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Nurseries

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Original poster

If they close cos of snow do you still pay?

21 replies

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 06/01/2010 15:54

This is third day for us now. Same for school after school club?

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pinksancerre · 06/01/2010 16:03

When our after school club closed in the last lot of snow- we got a refund. Think it depends on place to place

Original poster

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 06/01/2010 16:33

well i pay 35 for nursery and 6 for after scgool per day

would be nice!

OP posts:

nurseryvoice · 06/01/2010 17:26

do they still have to pay staff wages? or rent? or insurance? or anything else?

FourArms · 06/01/2010 22:17

Ours closed early today - they rang and asked us to collect at 4pm, I think they're open until 6:30pm. Will be interesting to see what they say.

Ewe · 06/01/2010 22:21

We pay here.

Original poster

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 06/01/2010 22:49

wont they be insured for wages and so on? you would think so?

They take the money even if you dont send them for everything else so since the service is not available I do not think we should pay

I will wait and see

OP posts:

Meglet · 06/01/2010 22:51

Yes, we have to pay.

gingernutlover · 07/01/2010 08:34

ours has closed at 4pm yesterday and today has "limited availability" I don't mind too much paying if the staff who cant get in are being paid, but would be very annoyed if I found out they were havign their wages docked.

Also by closing at 4pm, we are losing out on 2 hours care.

rainbowinthesky · 07/01/2010 08:36

I don't know about my breakfast club but my cm didn't want to be paid however I got paid as I mananaged to get in so I will still pay her as usual. Hardly her fault.

DaddyPanic · 08/01/2010 11:26

we have to pay even though limited service means i have to take annual leave. so i pay full days fee and lose a couple of days leave.

not quite sure why i am paying to subsidise "an act of god" - sure they lose money but such is life. if I visit sainsburys and they've run out of bread I don't still pay and walk away without the loaf

BristolBella · 09/01/2010 21:35

My Daughter had her first week (3 days) at nursery this week (she's 7 months old). They were closed on the first day and only had "limited availablity" on the second day. The manager explained that her staff could not get across town, which I'm quite dubious about. She was unsure of their exact circumstances, just took their word for it.

For the second day, they said they would take her if we were desperate. I haven't yet gone back to work so couldn't claim to be properly desperate but have paid £40 per day the same as anyone else.

I didn't take her to nursery on the second day. On the third day they were open. When DH went to collect her, he queried the £80 we had paid for the previous two days. The manager was really put out that we were questioning it.

DH has to stay off work for one day. When he phoned in, he was told he'd lost a days annual leave. Presumably the nursery have applied the same policy to their staff, in which case, I don't understand why we had to pay.

TBH I was just so fed up to be paying £40 per day when we had never had opportunity to set foot in the place before.

Broodymomma · 11/01/2010 18:30

We had to pay also.

Feelingforty · 15/01/2010 20:10

I was just about to post about this. My nursery has issued a letter stating we won't be getting refunds.

I don't think this is right...my Dh went into work & got paid. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have.

As far as I know, the nursery was shut for 3 days, so therefore the staff would have got 3 days paid leave (or would they have had to unpaid leave ?) The nursery didn't incur any heating/electricity costs.

pinksancerre · 15/01/2010 21:38

We didn't pay, but it is a nursery attached to the school and the school was shut

gingernutlover · 17/01/2010 08:56

it doesnt seem quite right does it

our nursery closed early for 10 days on the trot over the snowy period, sometimes 2 hours early and sometimes 1 hour early. They haven't mentioned refunds or a free extra session at all.

There were also days when they had "limited availability" because not all their staff made it in, on those day I was told I was "lucky" to get there early as they would start turning people away once the reached their maximum number. I wonder if those poeple got a refund or an extra day free.

In the past I have been met with a brick wall when I have questioned a bill or something so I am not sure I can be bothered with it all. DD is happy there which is the main thing but their head office (asquith) seem only interested in making as much money as possible and are uninterested in listening to parents.

I am lucky because I am a teacher I can leave at 3.15 without losing any money so I havent lost out over the early closing but lots of parents must have done. I too wonder if the staff were paid, I dont think they needed to leave early at all on some of the days but it seemed pointless telling the nursery assisstants that and the manager just seemed to not be around when I collected dd.

Over the course of the snow they have charged parents for up to 20 hours of childcare which they didnt provide.

Am now wondering if I should say something.

compo · 17/01/2010 09:00

well I guess if they have to give everyone refunds then they would have to dock staff wages and if you can't get to work because of the snow is it right that you shouldn't get paid???

purepurple · 17/01/2010 09:05

The reason our nursery closed an hour early due to the snow and ice is so that all the staff (me, included) could get home safely ( without killing ourselves) and so be able to make it back in the next day.
We didn't offer refunds. We don't charge late fees either, so it evens itself out.

gingernutlover · 17/01/2010 09:13

and if you are made to leave work early you dont get paid?!?!

the closing early for 10 days in a row was completely unnecessary on some of the days ( we are in West kent)

oh and they charge £1 a minute late fees too

gingernutlover · 17/01/2010 09:16

sorry should have made that clearer, yes teachers and TA's at our school were told if they didnt make it in on a day the school is opne then no pay. If I have to leave early to collect dd , I get pay deducted.

People who work in shops etc (sainsburys for example) dont get paid if they dont go in.

i had no problem on the days when it was actually dangerous, about 2 days ... obviously in my opinion. Anyway rant over, I'm obviously pissed off about nothing.

purepurple · 17/01/2010 09:23

No, I agree with you. No one wants to be charged for a service they haven't received.And 10 days is excessive.
If I had been unable to get into work, then I would have had to use a day's holiday or lose pay. Some people didn't make it in.
I walk to work, but still had a difficult journey, it normally takes me 10 minutes but it took over half an hour on the icy pavements. One day, I wanted to turn round and go home, but I stuck it out.
I do know that the younger girls in the nursery were really scared of driving in the snow and ice, because they are so young and inexperienced. Some of them can't even park for god's sake.

gingernutlover · 17/01/2010 09:38

Driving in snow and ice is very scarey, and I have been driving for 13 years. Just glad it's all gone now and hope there is no more.

Also glad that dd starts school in september, although the problem wont go away altogether LOL, ah well.

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