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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Snow and work

42 replies

Wickedgirl · 19/01/2013 21:21

How many of you are nannies and have had to miss work because of snow?

I am due to work tomorrow and have a 40 mile journey into the countryside. I am tempted to ask for the day off. Should it be unpaid or taken out if my holiday allowance do you think?

OP posts:

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ZooAnimals · 19/01/2013 21:28

If it's too snowy for you to get to them, will it be too snowy for them to get to work?

ChippingInNeedsSleepAndCoffee · 19/01/2013 21:32

I didn't think there were many places where you couldn't get where you needed to be now?

Do they leave the house to work? - will they be going?

I'd say if their house in inaccessible then they should pay, but if you can get to their house then you should use leave if you are just choosing not to go.

nannynick · 19/01/2013 22:26

I am a nanny and I have not had a day off due to snow. I have been told to go home early (Friday) and in previous years my boss may have said no to come in to work, I don't remember but it's possible. So no day off due to my own choice.

nannynick · 19/01/2013 22:33

Why 40 miles? That seems a long commute to me.

You could ask your boss if you can take it as annual leave but what if your boss needs to go to work? What is the knock on effect, your boss does no go to work, so they may not get paid and they may be letting other people down, may be risking keeping their job, may mean lots of other people don't get the service they are expecting (such as an operation, if say your boss was a surgeon).

Would you not try at all to get to work, such as leaving a lot earlier, taking a longer but more likely to be gritted/ploughed route (most of the way)?

magicOC · 19/01/2013 22:34

Never had a 'snow' day here either. Never been 40 mile away from work tho???

A few years ago when we had really bad snow, I called ahead to let the bosses know I was on my way, but, as The roads were bad I may be a bit late. I turned up 10 mins late to find them still in pj's

They said they expected me at least 1 1/2 late so they didn't rush .

2plus1 · 20/01/2013 09:19

I would say that you should make a reasonable effort to get into work without compromising your own safety. With regards to how this is dealt with for pay or leave this is my understanding. If you only get statatory minimum annual leave and your employer insists on this being taken as paid leave then your employer must give you notice for taking a snowy day as paid leave (ie one days notice for one snowy day). Therefore, unless your contract states you will be paid for 'absence outside of your control' (ie snow) your employer does not have to pay you for your non-attendance. If you wish to take the day as part of your annual leave you can request that rather than not being paid.

I know this might seem mean to not pay a days wages but (as previously mentioned) if the nanny cannot get into work it means that the employer cannot work either. The employers work may not pay them as they stay home for childcare cover so they would be out of pocket to pay the nanny at home. This is the realism for small employers of just one nanny employee I am afraid. Obviously, where were the employer cannot get to work it would be nice to extend the goodwill by not expecting the nanny to come in either. Likewise if the employer is allowed home early, I would expect that the nanny is also sent home early too.

longjane · 20/01/2013 12:36

i was working this fri and was txting my boss to see if see was going to work as it bad here but she went in and got sent home and went shopping . she will get paid for the full day and she paid me for the hours i worked. so half a day.
them is breaks i got a half a day off
sad thing she would let me play in snow with kids which has hard.

ConfusedPixie · 20/01/2013 13:52

I got sent home early on Friday and am making the hour up next week (I'd worked overtime the day before so it worked out as an hour owed), I am debating asking to go in to my other job later tomorrow as I will be unable to move my car by the looks of things, so will have to walk to the nearest train station and get a train in which takes an hour and a half on a normal day I would try to avoid missing work completely though!

pinknanny · 20/01/2013 16:49

Over that last few years I have walked to get to work (around 1/2hour walk) when snow was too deep to get car out, my street isn't a priority route.
Only to find bosses aren't going to work, not even an attempt, are still in pjs and go back to bed once I arrive. one very unhappy nanny on those days! So fingers x planned snowfall tonight doesn't happen!

TheDoctrineOfSnatch · 20/01/2013 16:51

Pinknanny, what would you have wanted your employers to do in those circs?

Booyhoo · 20/01/2013 16:52

i think you should make an honest attempt to get to work. if however you just dont want to risk it then you can ask for a day off but unpaid.

Booyhoo · 20/01/2013 16:54

pinknanny why were you unhappy? they paid you for it like normal i assume?

