Creche- Staff Turn Over normal?

PMC83

Hey there,

my little guy has been attending a local south Dublin Creche for the last 2 years. The group of kids in the room have been more or less the same this whole time, which is great as he is a little shy so some stability in that regard is nice.

The minders however, seem to change often. In the 2 years there have seen nearly 10 girls come and go, which is a little heart breaking as my son has really liked a few of them and it feels as is every time he warms up to ( which can be difficult for him) someone they are gone. Staff are leaving as quickly as 2 months in.

We have approached the management about this and have been told that its pretty much the status quo across the creche industry. Apparently on account of the low pay, a lot of staff are very liable to change up and move pretty readily.

I'm just wondering about everyone else's experiences in regards to this? We have talked about moving creche but if its like this everywhere why bother?

limnam

Low paid hard work, I'd say burn out happens very quickly.


In our creche at least a lot of them were fairly highly educated for the level of pay which means high turn over and this one is considered one of the "better" ones.

salmocab

Turnover is big in crèches that seems a bit high though. I would think generally the places that pay better and treat staff better have a lower turnover but not much lower as it’s hard work for poor pay regardless.

PMC83

I'm not sure what this place pays, but they can certainly charge!

Sebastian Dangerfield

We're in North Dublin and have seen exactly the same. Our kids, particularly our eldest, seem to get very attached to individual people so it's quite hard when they move on.

Pay and conditions seem to be the issue. From my wifes conversations with them, they are on salaries akin to just above minimum wage, but dont get extra for overtime or sick coverage. One of the especially good ones told us she was leaving the industry to work on a production line, it paid enough more to justify it.

salmocab

PMC83 wrote: »

I'm not sure what this place pays, but they can certainly charge!

Massive overheads it’s a strange industry with lots of people looking to get out especially the people running them. There will be trouble in the future when a few start closing. I know one that rang parents to say they can’t take babies that are booked in as they can’t get staff so are closing the baby room.

PMC83

salmocab wrote: »

Massive overheads it’s a strange industry with lots of people looking to get out especially the people running them. There will be trouble in the future when a few start closing. I know one that rang parents to say they can’t take babies that are booked in as they can’t get staff so are closing the baby room.

We received that same phone call when we were due to send our second child to the same creche , but in the end they managed to get the staff and flipped on the decision to stop taking babies.

A shame the general wage for these people is so low, its a really tough job

salmocab

PMC83 wrote: »

We received that same phone call when we were due to send our second child to the same creche , but in the end they managed to get the staff and flipped on the decision to stop taking babies.

A shame the general wage for these people is so low, its a really tough job

It’s a real hard industry to work in, 14 euro would be considered a good hourly rate and that would be very much a Dublin rate and the higher end of it at that. There is also little room for promotion as it’s generally owner managed. There isn’t the cash to pay more and like I said people are looking to move on. The chains probably do a bit better as the paperwork is huge for the government schemes and they can probably do it centrally.

mawk

This is normal unfortunately. Out of the 10 or so people that I worked with, 7 including myself no longer work in childcare. Job security, low pay and lack of benefits that are common in other careers, are all factors. I now work in production in a factory myself.

Plenty of places have a habit of relying on CE schemes or others to get their staff, as it's cheaper. Even if they have a 3rd level certification like myself. It's a horrible situation for the children ,staff and parents.

lazygal

Very normal in most crèches. Its why we use a minder, among other reasons. One of my children is really sensitive about change so we wanted consistency for him. The chains are the worst for turnover ime.

neris

salmocab wrote: »

Massive overheads it’s a strange industry with lots of people looking to get out especially the people running them. There will be trouble in the future when a few start closing. I know one that rang parents to say they can’t take babies that are booked in as they can’t get staff so are closing the baby room.

Its not there will be trouble when they close. Not many creche operators closing up up its more the small pre schools that are. Theres going to be trouble in the future when there isnt enough creches available. Its impossible to open a new creche now between finding a suitable premises, the costs of doing it up to open and then the red tape and bureaucracy is stiffling. I know one operator in north dublin who has a place ready to go but cant open coz Tusla havent done a pre inspection yet and if they open before that they are in trouble

salmocab wrote: »

It’s a real hard industry to work in, 14 euro would be considered a good hourly rate and that would be very much a Dublin rate and the higher end of it at that. There is also little room for promotion as it’s generally owner managed. There isn’t the cash to pay more and like I said people are looking to move on. The chains probably do a bit better as the paperwork is huge for the government schemes and they can probably do it centrally.

14 euro is where its going but its becoming very hard to operate as a business paying the majority €14 without adding that extra cost on to the fees. Its a catch 22 situation business. Acting as somewhat of a social service to parents with all the downsides of running a business and its finances. The govt schemes pay out but they are added paperwork for the creches and headache especially if families are changing days and times through the year.

ene

In what would be considered a 'upmarket' chain in south Dublin the hourly rate is 11euro and that was increased for the first time in years from 9.50. This increase in wages was funded by increase of fees

salmocab

ene wrote: »

In what would be considered a 'upmarket' chain in south Dublin the hourly rate is 11euro and that was increased for the first time in years from 9.50. This increase in wages was funded by increase of fees

Well any increase in costs in pretty much every business will be passed onto the customer somehow.

ene

I don't have a issue with costs being passed onto parents I was just saying that 14euro would be considered a particularly high hourly wage in a creche.

In regards to turnover a lot of staff at the moment in many creches are Spanish who have completed degrees in primary education and have to work in a English speaking setting to get experience and also to pass their Cambridge English exams.

These staff will normally leave after exactly 12 months of service.

salmocab

Oh 14 is close to the top alright, 11 is very bad in Dublin, crèches are struggling for staff and anyone working for 11 in Dublin could easily get an extra euro or two an hour by moving.
Plenty of Spanish girls alright although I know of s few that are here a few years. They struggle to get work at home to suit their degrees so treat here as a sort of gap year/overseas adventure along with getting good English. In the main they are good staff.