's pre-arranged leave, she can point out, as it seems she has done, that you need to give 4 weeks in addition to any leave booked, and you can then choose to either use the space for longer than you had intended, or pay fees in lieu of notice.

If you have agreed to pay your childminder half fees for her holidays, and your contract states that your four weeks notice cannot include those holidays (i.e they are "paid time off"), then surely you must owe four weeks at normal/full rate PLUS her pre-booked holiday at half fees. If she is happy with just the four weeks fees, that sounds like one week less than she would be entitled to under your contract. Personally I would pay it, or use the extra days. If you make her cross, she will probably want the whole amount due!

Thanks alot for the advice everybody..