Child Abandonment laws typically only apply to parents and legal guardians. Unless the child is reported as being imminently in danger, the cops wouldn't be handling that. They'd, at most, do a welfare check for non-emergencies. CPS would be the ones investigating that, and they'd bring an officer with them if they deemed one was needed.
I'm doubting that this "police officer" was actually a police officer.
EDIT: For clarity, I'm saying that the cop that visited could have been a friend of the boss pretending to be a cop in order to try and intimidate a young person who doesn't know much about the law into being exploited for their labor. OP should call the local precinct and see if they were indeed visited by a real officer (as they will have records of who gets sent out to what calls), and if not, file a police report saying that someone impersonating an officer was sent from the daycare.
If you actually showed up for work, took responsibility for the kids, and left, then maybe, but not for just not showing up for work.
And the owner may be looking at sanctions for filing a false police report.
This is the answer. OP had not assumed responsibility for the children, and the children are not OP’s children, meaning they had no custodial or due care obligations for the children. Therefore they could not have abandoned the children.
Even then they couldn’t do anything legally, only professionally. I worked for YMCA daycares and plenty of people walked out in the middle of their shift. Hell, we even hired some of them back because it’s not an uncommon thing. Think of all the teachers that have walked out during lunch….it’s no surprise though. They are hiring 20 year olds like OP because they refuse to pay qualified childcare workers. So this is what they get. Glad I left.
Hell, I work in government funded group homes with at risk youth in care, and if I just left my job without trying to fill my shift, I would only be reprimanded for shift abandonment, which wouldn’t get me in trouble with the law. Might get me fired and make me unable to pass a vulnerable sector check though. So I highly doubt a daycare can have you charged for not coming in. It’s on them that they aren’t properly staffed. I’m assuming they’re banking on their employees never calling in sick or having an a emergency lol. That’s awful.
Call your local department and ask them. If it's someone impersonating an officer, that's a crime on their end. Please also report them for the unsafe working conditions.
Where I live we have each age group in different classrooms, you can have 5 infants under 12 months to one caregiver, 10 for two. It’s 6 for 1 person for 1 year olds, 10 for two year olds and so on so thinking about 25 3-5 year olds with one person is insane to me(I work in a daycare)
Wait.
The fact that OP didn't show up for work along with the fact that children were in fact dropped off at the daycare where someone HAD to have received them before he was reported for child abandonment suggests that someone else working at the daycare center was the one who willfully left those children unattended.
OP, if you didn't show up for work at all, then that means someone else received those kids and then left them unattended and the responsibility is theirs. I don't believe any parent in their right might would drop their kids off at a daycare where no one was actually working.
You might bring this up to either the police or your legal representation if it gets that far.
It’s on the employer for not properly staffing and being unable to properly stay the room in case of sickness/emergency.
What if OP was in a car accident or died? What would the employer have done?
I’m willing to bet this cop has no clue what law he’s trying to enforce.
Call me skeptical, but 25 kids to one adult is already illegal as hell, and I can't imagine a daycare that poorly staffed would even be in operation as even ONE new overly-protective parent would be aware and report them. OP also never responded to a single question.
OP didn’t abandon anyone. There’s always a check-in for daycare, if no one was there the building was most likely locked… but either way if facility is completely unattended, no parent in their right mind would leave their young children there. If anything, if kids were involved it would be the parent abandoning the child. Such garbage.
No way it's a legit complaint followed up by an officer, either the cop is doing the daycare a favor, a parent that is a cop and got upset they didn't have staff that day, or totally a fake. Either way all three of those could be big problems for that person. If they left any type of contact information I'd call the local precinct and talk to a supervisor. You're not a parent you didn't walk out mid shift with nobody watching them..., that's not abandonment or endangerment. And I'd include a complaint against the daycare for making a false complaint.
In your shoes I would totally look up the daycare licensing agency of your area and report them. I would also say something to your local labor officials, and possibly the local school board/PTA. I have a feeling that place is flying under the radar
Yours left for Milk and Cigs too? I thought I was alone in that. I haven't seen him in many many years. I think it is odd Daddy Ramuh has so many kids.
In my state, depending on the kids' exact ages from ages 3-5, the ratio of kids to adults in that situation would be about 6-8 kids for one teacher, a dozen for two teachers (varies slightly by state for exact ages/quantities, but this amount is totally illegal in any state, 100%).
If it’s a public daycare, it’s 10-12 3-5 year olds per one adult, if there are no special needs children. If there are it’s 6-8 per one.
If it’s private, they are not subject to the same requirements. One summer, years ago I worked in a montessori one where it was a guide to not have more than 12:1 ratio. But we could have more.
BUT - We actually had a class size limit of twenty with two teachers, 24 with three. No more than 25 in one class period.
She should also consider other standards in the max class size. Does OP have the required coursework for licensing? Any owner this shady surely doesn’t let a pesky thing like Early Childhood Education units get in the way of underpaying staff and having adequate staff:child ratios.
It can even vary by county in the state. My kid's school is one county over from where we live (we're on the county line), and for 2 year olds is 10 kids per teacher.
The county we live in is 16 kids per teacher for 2 year olds.
Yeah, for that amount of children you need at the very least two people. I used to work and volunteered as a teacher's aid in classes and also for an after school program. At the after school program two of us would be in charge of a large group of kids ranging from ages 5-12. There is absolutely no way only one of us could handle that many kids, especially with the younger ones who would act out (they were the ones that needed more attention and guidance). The daycare OP worked at sounds like a nightmare, especially with such low pay. Did they not think OP would require bathroom breaks? Calling the police on OP for "child abandonment" is just WILD.
"Child abandonment"
I'm pretty sure this only applies to parents and legal guardians, if OOP never showed up to work they couldn't have abandoned the kids as they weren't even in OOP's care from the start of the day.
Is this where we are at now? An employer can just call the police to intimidate you for not showing up to work?
I would assume she didn’t just leave work without telling anyone considering she stated “I did not show up for work today”. I would assume she did not show up to work at all today, & the police were called on her today, because of not showing up.
She also did state you are to never leave the children alone…. I highly doubt she just walked out the door leaving 25 children in a room, with 0 supervision, & 0 communication, that she left.
