Staff sacked at nursery - should parents be told why?

[Cakehead]

A key member of staff at DD's nursery has just been sacked. She looked after DD for over a year and was due to take charge of my LO in the New Year. I was a bit shocked to find that she'd gone and asked the manageress what had happened, she wouldn't say.

As a parent I find it really unsettling. I know they probably don't want to give themselves a bad name by revealing what happened, but I find it even more worrying not knowing what's gone on. I'm worried it's to do with the level of care.

Do you think I should be told? It probably breaches some employee confidentiality clause or something like that, but as a parent paying for care, I'd like to know what's happened and why they acted this way.

It was a person who'd been at the nursery for over seven years and had very responsible role for babies and other staff.

She's probably been offered a job as a nanny by another parent - that's a sackable offence for most nurseries. Unless it's something that affects the care your child has received I really do think you should let it go.

cakehead

The manager is protecting her confidentiality in the same way that she'd protect yours.

The reason could be anything from poor timekeeping to, as piggy says, breaching her contract. If it was anything to do directly with your child I would expect the nursery to have spoken to you about it.

As an employer they would surely be breeching confidentiality rules by discussing this.

That's interesting Piggy - why is being offered a job as a nanny a sackable offence? Is it because it looks like you have been touting for private work via the nursery?

Unless you have any reason to suspect that care was not what it should have been (in which case, presumably you would have brought it up) then no, I don't think you need to know. Whatever it was the management were not happy and rather than let it ocntinue they sacked her. if it was something that led to an accident or something with your child, it would have been reported through the acident book etc.

You pay for a place in the nursery not access to every detail of the empoloyees lives.

If you are happy in general with the nursery, I wouldn't worry.

My understanding of it is that nurseries resent being treated as unpaid nanny agencies (quite rightly) so in order to stop parents poaching nursery workers they make it a term of the nursery workers' contracts that taking a job as a nanny to one of the families means no notice period, out on the spot and the child is asked to leave right away too.

Actually we have had issues with this nursery - see the thread entitled 'I saw this at DD's nursery'. Also, when this particular person looked after DD, certain things went missing. I could never prove it was this person taking them - how can you in a nursery environment - but certain comments that this person made really bothered me.

You're right, though. I should let it go. I'm taking DD out next month for various reasons, one of which was that I was unhappy with the way I'd seen other children treated.

DD's first nursery sacked frequently. The yellow envelope would come and we'd open and say: who is it today? they gave some sort of reason, some seemed on the edge of legality re confidentiality.

there are worse things, believe it or not. We use a nursery now - in the proc of recruiting a nanny - and the staff there linger and linger, even though they're not great in some cases. Which is why we're going.