Corona Child Care Rant

Granarchist Did your daughter get this awful situation with the nursery sorted?

Just wondering has the little one actually been attending the nursery whilst your daughter has been off on Maternity leave, if so I can see how it might be unsettling to go to a different one, however seeing as she is there already and it seems to be going ok, would it be better to just continue with it. let the other one sing for their money !! Terrible behaviour. When everyone is doing all they can to help the NHS they are threating her with court action .

I don't understand how the nursery can expect to be paid when they aren't even open. Are they asking for upfront fees for when they do reopen?

I sincerely hope your daughter gets sorted. My daughter who is also a key worker as is her husband had to take unpaid leave as she couldn't get childcare .

The first nursery may be amazing , but it's the second one who have gone out of their way to support and and enable your daughter to continue her job and give her the security of knowing her child is being well cared for. Personally I don't know how on earth she could ever have anything to do with the first one. Imagine going back to somewhere that had threatened you with the bailiffs !!! I know where my loyalties would lie.

Well if the County Council will be reimbursing them (they won't be), by their own admission there is no need for your daughter to pay. Sorted ?
Honestly you wonder how some people manage to run a business in the first place!

They have now said the County Council should be reimbursing them - where on earth did they get that idea??? It gets weirder. I think their legal team are numpties. Or they don't have a legal team/solicitor and are winging it. Thank you all so much for advice and support - all grist to the mill. I feel their reputation is going to suffer but sadly the actual staff are brilliant and lovely - just not the owners of the business.

Bailiffs? They’re either bluffing or telling outright lies.

You can only use bailiff services to pursue a debt after obtaining a court order.

Ordinary debt collection agencies are entirely different animals and have NO LEGAL POWERS.
They can ask you to agree a payment plan but your daughter should refuse to engage with them and tell the nursery to take her to court.

I doubt the nursery will risk court action.
The court will ask the nursery to prove their case with evidence of breach of a contractual agreement (!) and your daughter will counter with the fact that they are in breach of contract because they are charging her for a service that they have withdrawn.

How bad is this - she should not be put into such a stressful situation when she must be struggling so hard to cope with work. I would let the local newspapers know about this nursery, and shame them. Many businesses are struggling to keep going but not heaping extra stress on to key workers.

I agree she needs to tell them she can't pay nursery 1 as shebis a key worker and needs to pay a nursery that will take her child. When this is over can she just stay with nursery 2 and leave nursery 1.
I doubt they would be able to take her to court. Also I doubt she would lose her place either.
I understand nurseries are struggling but if they have closed they can claim 80%of staff wages and get a grant. Its not easy but your daughter can't be expected to pay two lots of nursery fees

Whilst it seems at face value that the nursery is pushing their luck, I think it very much depends on the wording of the contract she has signed with the nursery - which of course is legally binding.

My daughter works in a nursery, and she has been furloughed although the nursery was going to continue to open for children of key workers.

However, they gave their parents the option of giving them one month's notice or paying 50% fees to retain the place for when thing return to normal.

However, my daughter has received an email yesterday saying they are considering the possibility of making redundancies, so who knows what's going on there.

The best thing your daughter could do is to pass the problem on to her solicitor. A letter from him or her should sort things out.

There will be plenty of people in the same situation, and I doubt anyone knows whether the nursery are entitled to expect payment.

It seems unreasonable that they demand payment for a service they are not able to render, but ignoring their demand is very likely to land your daughter in trouble.

It might be sufficient for her to write to the nursery withdrawing her child from it. After all if she had moved away, they couldn't expect her to pay their fees, but do get legal advice.

I think she should email and ask if their staff have been furloughed. If not she could suggest they get advice on this!
Claiming twice seems to be a loophole here!
She should also tell them that she is seeking advice!
Also she has the option of not answering her door to anyone and as the nursery now appear to be employing bullying tactics she can get advice on that too!
Good luck to her and thank you to them both for their dedication.

