No staff at nursery

[catlady1234]

Hi,

My DC (10 months old) has just started nursery, this should be their 3rd week. They go 3 days a week.
Last weds they were sent home with upset tummy as they are teething. Had to have Thursday off too as per their policy.

They should have gone in today but at 7:30pm last night we get a message via the app saying they have no staff and they can't go in.

Is this common?

I'm worried they have staff issues and also the last min communication is a huge issue for us! We don't have easy solutions and it gave us no time to find any options.

This isn't usual in nurseries no. This has never happened in my nursery but we have quite a large number of staff as many are part time. This means there are plenty of people to cover staff sickness. They must be struggling to recruit staff or trying to keep costs down by not having any extra staff to cover. Times are very hard for all small businesses I suppose. It is very inconvenient for paying families though and not really good business sense in the long run as people will go elsewhere

It wasn't common at all but since the pandemic and Brexit there is a huge recruitment crisis in all sectors in the UK.

It’s appalling, and one of the reasons I left working in private nurseries to work in a LA one. In the private nursery agency staff were regularly relied on and they require absolutely NO QUALIFICATIONS, all they need is a pvg.

many of the agency staff at my previous nursery were foreign with very basic grasp of the English language. Bizarrely they were paid way more than the qualified staff were!

No, I think the nursery would pay the agency more than their own staff, the agency would take their fees, VAT, employers NIC, apprenticeship levy costs, holiday pay etc., and the nurse themselves would probably get the same or less than the in house staff.

But, a small private nursery can't have extra staff on their books "just in case", so relying on agency staff (even if more expensive) is the only answer, and probably still cheaper than "over-staffing" just in case of absences etc.

I don't think it's normal. All 3 of my children have attended different nurseries and the only time this ever happened is with my son during Covid when staff were issolating.
I also work in childcare and we have never had to close because of lack of staff. Childcare is hard work, long hours and low pay but nursery staff know that. Not sure why they leave because of this. It's well known it's not a well paid profession.

This doesn't surprise me. Not read through the whole thread but this will be down to staffing issues or lack of qualified staff. I do work at a nursery and the room leader who is level 3 is leaving. Because of this, they are seriously contemplating that there is a high chance they will have to close that particular room as nobody qualified enough to run it. The situation is really dire in most nurseries.

I work in a nursery and this week out of 15 staff we have 8 with sickness. The law is very clear on child ratio for very important safety reasons. Unfortunately when parents bring sick children into nursery this happens. I don't get sick pay I am a single mum working at minimum wage. I don't have a partner who can support me but I am currently sick because I caught something at work. I had planned to go to work today but I physically can't so had to phone in this morning. We dont have many bank staff on the books and are a small setting so an agency is not an option I know there is one member of staff in my room today with probably management in numbers its not a great day for the other children to be in this situation

Yeah find a better nursery !

I manage one and we pay the staff well and they only work 7 hour shifts - we always have more staff in on any day than we are even required to have by law. We give the staff time off the floor in the office to work on observations and any other admin they need to do! Very rarely do we need to get agency staff but We do it if we know we are going to be short staffed (a few staff in annual leave etc) most of our staff have been with us over 5 years (3 are there 25 years)

the staff we have are usually happy to work overtime and do a 10 hour day if we need them too (they are paid more for a higher rate for overtime hours)

we never have this problem - and I think it’s because a lot of nursery’s treat the staff like shit tbh

Jesus Christ, do you really think you can get virus or bacteria only from kids at nursery? You can simply get it everywhere - Asda, bus, etc.

Anyone knows nurseries are hotbeds for infections and colds so it needs to be minimised as much as possible or have you been living under a rock with that reasoning you’ve given?

@Fandabydosey Just know that not all parents are selfish twats. Some of us care about your plight, low pay and bad conditions.

Your nursery sounds sensible. Glad to see workers are treated well and staff turnover isn’t high.