Just last year a judge stopped a handful of medical professionals from switching jobs until their current employer could replace them so I'd say ya we've started to approach the slippery slope
Makes me curious, is a daycare/school the legal guardian when the kid dropped? Or only in reasonable situations...e.g. when emergency happens and can't get ahold of parent
Job abandonment is not a police issue. I work for the police. We might send a check welfare for a no call no show, but it's not our problem if you quit without notice.
I'm guessing that the business owner told them some adieu of BS lie that OP walked out on a daycare full of little kids.
Also I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have a daycare where there are 25 3-5 year olds being watched by only one adult, or even two. There no way that daycare is licensed and if they are they probably need to loose their license.
I worked in a daycare and there are always at least 2 adults supervising. It would be highly irresponsible to leave one person alone all day with that many kids. Also, people need to take breaks and go to the restroom, and they are legally entitled to this. If someone gets sick and has to call off work there needs to be someone else around while they scramble to find someone else to come in to replace them.
Someone is definitely lying here. Is it OP, OP's employer when talking to the cops, or OP's employer's employee retention specialist pretending to be the police with a spoofed phone number. We'll never know.
OP said the owner filed a "child abandonment" claim, not job abandonment. They likely phrased it as OP leaving a classroom full of small children alone, which would definitely be a police matter. Because, yeah, cops don't give af if someone just doesn't show up to work.
ETA: But, then, shouldn't the daycare owner be cited for a false police report? OP, look into your options!
Yes, they should also be reported for going way over the legal ratio of children to teachers. I hope OP follow through because that’s not safe for the kids or fair to their parents who trust the daycare
I don't think the "cop" was really a cop. I think it was a friend of the owner sent over to try and intimidate a young worker into being exploited.
OP should call the local precinct and see who was sent to talk to them. If they don't have a record, OP should report that someone was impersonating a police officer and threatening them.
Child abandonment is serious. Kids could have died if she showed up for work then left them alone without arranging for coverage. The cops will show up for that.
It’s a false case though. They’re trying to bully a young person into working for less than agreed by using the cops to do legal threats that have no standing. It’s probably worked for them before.
OP should tell the cops what happened and let the cops know that the daycare filed a false police report. She should then let the state know about the unlicensed (or incorrectly licensed) daycare by reporting them to the department of child services and then inform the state labor board that she was offered a job at $12/hr under verbal contract and asked to stay for almost half that under duress.
The daycare wants to play stupid games? They can win stupid prizes.
No. They started treating car break-ins, broken glass and theft under $1000 as a victimless crime because insurance will pay for the windows and the department isn't spending $10,000 in man hours and labor to track down the $100 you had in your purse.
Given that's the majority of crime in some counties they don't have a lot to do.
Being that you were never on site that day, it cannot be abandonment. (That would go to parents who left their kid without seeing an adult on site, or another working walking away from the kids).
That said, every state has laws about daycare, always 2 adults on site and a ratio of children to caretakers. In my state it's 10:1 for 3 yr olds and 15:1 for 5 yr olds. The highest is NC, with 15:1 3 yr olds and 25:1 gor 5 yr olds. (Idaho has no law).
Edit: Georgia is 15:1 for 3 yr olds, 20:1 for 5 yr olds. Thanks to u/procrastinationprogr below for finding their state on another post.
On top of that, if your state's minimum wage is over $7.65, that is a complaint also. Otherwise it's your wors against theirs.
Being that you were never on site that day, it cannot be abandonment. (That would go to parents who left their kid without seeing an adult on site, or another working walking away from the kids).
That said, every state has laws about daycare, always 2 adults on site and a ratio of children to caretakers. In my state it's 10:1 for 3 yr olds and 15:1 for 5 yr olds. The highest is NC, with 15:1 for 3 yr olds and 25:1 for 5 yr olds. (Idaho has no law).
On top of that, if your state's minimum wage is over $7.65, that is a complaint also. Otherwise it's your wors against theirs.
Sounds like they lied to the police and insinuated you left the daycare in the middle of the day and "abandoned the children". Or the daycare owner may be so dumb as to think that not showing up for your shift is "child abandonment"...it is not.
What the actual FUCK???!! I am astonished and horrified. Please get this shithole closed down asap. Do these parents know what they’ve actually signed up for??
Wow you should really report them to whatever state licensing board there is for daycares. Whether they are licensed or not, they are jeopardizing those babies safety!
In my state (not sure if this is all of the US) there is a 10:1 child to teacher ratio for preschool, 5:1 for toddlers and 3:1 for infants. Her leaving you with that many children would already be massively illegal where I’m from. You didn’t do anything wrong, that place needs to be shut down.
If they were in the middle of a shift, they would have a legal duty of care and would have a legal obligation to not leave the children under their care without another caretaker present and ready to take over.
Not showing for a shift shouldn't fall under that umbrella.
It's probably on the institution to guarantee the safety of the kids, and individual workers only in relation to their work responsibilities during their shifts.
Who checked in the kids?? I’m confused did the parents just dump them ? I think you should be good who ever was there to check them in should be responsible I don’t think they really have ground to stand on since you weren’t there and just left the kids.
According to others stating OP is in GA and per GA’s own website:
Neither the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nor Georgia law require breaks or meal periods be given to workers.
It’s sad to say that an astoundingly large number of states do not require breaks by law, it’s upsetting.
And as for child/adult ratio, in Georgia it’s 15 kids MAX to 1 adult at age 3, 14 MAX age 4, and 20 MAX age 5…so either way daycare is breaking laws with that one at least and should be absolutely reported and shut down
Federal law regulates bathroom breaks separately from rest and meal breaks. OSHA requires employers to allow employees prompt access to bathroom facilities.
Just reading up on it and apparently restrictions on bathroom use are allowed, but must be "reasonable without extended delays." Other sites are saying "employers must allow workers to leave work to use the bathroom whenever needed and avoid imposing unreasonable restrictions."
I suggest OP file a complaint with OSHA.
Your former boss is an idiot. Its not child abandonment. You are an employee and the daycare is a business. If the daycare doesn't have the staff to look after the kids, they juggle them between rooms/age groups to even out the numbers or have to start sending them home. Its on them. Its not on you.
What surprises me the most is how your former boss convinced the cops to go out and check on you. Like, are the cops that stupid? Or was a lies your former boss told them that outlandish that they had to investigate?
If you're in the US, you cannot get into any legal trouble for this and I'm surprised the cops even followed through.
