To get a drs note for stress due to covid-19 and childcare issues

[Hmmmmminteresting]

I feel sick I'm so stressed!

Have 2 x dc in full time nursery. Our fees are £1400 a month which is crippling for me and dh as our other bills are expensive too.
Today nursery have announces that should they be forced to close (which they think they will very soon) we will still be charged in full.

Also today, my work have said that they will not be allowing any working from home and if we have to go off to look after dc due to school or nursery closures we will be allowed dependency leave but it will be unpaid.
DH has asked his boss tonight and been told the same. Ds1 starts school in september and we have all of our annual leave booked already for the year to ensure we have holidays covered.
We have no help from family around here at all.
Would I be unreasonable to aim to go to the doctors in the next week and get signed off, just so I can get sick pay (I get 12 weeks paid sick leave a year). I'm so stuck and I know I wont sleep tonight!

Any better ideas I'm very open to

why, who is it really hurting?

The company who are paying full wages for their employees to look after their own children.

People who are suffering long term MH issues who are not taken seriously and who are/feel judged as faking it because people do this.

The sick person who couldn’t get a drs appointment because op took it just to get sick pay.

As op said get signed off, just so I can get sick pay (I get 12 weeks paid sick leave a year)
It’s a worrying & stressful time for a lot of people but getting signed off “just to get sick pay” is awful.

It’s only going to be closed for 2 weeks isn’t it? I guess we don’t know at this stage, however I would sacrifice holidays now and then look at using holiday clubs and /or child minders for cover holidays. Or us parental leave (unpaid) when things are back to normal and you’re not paying out so much in nursery fees. It’s not brilliant but there’s are extraordinary times so forgoing holidays might be necessary.

If you can afford to go without pay, you can take statutory parental leave - you can alternate the time with your dh as you each have a separate allocation.
workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/overview-of-parental-leave/

*use

If you present as really stressed to your GP you will probably need to be assessed by a mental health team with a view to therapy or counselling.
Your company’s Occupational Health Team may well need to be involved, depending on the length of your absence.
GPs don’t sign you off unless you present as medically needing time off.
Sick notes aren’t freedom passes.

If everyone refuses to pay for their children's nursery places during forced closure there will be no nurseries to go back to once this is all over! These nurseries are barely sustainable businesses as it is; they just cannot afford to close with no income and with staff to pay.

I will also be in a terrible financial position if this happens. Gladly my nursery fees are only £500 a month but I am a single parent and self-employed. If I don't work I won't get paid at all and there's no sick pay if I am ill with this virus.

I asked our nursery about this because I needed to book an extra day and wanted to know if I'd still have to pay if it closed. The manager was a bit vague but said clearly that I wouldn't have to pay if the closure was due to the virus, unlike other closure situations (e.g. if there is bad snow). This applied to all days not just the extra day. The manager seem to suggest this was based on something the government had told them which made me think it would apply to all nurseries (no idea why our nursery would take this position otherwise, normal they charge at any opportunity!), But I can't see anything online that supports this so who knows.

That sounds extremely stressful.

OP definitely check the contract, particularly the force majeure clause (if there is one).

These nurseries are barely sustainable businesses as it is;

Don't believe this for a moment. They charge a fortune and pay their staff peanuts.

From my understanding, if a nursery is forced to close and cannot provide a service they can't charge. Equally there is something called the short time working which means that in legitimate circumstances businesses can legally ask their employees to take reduced pay for when the employer cannot give full time paid work.

You need to look at your contract but I suspect this case will not be covered and their assumption that you will have to pay full fees will not be legal.

The devil is in the detail. Look at your contract first.

I think YABU but I also think you know that really. This situation will, potentially, hugely affect most of the population. Being signed off when you're not genuinely ill is unreasonable, however, I would sit it out as advice may well change to work from home if you can, the stance your employer is taking this week may change next week.

I wouldn't be paying nursery a penny if they are closed and unable to care for my children err why not?! They have staff to pay too. It’s in most contracts!

Because I pay them for a service and they're not providing that service.

Most nursery insurers are refusing to cover for closure although one of the big ones seems to have changed it's stance today. The sector is lobbying hard for help either from insurers or the government but for most nurseries their highest cost is staff and those staff need to be paid.

I would take holiday now as a pp suggested then have unpaid leave later on - this should be more affordable when you're only paying 1 set of nursery fees.

There was an article recently about nurseries being put between a rock and a hard place. They have not been released from business rates, like some other businesses have, and insurance companies (quite what they are there for I don't know) have declared they're not responsible to cover for covid-19. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51843971

This is a unique situation, so it might be worth contacting your MP, perhaps they can either point to correct advice or fight your corner.

Do it.

After the governments claims I would contact your mp.

1. Ask if your nursery has business continuity insurance, and if they are covered.

What is childcare availability like in your area? Can you serve notice to the nursery and take unpaid leave for dependants?

Why would you have to pay the nursary if you aren't using it? Doesnt sound legal to me. As for their staff, surely the nursary itself would have to pick up the slack. Or the government.

But yes op, you would be being unfair. If you are scared, have the ball to admit it and take the time off. Not con the system. If money us an issue (which I doubt if you can afford to spend 1400 quid a month on childcare!) Sell something.

They have shut all schools and creches in Ireland as from this evening. Never occurred to me not to pay the creche. In fairness Ireland are pulling together and certainly my employer is luckily completely flexible.

Is this a small business? Orcare they just unreasonable?

Elizabethdraper how are you bringing your child into work? I've 4 and couldn't imagine that

nurseries can charge

how else will they pay their rent....no insurance covers them for these situations so they have no choice or they will go under. then you have no childcare at all the end of all this