The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 and the Early Childhood Funding rules allow for a licensed maximum number of 100 child places. But many service providers choose to operate with fewer children attending.

When deciding the maximum number of children your service will provide education and care for, you need to make sure regulatory requirements are met.

You need to have a person responsible present at all times while children are attending. The workload and availability (hours) of the person or persons responsible will impact your decision.

You should also consider how you want the service to operate, including if you intend to exceed minimum standards.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 – New Zealand Legislation

Procedures for recruitment and management of staff#

Procedures for human resource management are required as part of the licensing process. Home-based service providers need to have the following in place for staff and educators:

• induction procedures
• professional development opportunities
• a definition of serious misconduct, and
• discipline/dismissal procedures.

Check the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 47, and the home-based criterion GMA204 for requirements.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 47 – New Zealand Legislation

GMA204 Human resource management

Positions you need to fill and their responsibilities#

Positions you will need could include:

• persons responsible
• educators
• administration staff
• managers.

Persons responsible#

The person or persons responsible, sometimes called the visiting teacher or coordinator, must fully understand the responsibilities when providing education and care to children in different home-based settings.

The person responsible:

• oversees the education, care, comfort, health and safety of the children attending the service
• provides professional leadership and support to educators in the service.

They must hold an early childhood education teaching qualification recognised by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand for registration purposes and hold a current practising certificate.

Educators#

Educators provide education, care and comfort directly to children in their care and attend to the health and safety of those children.

They must:

• be aged 17 years or over
• hold a home-based education and care service qualification or begin working towards the qualification within 6 months of starting.

It’s a good idea to look for educators who hold a current first aid qualification to meet the first aid requirements of licensing criterion HS216.

HS216 First aid qualifications

See more information about roles and responsibilities.

Roles and responsibilities in a home-based education and care service

Job descriptions#

You need to provide employees, educators or any other people engaged in the service with suitable information and support to enable them to do their jobs.

A service provider needs to develop job descriptions that clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of specific jobs. It is important that all parties clearly understand their own duties and their expectations of each other.

Well-written job descriptions that clearly explain what is required and expected of individuals assist the service provider to engage the right person for the job.

What to include in a job description#

A job description should include:

• a position title
• an introduction to the service
• an introduction to the role
• primary responsibilities, including intended outcomes of key tasks
• duties and key tasks
• qualifications and experience required for the position
• personal and professional qualities and skills
• who the person in the role reports to and relationships with other staff
• the date that the job description was prepared and a review date
• names and signatures of the key people involved in its preparation.

Your human resources processes could include how to develop and change a job description.

Your job description for the person responsible should align with your policy or procedure that sets out expectations of the responsible person, who is sometimes called the visiting teacher or coordinator.

See information about developing policies and procedures.

Preparing policies, procedures and processes

Look at the Human Rights Act 1993 to help you make sure there is no discrimination in the person specifications.

Human Rights Act 1993 – New Zealand Legislation

Employment agreements or contracts#

Employees#

All employed staff must have written employment agreements. It can be either an individual agreement or a collective agreement.

Employment New Zealand shows you how to create an employment agreement.

Creating an employment agreement – Employment New Zealand

The New Zealand Educational Institute has information about collective employment agreements.

New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment provides information about the rules governing employment relationships in New Zealand under the Employment Relations Act 2000. It covers the relationship from the start, through to how it is formalised in an employment agreement, to how it can end.

Employment Relations Act 2000 – New Zealand Legislation

Educators who are contractors#

Home-based educators who are self-employed or independent contractors will have a contract with the service provider or the families. The contract will vary depending on the model your service is using.

Contracts need to clearly state the roles, responsibilities and obligations of the parents, educators and service or company involved. The contract should also state who pays the educator and how they are to be paid.

Home-based educators who are self-employed or independent contractors are responsible for meeting legal obligations, like liability for tax with Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and payment of Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) levies.

Service providers should contact IRD to check withholding tax requirements.