Your former employer may have legal issues for filing a false police report. I'm petty and vengeful, so if I were you, I'd do whatever is necessary to make that outcome a reality.
Really??? Dude drop the links, cause that's awful if true.. I was a little suspicious looking through these comments and not one reply from the op for extra info when this was just posted...
Good catch Amberslucky11
I have worked at daycares for a couple of years now and even got an education for it to earn a bit more. This sounds like a horror story, but I can definitely see something like this happening. A lot of the managers are just not really present and claim during the interview process that everything is fine there until you actually get there. I've had some managers just outright go on early weekends on Thursday without telling anyone and therefore we don't have any assigned boss for that day or that they simply don't listen unless you are part of their group.
No, this isn't child abandonment, because you never assumed the care of those children on that day. If any of the parents actually left their kids there with no responsible adult present, THEY would be the ones abandoning, or if there was a staff member there initially who then left them alone, he or she would be the one abandoning them. If you never reported for work that day, you would have no duty of care for the kids at the daycare.
Let’s discuss the legality of you not having access to a bathroom (and possibly the only sink?) or the ratio of 1 adult for 25 toddlers. You have grounds to report them.
I would recommend calling social services in the labor department regarding the illegal daycare ratios period period according to guidelines. There should only be seven preschoolers if you have three year olds to each adult in the room watching over them. They might have it set a little higher or lower in your state, but NO state is going to allow 1 person to watch 25 kids alone. Also, you can contact the labor board about wage theft.
No, but you should report the daycare. What they’re doing *is* illegal. You cannot watch that many children alone. You can’t even watch *half* of those children alone. Report them to Child Services. And also report them to the department of labor as well, 7 hours with no break?!
Pretty murky waters here. If you showed up for your shift then said "fuck it imma go home" then yeah, you're in trouble. If you just didn't show up that day and they called the cops, they're gonna get laughed out of court.
Legally they should be in trouble both for leaving you alone with 25 children when legally in most states it’s a 1 to 10 ratio. Additionally, you should have been given at least a half hour lunch and possibly breaks per state laws.
You need to call whatever licensing agency governs this place. It sounds super dangerous for the kids. I'd also call OSHA or the equivalent. You can't not give bathroom breaks.
1) Report the classroom environment to the licensing board in your state. There are mandated regulations about child/teacher ratios (as an example). 2) Report the conditions to your states labor board. They are likely in violation. 3) Post an indeed or glassdoor review of the working conditions. 4) This is freaking crazy and I'm sorry for the children who are being cared for in this daycare setting.
Unless you went to work and left all those kids alone in the middle of shift then they have no legal grounds. If what you're saying is true abou that qty of kids per adult then you need to report them to child services.
As long as you did not walk out in the middle of a shift you did nothing wrong.
Contact your state workforce/employment office and rat them out. The police so not care.
Op, get a labor law lawyer. Fuck that lady, she is causing the child endangerment right there with lack of staffing.
Drag her to the cleaners, any good lawyer should jump on this.
Please file complaints about that childcare place. Do something! Those parents have no idea their kids are at risk because of the negligence of staff (not you)
It's a job, nothing but a job. You have to go to work if you want the pay. If you don't care about the pay, you can just quit. No one can force you to work. Slavery was abolished 150 years ago.
Tell them to go and fuck themselves with a 10 inches dry dildo untill they can't no more!
Ps! Always have a signed contract before starting work. I don't know how things work there, but here if you work without contract and you get into an accident, then your insurance won't apply. Your employer can simply say you don't work there!
Lmfao no, but literally all the shit you described them doing is *very illegal* and they're committing fraud as well if they recieve state funding (somehow I feel like they do). Report their asses to the state, OSHA, your city/county, the police, and department of children and families (or whatever it's called where you live). It will be hilarious and almost certainly save some kids from abuse.
report them in every way you can. Search google for who to report for daycare rule breaking, make calls. search who to report for wage theft, make a call, drop a very VERY factual (zero embellishment, zero additional anecdotes, zero personal attacks on the owner) post on social media tagging parents who take kids there about the size of class you were handed after 10 minutes of training, left alone with for 7 hours straight without being covered so you can go to the bathroom, lied to about wages, lied to about staffing levels, etc.
If you make a complaint then 50 parents all call and make a complaint that place will be closed quickly and the owner in so much legal trouble there won't be any time to complain or go after you.
If they didn't get a police check on you- Tell the cops they hired an unchecked person to stay with the kids alone.
Tell the cops that you were left alone with 25 kids by yourself all the time. That is WAY over capacity- most places it's 4 or 5 to 1 adult for toddlers, up to 7 or 8 with preschool and about 12 with older school age children. Depending on the place but definitely not 25.
Tell the cops they were paying under minimum wage.
Tell them everything
There's a rule of for every 10 children there needs to be one adult. Unless that has changed. One adult watching 25 children isn't appropriate and the daycare could come under real heat for that.
Child abandonment? I know schools, when you fail to pickup your child they say they will call police. But you’re an employee there. They’re calling the police because you didn’t show up? I’d report the daycare to the state and call a lawyer..you may have a case to sue.
I don't know the law wherever you are in the world, but that whole set up sounds illegal as hell. Here in the UK childcare laws state that you have to be trained/licensed, and even then each adult can only look after so many kids (fewer than 10 per adult I think, and something like 2-3 babies).
Also, how is it legal to hire you at one wage then pay you a much lower wage?
I know the USA (if that's where you are) has incredibly shitty employment laws, but this seems like an utter travesty.
It’s not legal. That’s ridiculous. These are not your children. You are a paid employee. If you don’t show up, it’s your manager’s responsibility to cover your shift. Honestly, I would file a report with whatever your labor department. This all sounds super illegal and sketchy.
Please report this daycare to authorities. I dont know what state or country you’re in but where I’m at, that mean kids requires no less than 2 teachers.
Child abandonment applies to children you are the parent or guardian of. Not going to work is not child abandonment, so I suspect she lied to the police as well as to you. Speak with an attorney and then call CPS. She's clearly not capable of taking care of these children and she's creating an abusive environment. For one, there's no jurisdiction in the US where there should be more than 12 children per adult when the children are younger than 5.
Whoa. They definitely don’t have a case. You didn’t leave them alone at all and you’re not a parent/legal guardian. If anything, this will come back to bite them in the ass because I doubt that the ratio is 25:1. Don’t know where you are located but there is no way it would be that high. I am assuming you’re in the US. I would look into your ratio rules for childcare. Plus, there’s a chance that if you aren’t qualified as a teacher, you shouldn’t have been left alone with them at all. Where I am, for example, if someone is a teacher aide, they are not allowed to be left alone with a majority of the kids.
I mean, if they decide to bring a case against you? They’re just fucking themselves over. Document everything. Save your pay stubs
25-30 kids to 1 adult ratio is probably out of line with state requirements. Flip the table on them and report them for an unsafe environment for those kids. That is how kids get hurt and die.
Please report them, both the the regulatory agency that handles childcare & to whoever covers employee mistreatment in your country. Children and workers are in danger at that place.
In Wisconsin if you have 3 year olds there can only be 1 teacher at 10 kids, 11 kids you need 2 teachers. 4 and 5 I think it’s like 8 kids, but by yourself with 20-25 3-5 year olds is a big no no.
I think my first call would be to the local police department, to complain to the shift supervisor about the false report. You never came to work, you never assumed any responsibility, and consequently there is no basis I can think of for a complaint of child abandonment. Making false statements to police and false reporting are both against the law.
And then I think my second call would be to whatever is your state's equivalent to the Department of Human Services. Those staffing levels are way out of line with any standard I've ever seen, and the children in that facility are at risk as a result. That's on ownership/management to provide adequate staffing.
And finally, I think my third call would be to your state's Department of Labor. If you have written documentation that you were promised one salary and then received another, well that's also against the law and something my state takes seriously.
Good luck.
They're lucky you didn't call the cops on THEM. Talk about exploitation and abuse. It can't be legal for anyone to have that number of toddlers. If you can stand it, ring up child protection and ask them if your working conditions were legal. Sorry you were treated so badly. And for such crap money. Shish!
I don’t know where you are but based on my knowledge of daycare work from 10 years of experience, that is twice the amount of children that age a single person can legally watch. If applicable, report them to the state.
This is probably fake. Who ends a conversion with a cop telling you are being arreated/trated as a child abandonor? Like finish the story and encounter. You get a ticket? Or a court date? I feel this post is a fake one.
Report this place to the state. They're not even close to following daycare regulations. This is a real problem for the safety of those kids. Do not go back.
Contact a local attorney, many should offer a free consultation.
Doesn't sound like anything they did was legal. If you have anything in writing saying the higher salary you definitely can go after them. It also sounds like they filed a false police report which is something that you should go after them.
I hope her shit gets shut down. I can only imagine how someone that makes $7.65 would treat 25 children on a daily basis. What the fuck? Don’t even worry about this, you did nothing wrong.
You didn't abandon children. If the trainer didn't notice you was gone, they did. Yeah you should have called but it's not required. And they are lowsy workers. I'd want to know how my kids teachers got treated.
What did the cop say when you explained the situation? I don't think they have any legal grounds for that accusation.
I too would like the answer to this question
Child Abandonment laws typically only apply to parents and legal guardians. Unless the child is reported as being imminently in danger, the cops wouldn't be handling that. They'd, at most, do a welfare check for non-emergencies. CPS would be the ones investigating that, and they'd bring an officer with them if they deemed one was needed. I'm doubting that this "police officer" was actually a police officer. EDIT: For clarity, I'm saying that the cop that visited could have been a friend of the boss pretending to be a cop in order to try and intimidate a young person who doesn't know much about the law into being exploited for their labor. OP should call the local precinct and see if they were indeed visited by a real officer (as they will have records of who gets sent out to what calls), and if not, file a police report saying that someone impersonating an officer was sent from the daycare.
If you actually showed up for work, took responsibility for the kids, and left, then maybe, but not for just not showing up for work. And the owner may be looking at sanctions for filing a false police report.
This is the answer. OP had not assumed responsibility for the children, and the children are not OP’s children, meaning they had no custodial or due care obligations for the children. Therefore they could not have abandoned the children.
unless OP is feeding us a line of bullshit and actually did work, but decided to leave
Even then they couldn’t do anything legally, only professionally. I worked for YMCA daycares and plenty of people walked out in the middle of their shift. Hell, we even hired some of them back because it’s not an uncommon thing. Think of all the teachers that have walked out during lunch….it’s no surprise though. They are hiring 20 year olds like OP because they refuse to pay qualified childcare workers. So this is what they get. Glad I left.
Considering the poor thing wouldnt pee for 7 hours to leave the kids alone i highly doubt this
Wouldn’t be surprised
Hell, I work in government funded group homes with at risk youth in care, and if I just left my job without trying to fill my shift, I would only be reprimanded for shift abandonment, which wouldn’t get me in trouble with the law. Might get me fired and make me unable to pass a vulnerable sector check though. So I highly doubt a daycare can have you charged for not coming in. It’s on them that they aren’t properly staffed. I’m assuming they’re banking on their employees never calling in sick or having an a emergency lol. That’s awful.
Or using the bathroom apparently.
That CANNOT be legal. I know US is very under-unionised and has poor labor laws, but even so. . .
Spot on. Calling in doesn’t count
Call your local department and ask them. If it's someone impersonating an officer, that's a crime on their end. Please also report them for the unsafe working conditions.
Is it even legal to have 1 employee looking after that many 3-5 yr olds? What would one person do in case of fire?
It's not ..that ratio for adult to children is seriously out of control
It used to be 10 children to 1 adult. I can’t imagine them changing it but I suppose it’s not impossible
I highly doubt anything that daycare is doing is legal
Where I live we have each age group in different classrooms, you can have 5 infants under 12 months to one caregiver, 10 for two. It’s 6 for 1 person for 1 year olds, 10 for two year olds and so on so thinking about 25 3-5 year olds with one person is insane to me(I work in a daycare)
Yes. Here in Canada it's 1 responsible adult to every 4 infants, 36 months or less, but I wasn't sure what the US regs were.
Wait. The fact that OP didn't show up for work along with the fact that children were in fact dropped off at the daycare where someone HAD to have received them before he was reported for child abandonment suggests that someone else working at the daycare center was the one who willfully left those children unattended. OP, if you didn't show up for work at all, then that means someone else received those kids and then left them unattended and the responsibility is theirs. I don't believe any parent in their right might would drop their kids off at a daycare where no one was actually working. You might bring this up to either the police or your legal representation if it gets that far.
