EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITIES, OBLIGATIONS AND EXPECTATIONS An information guide for educators on the responsibilities, obligations and expectations of processing and submitting child attendances Last updated: March 2016
PROCESSING AND SUBMITTING CHILD ATTENDANCES EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITIES, OBLIGATIONS AND EXPECTATIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 3
2.
WINDERMERE EXPECTATIONS ........................................................................................................ 3
3.
EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS ......................................................................... 4
4.
5.
3.1
Attendance records................................................................................................................. 4
3.2
Submitting attendances .......................................................................................................... 6
3.3
Care arrangements ................................................................................................................. 7
3.4
Fees ......................................................................................................................................... 7
3.5
Absences ................................................................................................................................. 8
3.6
Vacancies ................................................................................................................................ 9
ATTENDANCE AND PAYMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS ..................................................... 9 4.1
Issue raised by parent/guardian ............................................................................................. 9
4.2
Issue raised by an educator .................................................................................................... 9
EDUCATOR PROCESSING CHECKLIST............................................................................................. 11 5.1
Completing attendance records ........................................................................................... 11
5.2
Submitting electronic attendances through HubWorks ....................................................... 11
5.3
Submitting hard-copy attendance records ........................................................................... 11
1.
INTRODUCTION
The processing of attendances is a vital aspect of operating a family day care service. Both Windermere, and you as an educator contracted to provide the care and education component on our behalf, have a range of legal obligations to ensure we are compliant with commonwealth, state and funding requirements. The following booklet contains important information about your requirements and our expectations related to processing child attendances. Please ensure you read this information carefully and speak with your program coordinator if you have any questions or concerns.
2.
WINDERMERE EXPECTATIONS
As an educator contracted with Windermere Family Day Care you do operate your own business, however as part of your contract you agree to abide by all relevant legislation and legal obligations and all relevant Windermere Family Day Care policies and procedures. Windermere expects that you adhere to these requirements. If you do not, you are in breach of your contract with us which could result in you being suspended or terminated as an educator. Therefore it is imperative that you understand your responsibilities and ensure you are fulfilling your requirements as a contracted educator. You must take ownership of ensuring that you understand and correctly implement the attendance record processes and procedures. Attendance records that are incorrectly processed and submitted have a range of negative consequences and the higher the rate of errors the more impact these have on the whole family day care program. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Non-compliant with legislative requirements Incorrect educator payments Incorrect family invoices Educators and families being upset Complaints and disputes Lack of trust in Windermere Family Day Care Loss of reputation Time and resources to fix errors (that could be better used in more positive ways)
However, when attendances are processed and submitted correctly this impacts the program in positive ways and creates opportunities for growth and expansion. Some of the impacts include, but are not limited to, the following:
Compliant with legislative requirements Correct educator payments Correct family invoices Educators and families being satisfied Better working relationships with educators and families More trust in Windermere Family Day Care Improved reputation (which helps to attract more families) More time and resources to support educators in other ways and to develop and implement systems and processes that are efficient and reduce the administrative burden for all parties.
If you are struggling to understand your responsibilities or how to use HubWorks it is your responsibility to ensure you learn and ask for help. We are here to support you so please let us know if you need assistance in this area and we will work with you to get you trained and upskilled.
3.
EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS
The following information has been taken from the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training document Key Obligations and Expectations of Family Day Care educators. You can download the full document at https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/key-obligations-andexpectations-family-day-care-educators As an educator, you are engaged by a service and the care that you provide is provided on behalf of that service. This is true regardless of whether you are, for example, employed by the service or if you are self-employed and engaged under a contract with the service. You are part of a FDC service, and as such there are a number of important requirements that you must meet to ensure that you and the service remain compliant with your respective obligations under the law. As an educator you are obligated to ensure that you are complying with the relevant legislation, frameworks, standards, regulations and Windermere policies. These include, but are not limited to:
National Law
National Law Regulations
Family Assistance Law
National Framework
Windermere Family Day Care Educator Contractor Agreement
Windermere Policies and Procedures
Making false statements and/or providing misleading information has serious consequences such as criminal investigation. Any breaches with regards to compliance may lead to suspension, termination and/or prosecution depending on the severity of the breach. 3.1
Attendance records
Your service has an obligation to keep a range of records relating to the care provided within the service, under both the family assistance law and the National Law. This includes enrolment forms, and most importantly for you, the educator, sign-in sheets or attendance records. Every day when parents drop their children off for care, you must have each parent sign the attendance record showing that the child attended. The National Law and Regulations require that attendance records:
record the full name of each child being educated and cared for and that date and time each child arrives and leaves, and
are signed by the person who delivers/collects the child at the time this occurs, or where the signature of this person cannot be reasonably attained, by you.
You must not ask families to sign attendance records for days their child would not normally have attended, for days before their child starts care or after they cease attending care. You should be regularly providing copies of your attendance records to your service. You should also be providing copies of all records you keep to your service. This is because your service is required to provide copies of any records to the Department of Education and Training, if they are asked. Windermere Family Day Care requires you to:
Have an attendance record for every child in your care.
Provide the original hard copies of all attendance records every fourth Wednesday as stated in the Family Day Care Calendar or they can be provided fortnightly in alignment with processing dates. Ensure that all information is completed, all signatures have been appropriately recorded and the process outlined in 3.2.1 is followed BEFORE sending to the office.
