What to do

[Lisa69861]

My daughter started with a childminder 27th November . She refused a lot of times to look after her saying she has diarea when she didn’t . When she did get hand foot and mouth she refused to have her for 2 weeks. That was the final straw for work and I got fired for having to much time off . I only started 27th November . I gave notice to childminder to pull my daughter out she required 6 weeks notice . Well paid 20th jan and a few days after she sent my daughter home within an hour saying she had 1 runny poo so she’s not allowed to be there picked her up nothing wrong with her . Childminder said she couldn’t attend for 2 days then she said she is closing Friday as ofsted coming then she’s on holiday leave the following week. I said to her that I had paid 4 of the 6 weeks notice period can I pay the 2 weeks remaining in instalments as tax credits stopped and I got no income due to losing my job. She instantly blocked me on WhatsApp and Facebook and then sent me an email telling me not to contact her anymore and that I have to pay by end of month and she is not looking after my daughter anymore . So 3 and half weeks out of the first 4 weeks notice she refused to have my daughter and the two final weeks . She had 500 and wants a further 280 yet she has refused to care for my child and took money and not provided care . I’m thinking to take her to court as she has had 1500 in total yet she don’t charge for her holidays 22/3-2/1 and 9/2-19/2 but stopped caring for my daughter 5th feb

It sounds like you've had a lucky escape! Shame you lost your job over it though.

Work out how much you owe her for the time she worked. Check your contract to see if you need to pay her holiday.

Write down every penny paid and the periods it covered.
List every day sick as in her definition - unlikely to get anywhere with that.
Then the days cancelled due to Ofsted (strange as they want to see you working so I would be querying her numbers that day) and any time for unbooked holiday she took.
What does your contract say re booked time off and notice if it was booked as this generally does not cover any time she has booked off and means you add that time to notice period.
If it was not booked time off and you don't pay her holidays then you wouldn't owe her that time.
Head to citizens advice with all facts and paperwork.

Re your childs sickness if you have agreed a policy saying 48 hours after a bought of D&V and your child had loose stools you have to abide by it unless you go to the gp and get a fitness to attend letter and its not a virus or bacterial cause. HFM is very contagious and can be nasty so if her policy is to exclude then that's her policy 2 weeks is an unusual time though unless your lo was still ill or covered in it, did it get infected as Impetigo is quiet common as a side effect?

You need to look at your contract as all Childminder’s charge differently. Holiday days are not normally included within a notice period.

The childminder can’t help it if your child has been ill and she needed to send her home, what was she meant to do, keep your child and risk everyone else getting ill? She will have a duty of care to all the children at the setting and part of that is protecting them from the spread of disease/illness. From my experience Hand Foot and Mouth although classed as a mild illness has hospitalised my son in the past and I would not be accepting any child with it, a child within my setting has had it 3 times now, twice of those times he was absent for 10 days due to it serverity.

I’m guessing that your childminder also charges in advance of care, so the last two weeks of notice that you said you couldn’t pay her in advance for as you wanted to pay as and when you could. Personally I would have just waiver the cost of the last two weeks of notice remaining and not cared for the child. A lot of Childminder’s operate a “no payment means no childcare” rule as far too many have had there fingers burned by parents who use childcare then refuse to pay.

Ask her for a breakdown of all fees you have paid, exactly what she feels you still owe and for a list of all the times she excluded your daughter, the reasons for the exclusions and the amount of time she was excluded (the number of days each time). Write to her to request this information, send the letter registered post that requires a signature. Also ask her for a copy of your signed contract with her.
It may appear, when written down, that your daughter was excluded for unreasonable reasons or periods of time, although she could say that she was following her policies.

Keep records of all contact and communication with her and only correspond with her by recorded delivery letter. Print out any emails, texts, WhatsApp’s etc and save any voicemails.

Usually termination periods do not include holiday taken by either parent or childminder.

Everything will rest on what your contract says.

I personally had a parent loose their job and terminate the contract immediately, it was in the middle of the month and I was paid until the end of the month. The parent took the child out in the day she lost her job, I didn’t have the child for the rest of the month. I was advised by the legal advice line that I would be within my rights to pursue her for the termination period but as she had no income I wouldn’t have much luck in getting my money.

I have also had a parent loose their job mid month and as a good will gesture not charged the last two weeks of the notice period and the mum kept the little one at home for the rest of the month

As a child minder, is anyone charging fee if school shut because of weather or are you refunding?

charging I'm open