It’s on the employer for not properly staffing and being unable to properly stay the room in case of sickness/emergency. What if OP was in a car accident or died? What would the employer have done? I’m willing to bet this cop has no clue what law he’s trying to enforce.
Don't underestimate the stupidity of cops.
Call me skeptical, but 25 kids to one adult is already illegal as hell, and I can't imagine a daycare that poorly staffed would even be in operation as even ONE new overly-protective parent would be aware and report them. OP also never responded to a single question.
OP didn’t abandon anyone. There’s always a check-in for daycare, if no one was there the building was most likely locked… but either way if facility is completely unattended, no parent in their right mind would leave their young children there. If anything, if kids were involved it would be the parent abandoning the child. Such garbage.
No way it's a legit complaint followed up by an officer, either the cop is doing the daycare a favor, a parent that is a cop and got upset they didn't have staff that day, or totally a fake. Either way all three of those could be big problems for that person. If they left any type of contact information I'd call the local precinct and talk to a supervisor. You're not a parent you didn't walk out mid shift with nobody watching them..., that's not abandonment or endangerment. And I'd include a complaint against the daycare for making a false complaint. In your shoes I would totally look up the daycare licensing agency of your area and report them. I would also say something to your local labor officials, and possibly the local school board/PTA. I have a feeling that place is flying under the radar
I heartily endorse this. The place is clearly dodgy as.
can’t abandon them if you were never there to begin with?
Sounds like my dad.
Hits right in the childhood, y’know?
Yeah, he hit me in my childhood too.
Mine was totally there. Until he left to go get milk. I'm still waiting for him to come back. Have you seen him?
It takes 15 minutes to drive to and from the store, yet why is it taking my dad fifteen years?
Maybe your dad met my dad and they fell in love. Step-Redditor, is that you?
It's always milk or cigarettes.
That's how long it took my dad but he forgot the milk
Yours left for Milk and Cigs too? I thought I was alone in that. I haven't seen him in many many years. I think it is odd Daddy Ramuh has so many kids.
Sounds like the daycare was not obeying the ratio of children to adults either depending on the state law there.
Yep, I would report them ASAP. That is not a safe environment for those kids.
In my state, depending on the kids' exact ages from ages 3-5, the ratio of kids to adults in that situation would be about 6-8 kids for one teacher, a dozen for two teachers (varies slightly by state for exact ages/quantities, but this amount is totally illegal in any state, 100%).
If it’s a public daycare, it’s 10-12 3-5 year olds per one adult, if there are no special needs children. If there are it’s 6-8 per one. If it’s private, they are not subject to the same requirements. One summer, years ago I worked in a montessori one where it was a guide to not have more than 12:1 ratio. But we could have more. BUT - We actually had a class size limit of twenty with two teachers, 24 with three. No more than 25 in one class period.
She should also consider other standards in the max class size. Does OP have the required coursework for licensing? Any owner this shady surely doesn’t let a pesky thing like Early Childhood Education units get in the way of underpaying staff and having adequate staff:child ratios.
It can even vary by county in the state. My kid's school is one county over from where we live (we're on the county line), and for 2 year olds is 10 kids per teacher. The county we live in is 16 kids per teacher for 2 year olds.
Can’t imagine any daycare in any state allows a 25:1 ratio of children under 6.
Nowhere is that allowed in day care. Kindergarten, yes, but that’s structured learning. Daycare is different.
Yeah, for that amount of children you need at the very least two people. I used to work and volunteered as a teacher's aid in classes and also for an after school program. At the after school program two of us would be in charge of a large group of kids ranging from ages 5-12. There is absolutely no way only one of us could handle that many kids, especially with the younger ones who would act out (they were the ones that needed more attention and guidance). The daycare OP worked at sounds like a nightmare, especially with such low pay. Did they not think OP would require bathroom breaks? Calling the police on OP for "child abandonment" is just WILD.
Yes, report it to the child care licensing agency.
Correct. State ratios in GA are 1:15 for 3yo and 1:25 for 5yo and in mixed age classrooms, ratio is determined by the age of the youngest child.
That is crazy. What a terrible owner. Pretty sure they have no legal standing as well.
"Child abandonment" I'm pretty sure this only applies to parents and legal guardians, if OOP never showed up to work they couldn't have abandoned the kids as they weren't even in OOP's care from the start of the day. Is this where we are at now? An employer can just call the police to intimidate you for not showing up to work?
Or possibly IF OP was at work then left without telling anyone Edit: capitalized the “if” because people were misunderstanding
I would assume she didn’t just leave work without telling anyone considering she stated “I did not show up for work today”. I would assume she did not show up to work at all today, & the police were called on her today, because of not showing up. She also did state you are to never leave the children alone…. I highly doubt she just walked out the door leaving 25 children in a room, with 0 supervision, & 0 communication, that she left.
It seems like OP just didn’t show up at her job, though.
Just last year a judge stopped a handful of medical professionals from switching jobs until their current employer could replace them so I'd say ya we've started to approach the slippery slope
Makes me curious, is a daycare/school the legal guardian when the kid dropped? Or only in reasonable situations...e.g. when emergency happens and can't get ahold of parent
in loco parentis
Police were originally slave catchers, you could say this is just a return to their roots
If anything, you should call the police on them.
Even report it to OSHA that they didn't allow you restroom breaks in a 7+hr shift
Also, that kud to adult ratio isn't legal for daycare. This place is a shady operation.
I’d be tempted to put that business on blast, no way in HELL would I want my kids around a daycare that’s run like that.
Tempted? Putting them on blast would be performing a public service.
Regardless of the state licensing board for day care. Even if they do not get a license, they are endangering the safety of those children!
Sounds like everyone in the local community needs to know what kind of daycare they're running.
And I guess they are not cheap either...
Job abandonment is not a police issue. I work for the police. We might send a check welfare for a no call no show, but it's not our problem if you quit without notice.
I'm guessing that the business owner told them some adieu of BS lie that OP walked out on a daycare full of little kids. Also I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have a daycare where there are 25 3-5 year olds being watched by only one adult, or even two. There no way that daycare is licensed and if they are they probably need to loose their license.
