Childcare cost's on mid-term break

bennyineire

Hey peps,

So I started a new job a couple of months ago and my wife is on CE scheme.
CE scheme pays part of the childcare whilst we pay the balance.

Just wondering what is the norm when kids are on holidays, my wife let the childcare company know that our kids will be on holidays next week and I've taken a few days off so they wont need to be looked after.

The women running the company says we still need to pay, even though she had previously told us that we had to give a weeks notice to avoid having to pay.

So we have given the weeks notice but she says something about having to pay money for her girls.

Is she chancing her arm or is this the norm

former legend

No it's the norm. Not to be smart but what is she supposed to do, lay off staff for the week?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

From my experience, its quite normal to pay when the kids are not there. Staff still have to be paid and the place is not available to other paying clients.

bennyineire

Mmmm OK, does that mean we pay for Christmas too

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

bennyineire wrote: »

Mmmm OK, does that mean we pay for Christmas too

If the place is open then of course you do.

LFC Murphy

Pretty standard. The employees are full time and so are entitled to the usual holidays etc.

The alternative is to employ child minder that you can turn on and off as required. However these are not as reliable etc

billy100

It's the norm with child care companies

BrowmThomas

I'd imagine it's like car insurance or mortgage, might not use it 24/7 but still need to pay it.
I know my friends pay their childcare all year through.

NinjaTruncs

Our creche is closed for a week over Christmas and we still need to pay the full amount. What annoys me is they say they close for a week but its actually a week plus the three bank holidays so closer to two weeks.

hdowney

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Our creche is closed for a week over Christmas and we still need to pay the full amount. What annoys me is they say they close for a week but its actually a week plus the three bank holidays so closer to two weeks.

Now THIS annoys me and I disagree with it. The damn place is closed, the staff are NOT working. Why in the heck should you pay for a service you CANNOT receive. I totally get the pay if YOU take your kids out of creche for a week - the place is still open, your kids could be minded, it is YOU has chosen to keep them at home. But in your instance the creche is CLOSED, there is no-one to mind your children. Why should you pay

greenman09

We are starting our little one in crèche next may. Will have her in May and June then off July and August. Don't pay for these unless she goes in one of the days. Was one of our deal breakers and a lot of crèches still wanted payment for summer and Xmas times. Saves us nearly 2 grand over the year. We looked at another who pay by he week. They wanted 10€ pw over the summer which would then come off the next bill in September.

davo10

hdowney wrote: »

Now THIS annoys me and I disagree with it. The damn place is closed, the staff are NOT working. Why in the heck should you pay for a service you CANNOT receive. I totally get the pay if YOU take your kids out of creche for a week - the place is still open, your kids could be minded, it is YOU has chosen to keep them at home. But in your instance the creche is CLOSED, there is no-one to mind your children. Why should you pay

But do you not get paid for bank holidays/Christmas even though your company may be CLOSED?

hdowney

davo10 wrote: »

But do you not get paid for bank holidays/Christmas even though your company may be CLOSED?

How does anyone get paid. The costs you pay throughout the year for childcare should balance out for payments for staff when the business is closed. It is unfair to expect people to pay for a service they are NOT receiving. It is not their fault you have staff to pay. Anyway from working in childcare I know that a lot of workers DON'T get paid when the premises is closed.

davo10

hdowney wrote: »

How does anyone get paid. The costs you pay throughout the year for childcare should balance out for payments for staff when the business is closed. It is unfair to expect people to pay for a service they are NOT receiving. It is not their fault you have staff to pay. Anyway from working in childcare I know that a lot of workers DON'T get paid when the premises is closed.

Ok, but I would assume it's an "all in deal" agreed at the start, a previous poster said it was a deal breaker for them. If you don't like it, there is absolutely nothing to stop you (unless you have a signed contract committing you to a fixed term) from taking your kids somewhere else. I would assume all private schools include days like bank holidays when there is no tuition in their yearly fees. If you don't like it, don't pay it, find another creshe or quit your job to look after the kids.

delahuntv

Different creches will have different policies - especially for the summer months.

But for a week here and there its just not feasible. The other option would be to charge a higher rate and allow flexibility - but at the end of the day its the same amount.

For Summer breaks, you will find some creche staff have their own children and may take those 2 months off - similarly some creches will manage other staff holidays in such a way that would allow a certain number of children be off the register for those 2 months. Its a balancing act that a large crech can possibly do, but smaller ones would find more difficult.

ash23

I work everything over Christmas bar the public holidays. Our creche closes from 20th Dec to first working day in January.

When I asked them why I had to pay when I also have to pay an alternative minder, I was told that the annual fees are x amount and they split that by 52 to get the weekly cost. If I didn't pay for the two closed weeks, it would be x amount divided by 50 and I'd be paying more every week.

Load of crap imo, but I had to just suck it up. Finished with childcare now thank the lord.

But yes OP, it's standard practice in childcare that even if the child isn't attending that the payment still has to be made.