Prepare for staff employment
Prepare for staff employment
Background
Research shows that teacher training and qualifications have a positive impact on learning outcomes for children.
As a condition of licensing, staff in the position of ‘person responsible' as set out in the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 are required to be appropriately qualified. More information on qualification for early childhood teachers can be found on TeachNZ.
Under the Education (Registration of Early Childhood Services Teachers) Regulations 2004, staff in the position of ‘person responsible’ must also be registered. The teacher registration regulations are administered by the New Zealand Teachers’ Council.
Teacher registration ensures the quality of teachers. Newly graduated provisionally registered teachers must be supervised and supported though an advice and guidance programme once they begin teaching in an ECE service.
Teacher-led centre-based services are required to have 50% of their teaching staff holding a qualification recognised by the New Zealand Teachers Council for registration as an early childhood teacher.
The government has targets for increasing the numbers of registered early childhood teachers:
- The target for 2012 is for teacher-led, centre-based ECE services to have 80% qualified and registered teachers.
The government has put in place a number of initiatives to increase the number of qualified and registered teachers. These include grants and scholarships. You can also find out more on TeachNZ.
To employ teachers for your ECE service
a. Create a staffing schedule to help you decide how many teachers you will need, and for what hours you will need them. This should be based on anticipated enrolments. This process will also help you decide how many of these staff must be registered teachers.
Resource: Staffing schedules
b. Decide what other staff will need to be employed (e.g. cleaner, administration staff, manager, cook, head teacher).
c. Develop job descriptions. It may be useful to look at job descriptions from other ECE services, where possible.
Resource: Job descriptions
d. Decide what salary rates and conditions you will offer. It may be useful to find out about salaries paid and conditions offered in other ECE services in your area. (See Help with employment issues below)
e. Every employee must have a written employment agreement. It can be either an individual agreement or a collective agreement. Decide what form the draft employment agreement between staff and the service will take. (See Help with employment issues below)
f. Develop employment documentation such as policies and procedures. Look at Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, [Regulation 47, Criteria GMA 7] for what is required.
Resource: Developing policies
g. Advertise for staff. Refer to advertisements in the Education Gazette to help you. Consider employing at least one teacher prior to opening.
h. Formalise the employment agreement between staff and the service prior to employment.
The Employment Relations Service website has a wealth of information. This includes templates for letters to appoint staff, fact sheets, employment agreement guides and help calculating parental leave for your staff. There is also an ‘Ask a question’ feature. This site is highly recommended - there is a huge range of resources to help.
The New Zealand Teachers Council website provides information about the process of teacher registration.
The State Services Commission website has a section on Equal Employment Opportunities (EEC), including EEC documents produced for the New Zealand public service.
The Human Rights Commission website provides information about equal opportunities, Including a discrimination and complaints guide.
The New Zealand Education Institute (NZEI) is a union that negotiates collective employment agreements on behalf of many early childhood teachers. As a condition of receiving higher levels of government funding, teachers must be paid at a rate that is at least as high as the lowest step on their ‘consenting parties early childhood collective agreement’.
The New Zealand Childcare Association - Te Tari Puna O Aotearoa provides members with information and advice on industrial issues, including management handbooks and other resources.
The Early Childhood Council provides members with information and advice on industrial issues, including a range of resources.
The Inland Revenue Department is a good starting point for finding out about obligations and entitlements concerning tax.
Footnotes
* Teacher-led services – not parent/whānau led services e.g. Playcentre and kōhanga reo services where parents provide the care and education themselves.
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