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Had notice from a parent giving me 4 weeks notice from date of letter (as per contract). Letter was written knowing full well I was away on holiday. Four weeks from date of letter takes me to a Monday and I have the children Tuesday and Wednesday. Should parent be paying for this last week? Little annoyed that they've purposely waited for me to go away. Are they in the right as I've only just had notification which makes it 2 1/2 weeks notice for me.
I would say it depends what you say in your contract. If your contract doesn't have a holiday mention in termination notice then they unfortunately are probably right in their dates.
But if you have stated that it doesn't include holiday period then you'll be ok.
Always a little bad news when families terminate.
Thanks for the reply.
Which contract stationery are you using?
I use Pacey contracts and they seem open to different interpretations.
My old NCMA contracts (now PACEY) used to say that notice can't be given during a period of holiday - I had a parent give notice as soon as I went on a 2 week holiday, so I quoted the clause in a letter back giving her the option that child could still come until X date or she could not send child but still pay in full until that date - she chose to still send child - it was a horrible 4 weeks, wish I had just cut my losses and let her go after 2 weeks. :panic:
Current Pacey contracts say, "notice of termination must not be given whilst either [party] is on holiday."
This has often been (mis?)interpreted as meaning the school holidays don't count as part of any notice period. The former NCMA legal team took this view, but I'm not sure it was always successful when put to the test.
I had an independent solicitor look at this (albeit for free, in my local) and she thought that interpretation was nothing more than wishful thinking. She reckoned it merely amounted to a ban on sneakily shoving a notice letter through your door when you're away on holiday, so you're not aware of notice being give n until you get home.
As long as they pay the required notice period (4 weeks in my contract) I don't mind if either of us are on holiday during that time as long as it's given before the holiday starts,
It's when they give notice and think they only have to pay for half as I'm off for 2 weeks at no fee that parents complain, but it's clearly 4 weeks PAID notice