Redundancies to reduce number of qualified staff in newly acquired nursery ?

[CMOTdibbler]

My DS's nursery which was part of a very small group (3 nurseries) was recently acquired by a much larger chain.

Today, we received a letter telling us that there were going to be redundancies as 'Chain have a policy that no more than 65% of staff are qualified, and we have more than that'.

As its a small nursery, the only differentiated title staff are the room leaders - so seems that they are going to get rid of qualified staff, but replace them immediatly with unqualified staff doing exactly the same thing.

This surely can't be legal can it ? I intend to complain about these redundancies to the chain as I believe that it is detrimental to the nursery to actively reduce the qualifications of the staff, but if it is illegal I want to state that, and tell the staff.

That doesn't sound like it ought to be legal but I don't know.

I suggest calling ACAS on 08457 474747 for advice (8am-8pm Mon to Fri, 9am-1pm Sat).

If the nursery was bought by the chain then the employees should have been moved across to the new company under a TUPE transfer. This means that their contractual rights should have been protected and now they are changing the job roles based on a policy that did not exist previously when they were originally contracted (one assumes).

However, there's not much you can do about the employment bit - it's up to the employees to complain. They can take a case to Tribunal on all of their behalfs if necessary but the staff need to get some legal advice. CAB, ACAS, home insurance policies are the way to begin.

I agree with you contacting the nursery head office to complain. It's possible they are breaking their contract with you by substantially changing the staffing to less qualified staff.

Anyhoo, some one clever will be along soon to give you some proper advice

Time to find a new nursery. Don't waste your time trying to change what is happening...it will happen anyway. But do use it as an excuse to leave without any required notice (if you have one in your contract).

For us, we won't be moving nurseries as DS only has a few more months before he goes to school, and it's unlikely we could get another full time place at short notice - also don't want DS to have two changes in the year.

I just don't want the staff (who are lovely) to get screwed over, so if its not legal would like to let them know so they can do something. DH is having a word with the nursery manager this morning to point out that this may not be legal

Doesn't sound legal, no. From what you've said the jobs are staying, and will be the same, but the chain just wants different people to do those jobs. The redundancies aren't genuine because the jobs are still there, and you don't get to make someone 'redundant' because you'd rather have someone cheaper doing their job.

I'd suggest not getting involved as such, but mentioning to the staff that you think there's a possibility what's happening to them might be illegal. Suggest they might want to give ACAS a ring to talk it through. Give them the number.

You can't fight their battles for them, so the best thing you can do is make them aware that they should check it out and point them in the right direction to do so. I imagine at least some of them are already doing so anyway. If this is happening to a whole group of staff, the chances that all of them have no trouble believing that this is perfectly fine are slim. At least some of them will have a notion that perhaps it's illegal and will be googling or whatever to see. Pointing them in the direction of ACAS or their local CAB is the best option.

I would agree write to the head office of the chain, expressing your concern at their proposal to reduce the qualification level and therefore (as far as you are aware) the quality of care they provide.

Thanks Flowery - the staff think it must be wrong, but the chain are saying that they can do this, and they are feeling rather bullied by their stance on this and a number of other matters.

Am currently writing a letter expressing my concerns about this.

Something I've just thought of:

If parents start pulling their children out of the nursery then the nursery won't need as many staff and then they would have a legimate reason for making redundancies.

And you might have some sway with fellow parents and you could point this out to any that are thinking of taking their child away.

Although I can understand why parents would want to take their children out - working in a miserable environment where people are unhappy is bad enough, but having your children in that situation is awful.