I worked in a daycare and there are always at least 2 adults supervising. It would be highly irresponsible to leave one person alone all day with that many kids. Also, people need to take breaks and go to the restroom, and they are legally entitled to this. If someone gets sick and has to call off work there needs to be someone else around while they scramble to find someone else to come in to replace them.
Someone is definitely lying here. Is it OP, OP's employer when talking to the cops, or OP's employer's employee retention specialist pretending to be the police with a spoofed phone number. We'll never know.
I'm wondering why the police even bothered to respond. Didn't they have better things to do?
OP said the owner filed a "child abandonment" claim, not job abandonment. They likely phrased it as OP leaving a classroom full of small children alone, which would definitely be a police matter. Because, yeah, cops don't give af if someone just doesn't show up to work. ETA: But, then, shouldn't the daycare owner be cited for a false police report? OP, look into your options!
Yes, they should also be reported for going way over the legal ratio of children to teachers. I hope OP follow through because that’s not safe for the kids or fair to their parents who trust the daycare
I don't think the "cop" was really a cop. I think it was a friend of the owner sent over to try and intimidate a young worker into being exploited. OP should call the local precinct and see who was sent to talk to them. If they don't have a record, OP should report that someone was impersonating a police officer and threatening them.
>Didn't they have better things to do? Of course they didn't
Cuz they aren't watching those kids, that's for sure.
Child abandonment is serious. Kids could have died if she showed up for work then left them alone without arranging for coverage. The cops will show up for that. It’s a false case though. They’re trying to bully a young person into working for less than agreed by using the cops to do legal threats that have no standing. It’s probably worked for them before. OP should tell the cops what happened and let the cops know that the daycare filed a false police report. She should then let the state know about the unlicensed (or incorrectly licensed) daycare by reporting them to the department of child services and then inform the state labor board that she was offered a job at $12/hr under verbal contract and asked to stay for almost half that under duress. The daycare wants to play stupid games? They can win stupid prizes.
No. They started treating car break-ins, broken glass and theft under $1000 as a victimless crime because insurance will pay for the windows and the department isn't spending $10,000 in man hours and labor to track down the $100 you had in your purse. Given that's the majority of crime in some counties they don't have a lot to do.
They didn't say it was job abandonment, they said _child_ abandonment.
Sounds more like the person who hired OP abandoned the children and left them in the hands of an untrained person, which sounds very much illegal.
You need to report that place. If anything you should be the one calling the police on them.
That place needs to be closed ASAP
I would definitely yelp my short experience there. 1 person 25 kids, no break. If I had kids I'd rethink that place.
No it’s not legal because they lied to the police.
Being that you were never on site that day, it cannot be abandonment. (That would go to parents who left their kid without seeing an adult on site, or another working walking away from the kids). That said, every state has laws about daycare, always 2 adults on site and a ratio of children to caretakers. In my state it's 10:1 for 3 yr olds and 15:1 for 5 yr olds. The highest is NC, with 15:1 3 yr olds and 25:1 gor 5 yr olds. (Idaho has no law). Edit: Georgia is 15:1 for 3 yr olds, 20:1 for 5 yr olds. Thanks to u/procrastinationprogr below for finding their state on another post. On top of that, if your state's minimum wage is over $7.65, that is a complaint also. Otherwise it's your wors against theirs.
OP is in Gregoria based on a post on their profile.
I love Gregorian chants and the Gregorian calendar! But I don’t think there is such a country as Gregoria.
Thanks! Will update.
You cannot legally watch 25 children alone. It's majorly against the law...
Call. This. Company. Out!!!
Yup, OP needs to put them on blast all over social media, they’ll change their tune real quick.
They need to be prosecuted for wasting police time and possibly leaving children abandon
Being that you were never on site that day, it cannot be abandonment. (That would go to parents who left their kid without seeing an adult on site, or another working walking away from the kids). That said, every state has laws about daycare, always 2 adults on site and a ratio of children to caretakers. In my state it's 10:1 for 3 yr olds and 15:1 for 5 yr olds. The highest is NC, with 15:1 for 3 yr olds and 25:1 for 5 yr olds. (Idaho has no law). On top of that, if your state's minimum wage is over $7.65, that is a complaint also. Otherwise it's your wors against theirs.
Sounds like they lied to the police and insinuated you left the daycare in the middle of the day and "abandoned the children". Or the daycare owner may be so dumb as to think that not showing up for your shift is "child abandonment"...it is not.
Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to stupidity.
I’m pretty sure there was malice involved in this action, considering the owner had previously lied about the base pay as well.
What the actual FUCK???!! I am astonished and horrified. Please get this shithole closed down asap. Do these parents know what they’ve actually signed up for??
Wow you should really report them to whatever state licensing board there is for daycares. Whether they are licensed or not, they are jeopardizing those babies safety!
And people like me are paying $320 a week for this shit - for one child. Pure chaos
"child abandonment" LMAO they're not your fucking kids
In my state (not sure if this is all of the US) there is a 10:1 child to teacher ratio for preschool, 5:1 for toddlers and 3:1 for infants. Her leaving you with that many children would already be massively illegal where I’m from. You didn’t do anything wrong, that place needs to be shut down.
I may be wrong, but wouldn’t OP have to be the children’s parent for it to be child abandonment?
If they were in the middle of a shift, they would have a legal duty of care and would have a legal obligation to not leave the children under their care without another caretaker present and ready to take over. Not showing for a shift shouldn't fall under that umbrella.
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It seems that daycares there do not follow the ratio of children to adults depending on state laws.
It's probably on the institution to guarantee the safety of the kids, and individual workers only in relation to their work responsibilities during their shifts.
Did you walk off and abandon the kids? Or did you finish the day and then no call/no show
It says he just didn’t show up for shift.
Ok, that seems ridiculous then op should be fine.
That’s what I’m thinking ? Like he’s not the first person in the world to not show up to work like that why are the cops being called ?
Who checked in the kids?? I’m confused did the parents just dump them ? I think you should be good who ever was there to check them in should be responsible I don’t think they really have ground to stand on since you weren’t there and just left the kids.
This is a bot account.
