The vetting of childcare staff needs to be quick and efficient. As an employer with a private day nursery I find that when a member of staff resigns on one week's notice and I need to recruit a replacement, the time scale for obtaining vetting is five to six weeks. So do I continue to care for children during that time with my staffing complement below the required ratio, or do I recruit and use a replacement while waiting for vetting?
Either way I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. Government licensing agencies don't seem to care about the financial practicalities and insist that the law is complied with. They suggest that extra staff are recruited to meet such shortfalls, but don't seem to appreciate that the clients - parents - will ultimately have to pay for this.
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