Yes my grand daughter is still paying Nursery that my Great Grand daughter goes (went) to altho its shut. The argument being is something about needing it after all this is over - I was shocked too. I suppose f they rent a hall or something they may need to still pay rent - I don't know the ins and outs and don't feel I should interfere. Justwonder if its the same one - Rottingdean??

How awful for your DD Grananarchist as if she hasn't enough stress returning to work at such a time. She should get in touch with her local authority who are responsible for coordinating child care for key workers. There is a lot of guidance on this at www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures
I also think it might be possible that the nursery is going to try to claim the financial help available which really they shouldn't be able to do as they don't seem to have made much effort to stay open or offer other help. Hope she gets things sorted.

V3ra that is correct and no one wanted to close I know I’m desperate to get back but these are unprecedented times and rules will still apply. The moment the doors open I’ll be there!

hondagirl in the UK the only government funding available is for the three and four year olds: 15 hours a week for all and 30 hours if parents work.
That is continuing to be paid regardless of whether the provider can open or not.

If a provider has to close eg because of illness or self-isolating themselves, and a keyworker has to use another provider, in that situation the government funding will be paid again so nobody loses out.

We are only allowed to care for keyworkers' children or vulnerable children at present, so without any of those on the register we have to close anyway.

My DGD’s childminder has to be paid 50% fees although she’s unlikely to ever return as due to start school in September but it’s written in the contract they signed, as is paying if she’s ill or on holiday or over Christmas break etc. So has she signed Anything? If so she should have a copy of it and should refer to that. If it was verbal it’s a bit more difficult as technically still an agreement or contract of sorts but obviously she’s not fully aware of what she’s agreeing to. Personally I’d check for any paperwork that I might have, confirm I wasn’t contractually obligated to pay and if not then counter the threats with the local newspaper/Facebook groups publicity and threats of going to the police if they continue to threaten you with extortion

I don’t know how this works as I work in a private nursery and if the child hasn’t started she couldn’t have been paying fees till she took up the place confused? If she is taking a child out of a nursery she would have to give a months notice but has the Child already started? Because if not she is just not taking up a place that actually isn’t there at the moment ash well so they can’t make her pay for something that isn’t being offered.

Why doesn't Nursery No.1 take advantage of the Government's support for small companies?

Our hospital has provided childcare to ensure staff able to work, have a word with hospital first. My daughters nursery have closed but have not asked for any fees.

I would recommend that she “tough it out” as well. I can’t imagine any establishment going to court over this, there would be so much bad press for them. Horrible situation to be put into though. I hope it all works out.

problem is she loves the nursery number 1 - the staff are fabulous - it is the owners who are doing all this. She has no desire to clobber the excellent employees - I think there is a groundswell against these b*****s locally and at the moment it is stand off time. No others are doing it and we do have a nursery owner in the wider family who immediately sent a round robin to his clients saying please don't pay if you cant. Obviously something would be helpful to keep us afloat but no way is it compulsory to keep your place when all this is over. He is taking a huge hit but as he says so is everyone. Its time to look after each other. He is one of the good guys.

Nursery No 1 is not within its rights to charge fees for a service it isn't providing, and a quick call to one of the national newspapers would have this behaviour brought to the attention of the government daily briefing very quickly. Moreover, if this nursery wishes to keep afloat and retain its staff it has the government furlough scheme to help it, and let's face it, nurseries are money-making rackets for the owners as they pay their staff a pittance and charge exorbitant fees. Most of their owners are living luxurious lives. I have seen this for years as I know several.
Your DD is very courageous and altruistic returning to work after maternity leave. She's a frontline worker whom Nursery No 1 is trying to 'do over'. The owners/management need to be held to account for this. It's an issue that needs raising in public for quick answers and a call to a newspaper journalist would be the thing to do.
Frankly,

Give the first nursery the finger.

Thank you Hithere. I am copying your post to my daughter. That sounds excellent