Advertising vacancies#

Think about advertising your vacancies on job seeking sites. Look at these platforms and the Education Gazette for ideas about how to design your advertisements for a person responsible and/or educators. 'Word of mouth' within your community can be a useful way to find new staff.

Education Gazette

The guide on how to hire for employers by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment provides information about good practice when recruiting and hiring employees.

The hiring process – Employment New Zealand

Selecting staff#

The positions of person responsible, coordinator and educator involve high levels of trust and responsibility. It is essential for the welfare of the children attending the service that care is taken to select the right people to fill these positions.

What to look for in an educator#

Educators are a key resource in a home-based education and care service. You may want to look for educators who:

• enjoy children
• have good relationship skills
• are respectful of diversity
• interact with children in a positive manner and are ‘in tune’ with children
• have good communication skills
• are reliable, honest and trustworthy
• are good role models
• have plenty of energy, sense of humour, positive attitude to learning, and are creative thinkers
• have a home that meets all health and safety standards, and meets all legislative requirements
• have a family comfortable with opening their house and privacy to other people
• hold a home-based education and care service qualification or are willing to begin working towards the qualification within 6 months of starting
• hold a first aid certificate or are willing to gain this qualification.

The responsibilities and tasks identified in the job description can be used as a guide for assessing the capability of the potential coordinator or educator.

Safety checking#

The person responsible and home-based educators fit the definition of a core children’s worker in the Children’s Act 2014. Children’s workers must be safety checked before they start working with children.

Safety checking is a multi-stage process that includes:

• verification of identity
• an interview
• information about work history
• referee information
• information from any relevant professional organisation or registration body
• a Police vet
• a risk assessment.

Children's Act 2014 – New Zealand Legislation

It can take weeks before the results of a Police vet are available, so you need to take this into consideration when arranging start dates for new staff.

Core worker workforce restriction#

People who have been convicted of offences specified in Schedule 2 of the Children’s Act 2014 cannot be employed or engaged in core children’s worker roles, unless they have an exemption.

The results of a Police vet will indicate when a core worker exemption is needed.

More information about safety checking#

There is more information on these requirements on the safety checking page and licensing criterion GMA205.

Safety checking for child protection in early learning

GMA205 Safety checking

Staff who are not children’s workers#

You must obtain a Police vet and do a risk assessment of the information in the vet for:

• non-teaching and unregistered employees before they begin work
• external contractors who are not educators and their employees before they have, or are likely to have, unsupervised access to children.

See our information on Police vetting.

Police vetting for early learning services

People in the home#

Residents over 17 years of age#

The Education and Training Act 2020 requires that everyone 17 years of age or older who live in the home where the home-based service is being provided will be Police vetted. The information in the vet needs to be assessed to establish if the person would pose a risk to the safety of children.

This applies where the children attending the service are being cared for in a home other than their own.

The Police vetting must be completed:

• before the home is used for care and education services, or
• before the person starts living in the home.

Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation

Keeping children safe#

Any person (including staff) that a service provider or educator reasonable believes has physically ill-treated, abused or committed a crime against children:

• should not be allowed to have contact with children at the service, and
• if required to keep children safe, should not be allowed in the home while education and care are being provided.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, regulation 56 – New Zealand Legislation

Help with employment issues#

Human resources#

Employment New Zealand has information to support human resource management. This includes templates for letters to appoint staff, fact sheets, employment agreement guides and help calculating parental leave for your employed staff. There is also an ‘Ask a question’ feature.

Employment New Zealand

Tax#

Inland Revenue is a good starting point for finding out about obligations and entitlements concerning tax.

Inland Revenue

Teacher registration#

Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand provides information about the process of teacher registrations and certification.

Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand

Discrimination#

Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission provides information about equal opportunities, including a discrimination and complaints guide.

Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission

Unions#

The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) is a union that negotiates collective employment agreements on behalf of many early childhood teachers.

New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa