Nursery closed for snow -do we have to pay

[Bullerbychildren]

Took DD into nursery but was told they are closing today due to smattering of snow. Local school closed as well. Are we obliged to pay if nursery choses to close?

I would imagine that you do. I do, but there is a clause in my contract with them that if they have to close for weather/flooding, then they still have to pay their costs.

Probably as they will still have to pay their nursery nurses etc.

Our nursery had a clause that said that you only got a refund after 3 days. However, I think such a clause is legally unfair and therefore unenforceable and I would challenge them if they won't provide a refund - they should insure against the risk. Quote the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Nurseries think they can put all the risk on parents and it's unacceptable. Apart from anything else, we've known for a week that this weather was coming!

hmm sounds like a lot of us that posiiton then.

I am really annoyed at dd's nursery

they phoned me yesterday to say they were planning on opening today. I turned up at 7.30 am (opening time) to be told they are closed. Finding alternative child care at that point was a real problem, thye must have known beforehandn they would be closed

and no, it didnt snow lats night, conditions werre worse yesterday than today

DH spoke to the nursery manager and they are giving refunds/offering alternative slots for the cancelled sessions. However, they are asking parents to pick up children at 4.30 (rather than 6.00pm) so they can send staff home early - despite all the roads being clear

I do not get paid if I am not at work, our nursery has been closed for 3 days now. I doubt very much that the nursery nurses get paid for not getting to work. I think there is less effort on their part because they still get their money so there is no pressure to open!

Good morning. Nursery Proprietor here.

I had to close my nursery on Wednesday and I have decided that because I withdrew service I will refund the day to parents or give them a different day. I will not be paying my staff for an unworked day as fees pay overheads.
Contrary to one of the posts you cannot insure for this risk. No nursery or business can claim loss of earnings due to snow. It is an 'act of god'. I have to remain open as I cannot afford to close.
We have had lots of snow changing on an hourly basis so it is impossible to say whether we will be open or not, think its unfair to say they must have known they would be shut. Surely it depends on if any staff made it into work. No staff=no childcarers.

Another nursery owner here. Only 4 members of my staff managed to get into work due to no transport available or unable to walk. This meant we had limited spaces available due to legally required ratios. I still have my mortgage and associated business expenditure and also do pay my staff as it is not their fault. I did give a discount to my parents who felt they were due one last year when we encountered same problem (only 2 asked for this discount) but this year I have had to include an adverse weather clause within the contracts in order to protect the business. I do pay my staff like a lot of other businesses if they cannot physically get into work through no fault of their own. I do pay staff who made it in through snow a bonus. So I lose either way but at leat I have a happy consistent staff and happy parents who know we will always try to open as long as we have our staff ratios. As the post above describes - no staff no business. My parents are very understanding especially when they arrived yesterday morning at 7.30am to find two of my staff outside the front gate with a local workman using a blowtorch to unfreeze the padlock to the main gate. If the blowtorch man wasn't there - well, we wouldn't have been able to open the nursery! Some parents have got to be a little more understanding as we can only do our best in very difficult circumstances. Hooray for my lovely parents.