Megsdaughter · 20/01/2013 17:04

I work on in the midle of Salisbury Plain and the roads were prettyimpassable on Friday plus MB is a teacher, her school was closed so she phoned me and told me not to come in.

She is still paying me as it was her decision for me not to try and get in, I usually make up time tho staying late on Parents evenings and such, as Dad is Army and on tour.

pinknanny · 20/01/2013 17:05

I was unhappy to have trailed through deep snow making the effort to get to work for them to not attempt their work and spend day in bed. they could have at least done work on the many things needing done around house or something useful.

Mogandme · 20/01/2013 17:13

My job (live in) entails a lot of proxy parenting and for once my boss was home when the snow came down on Friday/Saturday but has since gone away again for the next fortnight so if it snows then I'm here and have no excuse not to walk 5 steps out of my room into work and go to work; however we will be having a lazy day; tody we've been out and about in the snow.

Booyhoo · 20/01/2013 17:13

wtf!

who the hell are you to say what your bosses should do in their own house? you would have had to make the walk if they were working and you were getting paid the same as a normal day for the same work. what is your problem. did you want a paid day off?

ZooAnimals · 20/01/2013 18:00

In Pink's situation I would have expected the parents to contact her in the morning to tell her they would not be going to work and her struggling in through the snow was unnecessary. So that she had the option of taking the day unpaid/as holiday or going in. I think struggling in so as not to inconvenience your employer (and their emplyer/the public they serve etc as Nick says) only to find them in their PJ's is quite annoying.

Booyhoo · 20/01/2013 18:10

maybe they really needed the sleep. must you always be awake and doing something in order to satisfy your childcarer? odd. they pay her to do the job, if they feel they still want to use her services on a day when they aren't in work i dont see a problem with that. if pink would have preferred not to struggle in and go without pay she should have asked if that was possible.

ZooAnimals · 20/01/2013 18:15

'if they feel they still want to use her services on a day when they aren't in work i dont see a problem with that'

I totally agree with this and I think this is apllicable in normal weather conditions.

'if pink would have preferred not to struggle in and go without pay she should have asked if that was possible. '

Really? You think them picking up the phone and calling her when they made the decision not to go to work was too much too ask? I think it's just general courtesy tbh.

ReetPetit · 20/01/2013 18:23

lol at booyhoo...
i think pink is perfectly entitled to be annoyed - i would have been to. this is the reason i would never go back to nannying, the attitude of some parents. at least with childminding i am self emploed and decide who i take on and how long i work with them!!

Booyhoo · 20/01/2013 18:24

they still expected and wanted her to work. they had no need to phone as there was no change of plan on their part.

if pink wanted to change the plan the onus is on her to arrange it.

no point them phoning to say, we still want you to come in as normal as that would be expected that she would still come in unless she had called to say otherwise.

Booyhoo · 20/01/2013 18:25

dont you decide who you work for and how long for with nannying too?

ReetPetit · 20/01/2013 18:34

its not quite the same ime. childminders set their own terms and dont generally experience poor attitudes like you have shown on this thread booyhoo..

ZooAnimals · 20/01/2013 18:42

'they had no need to phone as there was no change of plan on their part.'

They normally left the house to go to work. This means they needed someone to be there to look after the children. On this day, due to extreme weather conditions that made travel difficult they decided to stay at home. This means they did not need someone to come and look after the children. This is a change of plan.

They wanted her to come in as usual, but as they didn't need her to come in, and her coming in was difficult (due to the aforementioned extreme weather conditions) the reasonable and courteous thing to do would have been to call her and give her the choice.

'if pink wanted to change the plan the onus is on her to arrange it.'

She didn't want to change the plan, she was happy to struggle in to allow them to go to work, as normal. She didn't want to struggle in to find that she was not needed.

'no point them phoning to say, we still want you to come in as normal as that would be expected that she would still come in unless she had called to say otherwise.'

I would expect them to ring and say 'we're not going into work, we would still like you to come in, but if you feel that getting in would be too dangerous/difficult we don't need you today'.

chocchoc30 · 20/01/2013 18:45

I'm 7 months Pregnant and had a text on Friday to say not to go in as they were worried about bump and I. Thankfully grandparents were staying so they could take charge. Where MB works there was no snow at all.

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