childminder not sticking to her rules of 4 week notice

[whiteprincess]

Hello all I am new to this thread

I have had two childminders now the first one was a lovely lady got on well with her I never paid for n#bank holidays she allways had her holidays planned in advance as most of her holudays were within my holiday time she never asked me for any payment as i was having to take my holiday round her anyways all ended well and she never asked me for any four week notice nonsense all she asked for was a letter a week in advance so she knew i paid her for the days of her work and she was happy with that she was of the opinion that minding fees are hard enough with paying her for days that my child wasnt there

anyways my daughteer has just finished up with a new childminder from the very beginning i told her when my daughter would be finishing and she said okay never made any mention of a four week notice letter and fees to pay could understand if my daughter was in the care in those four weeks she was not the date from which i told her should take effect not from when the date she ended she seems to make up her own rules in fees she charged me half fees over xmas even though i didnt use her services then she tells me shes going on holiday over the easter break charges me full fees i spoke with my lawyer and he's of the opinion that a verbal statement is valid when the person whos it being told to accepts the validity of the statement and agrees to it she never mentioned when i told her that and when i took my daughter out ont he date i told her she would be finishing which she had four months notice of she is now saying to me it will take effect from the date you took her out i need some advice as i feel and from advice from my lawyer that she should take the verbal statement which she agreed to which was four months prioir so she has advanced warning that she would be ending up so the four months notice takes effect four weeks back to where she finished up I am so annyoyed that she is behaving this way with her bizarre fees structure i allways pay her on time and in advance i pay her on a thursday and give her a full weeks fees an as far as am concerned that covers me to the follwing thursday she says no it pays u to the wednesday fi shes given a weeks it should cover a week it is highly annoying when i feel i am being exploited especially when i am not working and a student she was told when i took her on that this is the date when my daughter would finish now she has she was to take it from effect of the date she ended as far as am concerned it should take effect from when i told her prior notice and she accepted it when i told her man am so infuriated ritght now !!!!1 please help me someone

okay

What does your contract with the new childminder say regarding the notice period?

One week will run from Thursday to Wednesday,that is a seven day period

it says it takes effects fromt he time i tell her that she is finishing up she has alleady finished and she is trying to take it from the end date and not when i told her

Does the contract state that notice must be given in writing?

mentions nothing about termination of services only holidays

Wow that took some reading, no full stops

So you had a CM and all was well that one didnt charge for holidays and provided her holiday dates well in advance.

The new one did charge for holidays and doesnt sound too organised re dates etc. It all comes down to whats on the written contract. Is it a NCMA contract? or one she has done herself.

If when you started with the new CM you stated when you would need her services to start and end then those dates should be on the contract (a temporary contract) also do you get a weekly invoice? I agree that Thurs to Wed is a weeks care (5days). If your end date is written on the contract then I agree your CM should not charge notice period as in effect she has had ample notice and you have used the service, therefore paid for it during the 4 wks prior to ending the contract.

However if the dates are not on the contract then the notice period should start from when you gave notice, in this instance your CM has stated she needs 4wks notice. Its best to give formal notice in writing.

Is the contract one produced by the NCMA or MortonMichel? Most childminders will use one of those other childminders here could check the usual wording on the contract.

Have you at any point sent an e-mail, or put in writing the date which would be the last?

In my view, verbal agreements are really hard to prove, it's one persons account vs another. So if there is anything in writing it will help to prove what the agreement was.

How much money are we talking? I suspect it would be something that the childminder would need to claim via small claims court/moneyclaim. It does not cost that much to do but is a pain/hassle.

If you were the childminder I would be asking you what you had agreed in writing/e-mail. It is that written agreement which I feel could enforced, verbal agreements are much harder.

I'm not a lawyer, there is a Legal Matters part of Mumsnet where you may get a view from someone with legal training... but the worse case situation is that the CM takes you to small claims and wins and you pay the money.

Morally what do you feel is the right thing to do? Would you be happy refusing to pay and waiting to see what action is taken, or would you be happier coming to an agreement with your childminder, such as paying half?

Morally I think she told the CM when her daughter started that it was only a fixed term contract. However, if this was not put in writing in the contract, then you do need to go back to your contract and read it carefully to see what it says.