Creche announces 3 weeks spring/summer holidays

Speedy2009

My LG started creche a few weeks ago aged 7.5months. 
We received an email from our creche last week that they are changing their holiday policy and now closing the creche for 1 week in Spring and 2 weeks in July/August!! 
As a gesture of 'goodwill' they are only going to charge us 50% for the closed weeks!! So now we have to pay someone else to mind baba on top of paying them 50%!

I am so disappointed as LG seemed to be settling in well there and we will have to leave if they continue with the policy, we cant take holidays from work at the times proposed and sure thats the whole point of using a creche over a childminder. This is so disruptive for the baby

I have never heard of a creche closing for such long holidays , does anyone else have this type of policy in their creche?

I'm sorry, as this will be of no use, but why the fawk are you meant to pay them when they are closed??

Dardania

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm sorry, as this will be of no use, but why the fawk are you meant to pay them when they are closed??

Same reason normal PAYE employees receive pay while on holidays...to pay the staff while they're on their holidays.

It's a pain RE this time off, but I can understand it., I'm presently living in a Nordic country, and the convention is 4 weeks off every July - so the most expensive time of the year to take holidays...
Also, it seems the creches renovate during that period if necessary

Sleeper12

Deleted User wrote:

I'm sorry, as this will be of no use, but why the fawk are you meant to pay them when they are closed??

My kids are a their 20s now but this was an issue 25th years ago at Christmas. The plays closed for Christmas holidays, I think it was 2 weeks. I'd no problem with this but having to pay while it was closed didn't seem fair to me. They told us that we had to pay to keep the place. How can you loose your place while the place is closed?
I don't care if it is the industry norm. The crèche should charge more per week towards holiday pay & not at all when they close like every other type of business imo.

Dardania

Dardania wrote: »

Same reason normal PAYE employees receive pay while on holidays...to pay the staff while they're on their holidays.

It's a pain RE this time off, but I can understand it., I'm presently living in a Nordic country, and the convention is 4 weeks off every July - so the most expensive time of the year to take holidays...
Also, it seems the creches renovate during that period if necessary

Then balance it better by averaging the cost over the year, not expect parents to pay while sourcing other arrangements. Also not just drop an extra break on parents, knowing that there is no way to get another place somewhere

Speedy2009

I'm annoyed at having to pay for the time closed too - as mentioned above, this cost should be spread across other weeks and i believe it will charged that way. 
However, my main concern is that they are closing during the year - I dont think this is normal practice for a creche.....we already have Christmas holidays which i understand is normal service in this industry, but not during Spring and Summer! 
Anyone else have holiday periods during the year?

Speedy2009

Speedy2009 wrote: »

However, my main concern is that they are closing during the year - I dont think this is normal practice for a creche.....we already have Christmas holidays which i understand is normal service in this industry, but not during Spring and Summer! 
Anyone else have holiday periods during the year?

Smells of being understaffed in that they can not organise a roster to facilitate staff time-off with no downtime. Happens with small businesses all the time but the impact here is hitting you

mitresize5

Our place closes for 2 weeks during the summer but we have refused to pay each year.

Im all for paying for it when we are on holidays but cant be expected to pay for it when they are.

Moonbeam

DO you have a copy of your original contract?
If they are changing the terms I would object.

shesty

Our minder is paid while she's available but not if she's not.I would not be paying a creche while they're closed.If they can build holidays into their year, then they can manage their money to allow for it without charging people while they are closed.

I would disagree with the argument about paying to 'keep your place'.If they are closed, it's not like people are going to be able to look for places from them.And the holiday periods are short enough that they're hardly going to have people leaving or fighting over places during them (obviously leaving because of this new policy is a different story.)

Speedy2009

Thanks for the replies above - good to get other views on this situation as I am still in disbelief!

John Mason

my creche closes for 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks at christmas.

have no problem paying, as staff, rates, rent, insurance need to paid.

i also prefer all the staff to go on holidays at the same time, for consistency and staff ratios

pwurple

That is outrageous.

