'We have a 50-place nursery in Porthcawl and a 24-place nursery in Tythegston, with a combined staff of 33. Currently, three staff are pregnant, one is on maternity leave, and in the past two years nine have given birth.
'One week, the nursery faced having to close due to a lack of staff. This was the combined effect of a sickness bug, staff annual leave and maternity leave. All the management staff had to be included in the working ratio.
'All nine staff have returned to work, however, on part-time contracts of approximately 30 hours a week. So, the business is struggling to accommodate staff needs in the rota whilst maintaining continuity of care.
'All staff children attend the nursery at a discounted rate of 40 per cent.
This is currently under review as the business can no longer support staff to this extent.
'The Government plans to increase maternity leave to nine months and then to a year. Whilst I have sympathy for mums who wish to have more time at home with their babies, from an employer's point of view I foresee this causing further problems with staff coverage.
'In my experience, staff are usually anxious to return to work since the statutory rate of 100 a week is far lower than their normal weekly wage. Mothers may choose to take extended maternity leave if the SMP reflects their normal wage.
'The business has already seen the effects of extended maternity leave with fewer babies under the age of six months being registered. With state school nurseries registering children on their third birthdays, most of our children are now aged between one and three years, which has had a dramatic effect on staffing costs.
'There is very little money available to buy resources once wages have been paid. We have to look to fundraising to replace toys and equipment, which puts further financial demands on parents and carers. We would like to reward staff for their hard work and dedication but could only increase pay at the moment if fees were to rise dramatically. There needs to be greater Government subsidies.'
