Creche fees during closure

Hi folks,

We got notice late last night that my son's creche will be closed for the week due to Covid cases amongst their staff.

Neither myself nor my wife work from home and we have no family support so we have no choice but to scramble for a childminder to take him for the week. We were lucky to get someone for the next two days and we'll muddle by for the rest of the week, hopefully.

Just wondering if people are paying full fees to the creche in this scenario? I know they have to pay their staff, but we are paying out twice and not getting any service from them. This is the eighth day since Xmas they have closed with next to no notice and no mention of money.

Thanks in advance

markpb

Our crèche had reduced opening hours for a month or two and then two half-days last week. There has been no mention of a rebate at all. I’ve been happy to cut them slack so far but it’s getting a little annoying.

houseyhouse

They should be getting the wage subsidy to help with staff costs. And I wouldn’t assume they’re paying all their staff during the closure. Any who are positive or close contacts that would be on enhanced illness benefit.

j@utis

Same here. We didn't have crèche services all last week, luckily it coincided with covid19 cases in our house too, so we weren't inconvenienced by it at all but still...

silver2020

If a staff member is out due to covid they can apply for enhanced illness benefits of €350.

There are some fixed costs, but biggest cost is staff, so a substantial rebate should be offered

TP_CM

Ours closed for a week but there's a clause in their policy which protected them on that so we didn't get any rebate. Are you both permanently employed? If you are, I'd just call in sick or tell them you're not going in due to the pandemic. Kids /Family come first, life is too short. Normalise it in your head. Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness, they'll move on and forget about it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637843#Comment_118637843

"I'd just call in sick or tell them you're not going in due to the pandemic".........seriously?????? You do realise an awful lot of people don't get sick pay.....or they may be front line employees.....or they may be self employed/ with deadlines etc.

And who would you be " asking for forgiveness" from?????????

TP_CM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118637908#Comment_118637908

Christ, Ken. I asked if they were permanent, meaning are they in the position to do this or not. Maybe they're not. I'm not sure what the issue is. Your tone makes it sound like a personal insult to you. Huge amount of parents have suddenly been landed in a horrible situation where they need to be in two places at once. I'm surrounded by people in work who just don't give themselves a break. This is a reminder to, if you can, give yourself a bit of a break. I don't know, maybe you need a break!

I used to be chained to my desk all day. Then this crap started happening, and I just decided feck it, the world won't fall over, the company will continue.. life will go on and in years to come I will look back on that week glad that I gave myself a break instead of trying to be superman at work and superman at home. It's impossible. Like I say, the OP's personal situation may or may not allow that. For a lot of people I know, the thing that holds them back is actually the guilt of not trying to manage both.

Thanks for the input. We were informed we would be getting a full rebate about 24 hours after closure.