I am hoping there is some error here, and you are being charged 50% of the month for them being open for 50% of it.

You're buying a service, NOT employing personal staff. That's the whole advantage of using a crèche over a childminder / nanny. Paying their holidays and insurance etc is their responsibility, not yours.
I understand paying them while you take holidays, or your child is sick, to keep a place... but paying while THEY take holidays? No way. Teachers don't get paid over the summer break. You're paying for fresh air there.

You also have to make alternative arrangements I assume, so you could end up paying double. Plenty of people are restricted at work in their holidays, can only take pre-approved shutdown periods.

No, I wouldn't agree to that at all. Renegotiate. They either re-roster to keep the place open, or they don't get the money.

Let's be fair here, teachers (in standard situations) get paid a (relative) lot during term to cover summer off

Moonbeam

If it were a community creche and you knew registering that the fees were divided up to make up for the 2 weeks closed then I would find it acceptable,but not for a commercial entity.

Moonbeam

Moonbeam wrote: »

If it were a community creche and you knew registering that the fees were divided up to make up for the 2 weeks closed then I would find it acceptable,but not for a commercial entity.

Yeah gotta agree here, thinking about it.
They are closing as they have cut staffing levels to the minimum and can not cover any rostering

Neyite

It's not on.

Most people who opt for a creche is so that they have constant cover and the reliability of not having to scrabble round and beg granny to take the child when the normal minder is off work sick.

To close is ridiculous - what if it's the busiest time of year for your employer and they don't authorise leave during the summer?

But to charge you is outragous. My creche used to close from 23rd of Dec to the new year. That was fine because we both had jobs that closed those days. But my December bill was always reduced accordingly and I never paid a penny for those days.

I'd suggest finding a less cheeky crèche. Like Moonbeam says, if you knew it signing up, it's one thing but to spring it on you might be very well outside of the contract so it's worth having a look at that.

PhoenixParker

John Mason wrote: »

my creche closes for 2 weeks in July and 2 weeks at christmas.

have no problem paying, as staff, rates, rent, insurance need to paid.

i also prefer all the staff to go on holidays at the same time, for consistency and staff ratios

I'd take the opposite view with respect to staff ratios. If they need to close for two weeks for staff holidays then how do they cover the odd days off here and there that any staff will need? Sick days, family commitments, doctors visits.

It suggests to me they're cut to the bone wit out any resilience or extra cover. Do they have no manager, semi-casual staff or summer workers who they can call on to cover leave?

Speedy2009

Yes i think i am paying for a service, i am not employing 1 person ( as would be the situation with a childminder) 
Payment for having enough staff and managing  their holidays etc is up to the management of the creche - shouldn't be landed on the parents and we already have to manage our holidays around our work deadlines, colleagues etc never mind creche holidays on top of that! 
School holidays are restricting enough but they span most of the summer ( another topic for another day!) but creche restricting you to one or 2 weeks seems v. unreasonable

appledrop

This is absolutely ridiculous. No way I would pay. Our creche closes over Christmas but that's normal as so many bank holidays etc + no one would be sending their kids anyway. Their staff then stagger their holidays throughout the summer etc so they have plenty of cover. Why should you pay for weeks when no access to service. I have no problem paying for creche when we choose not to send baby due to our own holidays but they have some neck trying to enforce holidays on you.

mohawk

Creche I send my son for after school does this too. He was in a chain one time and hated constantly seeing new faces. Had a couple childminders and they rang me too sick to take him too many times. It is closed during school holidays which is when I will take leave anyway so it's not a deal breaker for us. Wouldn't of worked when he was a baby though.

nikkibikki

The first creche I used closed for over 2weeks at Christmas and charged for the privilege. Both me and hubby were in jobs where we worked right up to and including Christmas Eve and back to it on day after Stephens Day. I argued that I had to pay them for being closed plus pay someone else to mind the child. They were having none of it. I changed and he spent 3 happy years in the new place. They didn't close as much!