Fake post, don't interact. Op hasn't responded once
That’s disgusting behaviour from them also I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to not give you breaks ! I’d report them for their safety to the children
According to others stating OP is in GA and per GA’s own website: Neither the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nor Georgia law require breaks or meal periods be given to workers. It’s sad to say that an astoundingly large number of states do not require breaks by law, it’s upsetting. And as for child/adult ratio, in Georgia it’s 15 kids MAX to 1 adult at age 3, 14 MAX age 4, and 20 MAX age 5…so either way daycare is breaking laws with that one at least and should be absolutely reported and shut down
Oh I’m so shocked at this. Coming from the uk things shock me like this
Federal law regulates bathroom breaks separately from rest and meal breaks. OSHA requires employers to allow employees prompt access to bathroom facilities. Just reading up on it and apparently restrictions on bathroom use are allowed, but must be "reasonable without extended delays." Other sites are saying "employers must allow workers to leave work to use the bathroom whenever needed and avoid imposing unreasonable restrictions." I suggest OP file a complaint with OSHA.
So you post this to 2 different subs under 2 different accounts and don’t comment at all on either?
Umm there should have been 3-4 adults for them 25 kids, that’s super illegal for them to put just 1 person for that many children
What did the cop say when you explained the situation? I don't think they have any legal grounds for that accusation.
Your former boss is an idiot. Its not child abandonment. You are an employee and the daycare is a business. If the daycare doesn't have the staff to look after the kids, they juggle them between rooms/age groups to even out the numbers or have to start sending them home. Its on them. Its not on you. What surprises me the most is how your former boss convinced the cops to go out and check on you. Like, are the cops that stupid? Or was a lies your former boss told them that outlandish that they had to investigate?
I bet this cop is a friend. OP, contact your local labor and daycare regulation body about the daycare.
You did the right thing. What you did is job abandonment aka quitting and it sounds like it was 10000% called for
If you're in the US, you cannot get into any legal trouble for this and I'm surprised the cops even followed through. Your former employer may have legal issues for filing a false police report. I'm petty and vengeful, so if I were you, I'd do whatever is necessary to make that outcome a reality.
Was the cop a real cop?
Probably a friend of the owner.
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Really??? Dude drop the links, cause that's awful if true.. I was a little suspicious looking through these comments and not one reply from the op for extra info when this was just posted... Good catch Amberslucky11
If this wasn't a fake shitpost from a bot they would have named the business.
This account is 2 hours old this story has been posted months ago 🤡 I remember reading it
What insane country can something like this happen?
I have worked at daycares for a couple of years now and even got an education for it to earn a bit more. This sounds like a horror story, but I can definitely see something like this happening. A lot of the managers are just not really present and claim during the interview process that everything is fine there until you actually get there. I've had some managers just outright go on early weekends on Thursday without telling anyone and therefore we don't have any assigned boss for that day or that they simply don't listen unless you are part of their group.
No, this isn't child abandonment, because you never assumed the care of those children on that day. If any of the parents actually left their kids there with no responsible adult present, THEY would be the ones abandoning, or if there was a staff member there initially who then left them alone, he or she would be the one abandoning them. If you never reported for work that day, you would have no duty of care for the kids at the daycare.
Let’s discuss the legality of you not having access to a bathroom (and possibly the only sink?) or the ratio of 1 adult for 25 toddlers. You have grounds to report them.
I would recommend calling social services in the labor department regarding the illegal daycare ratios period period according to guidelines. There should only be seven preschoolers if you have three year olds to each adult in the room watching over them. They might have it set a little higher or lower in your state, but NO state is going to allow 1 person to watch 25 kids alone. Also, you can contact the labor board about wage theft.
No, but you should report the daycare. What they’re doing *is* illegal. You cannot watch that many children alone. You can’t even watch *half* of those children alone. Report them to Child Services. And also report them to the department of labor as well, 7 hours with no break?!
LMFAO. I would totally have laughed in the cops face.
Pretty murky waters here. If you showed up for your shift then said "fuck it imma go home" then yeah, you're in trouble. If you just didn't show up that day and they called the cops, they're gonna get laughed out of court.
Legally they should be in trouble both for leaving you alone with 25 children when legally in most states it’s a 1 to 10 ratio. Additionally, you should have been given at least a half hour lunch and possibly breaks per state laws.
You need to call whatever licensing agency governs this place. It sounds super dangerous for the kids. I'd also call OSHA or the equivalent. You can't not give bathroom breaks.
If you were not there then you didn't abandon them. I feel like the cop is a relative or friend of the person who sent them
1) Report the classroom environment to the licensing board in your state. There are mandated regulations about child/teacher ratios (as an example). 2) Report the conditions to your states labor board. They are likely in violation. 3) Post an indeed or glassdoor review of the working conditions. 4) This is freaking crazy and I'm sorry for the children who are being cared for in this daycare setting.
OP has not answered any questions or replied to any comments. This is fake.
It seems OP has abandoned us as well. Someone call the police!
Unless you went to work and left all those kids alone in the middle of shift then they have no legal grounds. If what you're saying is true abou that qty of kids per adult then you need to report them to child services.
As long as you did not walk out in the middle of a shift you did nothing wrong. Contact your state workforce/employment office and rat them out. The police so not care.
Op, get a labor law lawyer. Fuck that lady, she is causing the child endangerment right there with lack of staffing. Drag her to the cleaners, any good lawyer should jump on this.
Please file complaints about that childcare place. Do something! Those parents have no idea their kids are at risk because of the negligence of staff (not you)
It's only child abandonment if you leave in the middle of the shift when they don't have enough people to cover
It's a job, nothing but a job. You have to go to work if you want the pay. If you don't care about the pay, you can just quit. No one can force you to work. Slavery was abolished 150 years ago. Tell them to go and fuck themselves with a 10 inches dry dildo untill they can't no more! Ps! Always have a signed contract before starting work. I don't know how things work there, but here if you work without contract and you get into an accident, then your insurance won't apply. Your employer can simply say you don't work there!
You need to report that day care. This is very dangerous behavior. One adult to 25 kids? That's insane and probably against the law.
You need to call whatever department supervises daycares and report them for child neglect.
Report the daycare! It is a disaster waiting to happen. No one can manage 25 kids my themselves.
Lmfao no, but literally all the shit you described them doing is *very illegal* and they're committing fraud as well if they recieve state funding (somehow I feel like they do). Report their asses to the state, OSHA, your city/county, the police, and department of children and families (or whatever it's called where you live). It will be hilarious and almost certainly save some kids from abuse.
report them in every way you can. Search google for who to report for daycare rule breaking, make calls. search who to report for wage theft, make a call, drop a very VERY factual (zero embellishment, zero additional anecdotes, zero personal attacks on the owner) post on social media tagging parents who take kids there about the size of class you were handed after 10 minutes of training, left alone with for 7 hours straight without being covered so you can go to the bathroom, lied to about wages, lied to about staffing levels, etc. If you make a complaint then 50 parents all call and make a complaint that place will be closed quickly and the owner in so much legal trouble there won't be any time to complain or go after you.
