Nursery managers sometimes struggle to keep their pay increases in line with the National Minimum Wage while meeting staffing ratios and maintaining fees at affordable rates for parents.
A solution adopted by the MY Nursery chain in Yorkshire, which is owned by the Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has been to introduce annualised hours contracts for its nursery assistants. The staff are paid at a higher hourly rate but have lost the benefit of company sick pay.
Martin Bradley, manager of the MY Nursery chain, says that staff retention and absenteeism have improved as a result of the new contracts. However, organisations representing both nursery staff and employers voiced their concerns about them.
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