4-3 Fees, donations and optional charges

Introduction

This section explains the financial payments services may and may not request from parents for the period children are enrolled for 20 Hours ECE.

There are three types of payments. They are fees, donations, and optional charges.

Definition of fee

A fee is a payment that is required as a condition of enrolment and can be enforced. It includes any compulsory payment regardless of the type: wages, salary or any other payments made by the parents /caregiver  to either the educator or the service provider

Enforcement is when a service withholds or withdraws enrolment, or withholds or withdraws parts of their service (for example children not permitted to take part in certain activities), or attempts debt recovery.

Parents must no pay fees for 20 Hours ECE

Parents must not be charged fees for hours claimed as 20 Hours ECE.

The service provider must ensure parents do not pay a compulsory fee for hours covered by 20 Hours ECE, either to the service provider or to the educator.  Where parents pay home based educators directly, the service provider is responsible for fully reimbursing parents for compulsory fees paid for the hours covered by 20 Hours ECE.

Parents may be charged fees for hours outside the 20 Hours ECE maximum of six hours per day and 20 hours per week per child.

Definition of donation

A donation is a voluntary payment. There is no obligation to pay and there is no enforcement of payment.

Services may request donations

When requesting donations, services must ensure that donations are not described as fees, or by any other term that implies that they are compulsory.

Definition of optional charges

An optional charge is a request for a payment that parents may choose whether or not to make for a specific purpose. There must be no penalty for parents who choose not to make the payment.

It is useful to provide this information in writing to parents.

Services may request optional charges

Optional charges must apply for a specific purpose, which could be one-off or ongoing.

Non-compulsory

Parents must be informed in writing that agreeing to an optional charge is not compulsory and services may not make agreement to pay optional charges a condition of initial or continued enrolment.

Agreement to optional charges

When a parent agrees to pay an optional charge, the specific items covered by the charge, and the agreement to pay the charge must be part of the enrolment process and recorded on the enrolment agreement.

An agreement to pay ongoing optional charges must include information about how long the agreement will last and/or what the rules are about making changes to the agreement.

Once an agreement to pay has been reached then services may enforce payment.

Acceptable optional charges

Optional charges for 20 Hours ECE hours may only be requested for:

• aspects of provision that are not required by regulation
• additional staff beyond the minimum regulated adult:child ratios or
• items that parents may either provide for their own children or pay for the service to provide.

For example:

• specific teaching resources such as a dance or music teacher
• excursions and entrance fees
• transport
• sunscreen lotion
• clothing items such as sunhats
• food.

From 1 February 2011 a service may request an optional charge for having more than 80% registered teachers if its most recent Ministry of Education payment advice notice advises that the service falls into the 80%+ funding band.

This means that services will be able to request additional payments from parents to help conttibute to the cost of having more than 80% registered teachers.

Once a payment advice notice advises that a service has fallen into a lower funding band, ie 50-79%, the service can no longer request an optional charge for having more than 80% registered teachers.

Unacceptable optional charges

Optional charges must not be requested for the following:

• aspects of provision that are required by regulation
• general contributions towards the cost of high quality education and care provided by the service or due to the service being well regarded and popular
• for the employment of registered teachers if funded at under the 80%+ rate.

Enforcement of payment

Once a parent has agreed to pay an optional charge, the service may enforce the payment as they would enforce a fee.

Changing optional charge agreements

Services must allow reasonable opportunities for parents to review their decisions regarding optional charges. Either party may initiate a change to the agreement, but both parties must agree on the changes.

Any change to agreements on optional charges is a change to the enrolment agreement.