In supermarkets you generally don't get people sneezing all over you or needing to have their noses constantly wiped. Nor are you in close proximity with them for too long.
Before working in a nursery I rarely got anything other than a mild cold. This year I have had about 8 or 9 really heavy ones which have lasted weeks.

Is this definitely the case, as we are currently deciding between a 70 a day nursery which is nearby or a 53 a day nursery further away. Nearer one works better but the high price was putting us off as it would literally mean I was working for no financial gain.

It’s totally not so simple as higher fees = better paid staff and better nursery. Not at all.

@Heyahun

What does a better nursery look like??

It's a highly rated, not cheap nursery.

I understand these things happen but obviously it's a massive problem for working parents. I expected the nursery to have back up plans like bank staff

My daughter worked in a top ten £10k per term nursery. Paid minimum wage and in for 8.30am left typically at 7 or 8pm with work to do at weekends and school holidays everything for show but miserable staff and an owner who refused to give references. Do no fees don't equate with high wages or happy staff.

@catlady1234 it’s a hard one isn’t it! What did you know about this nursery before you started?? How did you find out about it?

we have a really good reputation in the local area - most people come as they were recommended by friends/family

our website has all the staff on it in the about us section and it has a bit about them and how long they have been working there so people can see that we have plenty of staff.

@Heyahun

We are fairly new to the area and don't know anyone with children older than ours. It wasn't possible to pick one from recommendations.

I just did research online/ looked at reviews and did visits. I went to see 4 locally, I didn't focus on price, it was about where I thought my child would fit best. The one I chose was smaller, more homely and where the staff seemed happy.

Nursery places in our area are very competitive and places are like gold dust. I went to visit while I was still pregnant.

It's a shame the cost you pay doesn't reflect how staff are treated

No I can assure you that the agency staff used to laugh at the wage they were getting with no qualifications and no paperwork to do compared to the qualified staff.

one of my colleagues left the nursery to go and work for the agency and they were paid £1.50 more than the actual staff an hour.

Private nurseries are going through a staffing crisis as the wages are so low and the work load is so demanding, people are more interested working for LA due to the better conditions and pay.

I'm agency and on £10 an hour, fully qualified. Definitely not laughing.
It's also an absolute nightmare dealing with permanent staff who hate agency workers but that's another story and another reason why I can't wait to leave.

Agency staff cost more though because you also have to pay the agency.. so you end up paying 15/20 an hour or whatever and the staff member is only getting 10 or whatever . I’d much rather give the 15£ to a current member of staff!!

I’ve not experienced staffing issues at my nursery, I believe they have tried to ensure they are competitive on pay in comparison to other nursery’s in the area and try to offer other incentives like free meals.

The sickness however 🦠. So many germs, especially at this time of year. I dread reading the sign about what is currently going round! It was the only thing I liked about covid, we hardly got any germs brought home 😬.

You're forgetting the additional costs of employment, ie employers nic, employers pension contribution, apprenticeship levy, holiday pay, etc, all of which come out of your £20 paid to the agency and of course they charge a fee, so their "cut" isn't as much as you think it is.

These people were not qualified at all and were earning over £11.33 an hour much more than the NMW permanent staff received,

I was very pleasant to them all however it does irk you a bit when it’s you the fully qualified, committed member of staff doing all the work while the few I observed were sitting with the children, and not being allowed to change children, be left alone with them etc.

I just think that everyone working in childcare should be qualified or working towards a childcare qualification. My last nursery sometimes had more agency staff than actual permanent staff in some days. Not very professional.

hence why so many people are leaving to work for LA.

@2pinkginsplease I do agree that all childcare workers should be qualified. Also, agree that you should be paid more than them. Being agency is certainly not easy though. Constantly adapting to new places, children and people, staff treating you like you are something on the back of their shoes, being sent to areas far out from where you live, uncertainty of work week to week etc. Definitely not easy. I'm just doing it while I wait for a suitable nanny role.