If I’m not a keyworker so my childminder can’t have my child, how likely is she to expect payment?

[Codswalloped]

My CM can’t take my children (2&3) as DH and I are not keyworkers. We both work ft and are expected to do so from home. We work for the same company, who are being flexible atm but in all likelihood one of us will be on unpaid leave before too long. WFH is not going well.

How likely is it that she will still request full fees? We are talking £1400 per month and how legal will it be if she does? I will pay her if I’m still being paid but realistically I can’t afford to if I’m not. Her contract mentions her being ill but she isn’t. Not yet anyway.

I haven’t broached the subject as I’m burying my head currently, can’t cope with any more stress! And we love her, she’s like another parent to our boys but I just have this feeling she will expect us to pay.

So just looking for others experience really, CM and parents.

What do you think would be reasonable? Will you want you place back in 3-6 months time? Could you offer a 50% retainer or similar?

My childminder has said it will be as normal so if I decide not to use her full fees apply if she can’t work due to illness or holiday no fees apply

but I can’t use her as not keyworker. It’s not like I’m choosing not to. Although I would choose not to tbh.

You need to check what your contract says about unexpected closure.

They’re not insured for non keyworker families, so I have no childcare option and probably have to pay £1400 pm for 3-6 months.
That won’t be feasible for us. I’ll have to give notice and possibly give up work.

You will need to ask her where she stands unfortunately she may be a bit more lenient and charge half fees as I know some are but you won’t know unless you ask. As @CaryStoppins said though she’ll need to charge something if you want a childminder to go back to

Contract says nothing... just her being ill is covered.

I will ask tomorrow, stop being a wimp!

It depends on contract. My cm isn’t opening even for key workers and I am one. So I’ve had to pay an alternative provider. Original cm was still saying I had to pay £1000 for the next 4 weeks notice. My friend is a solicitor and says the contract in my case definitely doesn’t hold and she couldn’t win if she took it further. I think like everyone says negotiate and decide what you think is fair to both of you.

My registered childminder has shut up shop. They've asked us to pay half fees to keep place. Contract silent. I think this is a force majeure event so we shouldn't need to pay as they can't provide the service at the moment.

I can image many people will lose their jobs once this is over, so there may be a glut of childminders with places available.
I'm also guessing that the govt will make an announcement regarding self employed tonight, which may help out cms with payments. Also, if your work lays you off, you will still be paid 80% of salary up to £2500 a month.

Just looked at my letter from
Childminder and even if I we go into lockdown I’ll be charged a months fees to keep places open which I am happy to do as she provides holiday care during school holidays

My childminder is great but I have 3 kids and will be paying half fees until this pandemic is over and they can re-open. I'm not entirely sure this is right as they've told me that they're shutting up shop so even if I wanted to send my kids at the moment (I don't) I can't.

I’m a childminder and I have asked if parents financial situation is stable, that they still pay me half fees. But I have also stated that I know that this might be hard for some, so if they are able to pay a contribution that would be great. If they can’t afford it, that’s fine. It is still important that they can feed their dc.

My families cover a wide range of economic situations, from extremely well off to minimum wage and struggling and a couple of self employed families in there too. What they can afford to pay (or not pay) is completely different and it would not be fair of me to ask them all for full fees.

I’m desperately hoping that the government offers assistance to the self employed, which will then stop this being an issue.

I keep posting this - but it’s covered by the consumer act 2015 - she can’t charge for a service that isn’t being provided.
You can choose to pay if you’d like. I’d approach it before she does

I've asked my cm about paying reduced fees as I don't want to commit to full fees for the next 5 months or so. I've been furloughed & who knows if my job will exist in 6 months time. My dc starts nursery in Sept so if she's not happy to have less I will just give notice.

I am a Cm! I am open to keyworker children. If the keyworker children are using their space they are paying me full fees.

If they aren't using their space or arent a keyworker child I have given 2 options 1 is to pay a minimum £10 per week per family and this will guarantee their space is still available on the hours and days they need once it all goes back to normal and the other option is to terminate contract effective immediately with no notice to pay and have space back if still available once all back to normal.

I have chosen £10 minimum a week as that is less than a weeks worth of school dinners, which parents aren't currently paying for. The invoice will go out with what the bill should be if everything was normal and what the minimum fee is dependent on weeks in the month then parents can choose what amount they can afford to pay between the minimum and the actual total.

My families have said that they feel I have been as fair as I can be especially as we haven't had anything like this before

Omg, this make my childminder sound really greedy.

Mine too!

I’m wondering if any will request full fees and then claim from the government too tbh.

My childminder is getting full fee from me so she shouldn't be getting grant from the goverment.

If full fees ,1/2 fees (or whatever "retainer") is paid over the next few months through a UKGov childcare account - for childcare that we're not receiving - we would be committing fraud too. It would be good if there was a simple solution to this minefield we're all in.

2 and done wow that's generous