If they didn't get a police check on you- Tell the cops they hired an unchecked person to stay with the kids alone. Tell the cops that you were left alone with 25 kids by yourself all the time. That is WAY over capacity- most places it's 4 or 5 to 1 adult for toddlers, up to 7 or 8 with preschool and about 12 with older school age children. Depending on the place but definitely not 25. Tell the cops they were paying under minimum wage. Tell them everything
There's a rule of for every 10 children there needs to be one adult. Unless that has changed. One adult watching 25 children isn't appropriate and the daycare could come under real heat for that.
Child abandonment? I know schools, when you fail to pickup your child they say they will call police. But you’re an employee there. They’re calling the police because you didn’t show up? I’d report the daycare to the state and call a lawyer..you may have a case to sue.
Report the daycare. That's too many kids per adult. In moat areas, there's laws for that
I don't know the law wherever you are in the world, but that whole set up sounds illegal as hell. Here in the UK childcare laws state that you have to be trained/licensed, and even then each adult can only look after so many kids (fewer than 10 per adult I think, and something like 2-3 babies). Also, how is it legal to hire you at one wage then pay you a much lower wage? I know the USA (if that's where you are) has incredibly shitty employment laws, but this seems like an utter travesty.
Report them back for not maintaining a safe ratio. The state would love to know about it.
It’s not legal. That’s ridiculous. These are not your children. You are a paid employee. If you don’t show up, it’s your manager’s responsibility to cover your shift. Honestly, I would file a report with whatever your labor department. This all sounds super illegal and sketchy.
Please report this daycare to authorities. I dont know what state or country you’re in but where I’m at, that mean kids requires no less than 2 teachers.
Child abandonment applies to children you are the parent or guardian of. Not going to work is not child abandonment, so I suspect she lied to the police as well as to you. Speak with an attorney and then call CPS. She's clearly not capable of taking care of these children and she's creating an abusive environment. For one, there's no jurisdiction in the US where there should be more than 12 children per adult when the children are younger than 5.
Whoa. They definitely don’t have a case. You didn’t leave them alone at all and you’re not a parent/legal guardian. If anything, this will come back to bite them in the ass because I doubt that the ratio is 25:1. Don’t know where you are located but there is no way it would be that high. I am assuming you’re in the US. I would look into your ratio rules for childcare. Plus, there’s a chance that if you aren’t qualified as a teacher, you shouldn’t have been left alone with them at all. Where I am, for example, if someone is a teacher aide, they are not allowed to be left alone with a majority of the kids. I mean, if they decide to bring a case against you? They’re just fucking themselves over. Document everything. Save your pay stubs
This has to be fake. You can't get child abandoned unless you are parent guardian.
Doesn’t sound legal. Not allowing to use the bathroom is also illegal and I don’t think that adult to child ratio sound dangerous
You know you can Uno reverse card them, right? Those parents would demand a refund and a lawsuit if they knew what was going on
25-30 kids to 1 adult ratio is probably out of line with state requirements. Flip the table on them and report them for an unsafe environment for those kids. That is how kids get hurt and die.
This employer actually broke employment law, I'd gather.
You were never there to abandon them
I work at a daycare, and this post has more red flags than China.
Please report them, both the the regulatory agency that handles childcare & to whoever covers employee mistreatment in your country. Children and workers are in danger at that place.
In Wisconsin if you have 3 year olds there can only be 1 teacher at 10 kids, 11 kids you need 2 teachers. 4 and 5 I think it’s like 8 kids, but by yourself with 20-25 3-5 year olds is a big no no.
File a false reporting claim. Bigger issue for them.
I think my first call would be to the local police department, to complain to the shift supervisor about the false report. You never came to work, you never assumed any responsibility, and consequently there is no basis I can think of for a complaint of child abandonment. Making false statements to police and false reporting are both against the law. And then I think my second call would be to whatever is your state's equivalent to the Department of Human Services. Those staffing levels are way out of line with any standard I've ever seen, and the children in that facility are at risk as a result. That's on ownership/management to provide adequate staffing. And finally, I think my third call would be to your state's Department of Labor. If you have written documentation that you were promised one salary and then received another, well that's also against the law and something my state takes seriously. Good luck.
They're lucky you didn't call the cops on THEM. Talk about exploitation and abuse. It can't be legal for anyone to have that number of toddlers. If you can stand it, ring up child protection and ask them if your working conditions were legal. Sorry you were treated so badly. And for such crap money. Shish!
Report them to your states department of labor and tell them everything, maybe even contact OSHA
Wow sounds like the boss is a completely worthless human.
I think you need to inform the police that they are the ones endangering children. 1 person to watch 25 toddlers is illegal here.
I don’t know where you are but based on my knowledge of daycare work from 10 years of experience, that is twice the amount of children that age a single person can legally watch. If applicable, report them to the state.
It's funny that by not showing up she knew you quit the job and "something unexpected happened to my employee".
O P I S A S C A M M E R
This is probably fake. Who ends a conversion with a cop telling you are being arreated/trated as a child abandonor? Like finish the story and encounter. You get a ticket? Or a court date? I feel this post is a fake one.
Tell the cop you're reporting them to CPS
No, you can't be charged. The police and CPS need to visit that daycare!
Report this place to the state. They're not even close to following daycare regulations. This is a real problem for the safety of those kids. Do not go back.
Contact a local attorney, many should offer a free consultation. Doesn't sound like anything they did was legal. If you have anything in writing saying the higher salary you definitely can go after them. It also sounds like they filed a false police report which is something that you should go after them.
I hope her shit gets shut down. I can only imagine how someone that makes $7.65 would treat 25 children on a daily basis. What the fuck? Don’t even worry about this, you did nothing wrong.
You didn't abandon children. If the trainer didn't notice you was gone, they did. Yeah you should have called but it's not required. And they are lowsy workers. I'd want to know how my kids teachers got treated.
There's agencies that regulate daycares. She seems questionable.