Have a family sign a booking form upon enrolment or when there is a permanent change to their booked hours, and provide a copy to Windermere within one business day.
Have a family sign an exit form when ceasing care and provide a copy to Windermere within one business day.
Windermere and the Department of Education and Training reserve the right to review attendance records upon demand and without notice. As attendance records are legal documents no liquid paper or correctors must be used under any circumstance. Amend errors in pen and initial the amendment. Here is an example of what you need to complete on ALL child attendance records.
3.2
Submitting attendances
Your service is responsible for submitting the attendance reports from all of its educators to the Child Care Management System (CCMS). These reports determine how much CCB, CCR or JETCCFA is paid by the Australian Government for eligible families, so the accuracy of these reports is essential. As an educator, you should be giving attendance reports to your service about the care you provide each week. You must make sure you report attendance correctly. This means only reporting attendance for sessions that the child actually attended. You can report absences, but only if the child would otherwise have been in care and only if the family was charged a fee for that care. Your service is ultimately responsible, under the family assistance law, for the accuracy of the attendance reports it submits to the CCMS, and it is reasonable for them to contact you if your attendance records need clarification. Accordingly, if you, as an educator, submit attendance reports that are inaccurate, the service may decide not to submit the information to the CCMS until they are satisfied the report is correct. They do not have to submit exactly what you provide to them, indeed it is their responsibility to check and verify attendances before they are submitted for the payment of Commonwealth funds. Windermere Family Day Care requires you to:
submit accurate attendances for all children in your care by 10am on the nominated Monday via HubWorks on a fortnightly basis, as outlined in the Family Day Care Calendar 2016.
Training is provided to all educators on the use of HubWorks. It is your responsibility as an educator to know and understand the Windermere Family Day Care fee schedule and policy. If an educator consistently submits incorrect attendances via HubWorks they may receive a monetary fine through their remuneration payment for any additional resourcing required to upskill that educator for compliance. 3.2.1
Process for submitting hard copy attendances to Windermere
The hard copy of your attendance records can be submitted to Windermere fortnightly, in alignment with processing dates, or every fourth Wednesday, in alignment with the specified dates in the Family Day Care Calendar. If you are submitting attendance records every four weeks (for two processing periods) please ensure you sort and adhere to the following process for each fortnight and submit two individual sets of sheet together:
All attendance record for the fortnight must be sorted and filed alphabetically by surname, as listed on your HubWorks attendance page.
Ensure that Week 1 is face up with Week 2 on the reverse side of the sheet or attached at the back if using separate sheets for each week.
Ensure that all absences are signed and all required information is completed.
Insert the fortnight’s attendance records into a plastic sleeve and send them to the office or place in the allocated mailboxes at Toomah and Highett.
Please do not staple the attendance records. If you would like to hold them together use either a paper clip/u-clip or a bulldog clip/binder clip.
3.3
Care arrangements
Family Assistance Law requires the service to make a care arrangement with each family using the service. As an educator, you do not have any legal right to enter into a care arrangement for CCB approved care independently from the service. However, service operators may authorise educators (acting as an agent for their service) to enter into care arrangements on their behalf. In order to be eligible for Australian Government fee assistance (e.g. CCB and CCR), the care arrangement and all associated invoices, receipts and statements must make clear that the care is being provided by the service and that the fees are being paid to the service. Windermere information:
Unless a child has a casual care booking with you, all children are required to have booked hours of care. The parent/guardian must complete a booking form upon starting care and complete another form any time a permanent change to the booked hours is required.
All care provided between the hours of 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday is charged at the standard rate. All care outside these hours is charged at the non-standard rate.
All care is booked in 15 minute blocks and attracts a minimum charge of five hours per day for preschool children and two hours per session for school aged children.
Casual care does not follow a regular pattern and therefore does not require a permanent booking. Fees are charged at the non-standard rate and on the actual care hours provided, however if a casual place has been booked and cancelled with less than 24 hours notice fees will be charged on the booked times.
Windermere Family Day Care requires you to:
Have a family sign a booking form upon enrolment or when there is a permanent change to their booked hours, and provide a copy to Windermere within one business day.
Have a family sign an exit form when ceasing care and provide a copy to Windermere within one business day.
Have a family complete and sign a booking form each time a school aged child returns into care during school holidays (this MUST be done prior to care commencing) and provide a copy to Windermere within one business day.
Indicate on the attendance record if a child is using casual care.
If booking forms are not complete and up-to-date and a family makes a complaint or raises a dispute about care arrangements, Windermere will side with the family because there is no evidenced documentation and signatures. This could impact your payment so it’s very important you ensure that all relevant paperwork related to care arrangements is completed, signed by the parent/guardian and a copy provided to Windermere Family Day Care. 3.4
Fees
Under Family Assistance Law, parents must be charged fees by the CCB approved service and not by the educator in order to be eligible for Australian Government fee assistance (e.g. CCB and CCR). In order for CCB to be payable, there must be a direct commercial relationship between the family that
is paying for the care, and the service that is providing the care. Therefore, your service operator is responsible for setting a fee charging schedule and establishing fee charging policies. Your service operator is legally entitled to require you, and all of the service’s educators, to comply with the service’s fee charging schedule and policies, irrespective of whether you are an employee or an independent contractor. As outlined above and required under the law, it is Windermere who determines the fee schedule for families and as an educator contracted to Windermere under the law you must ensure that any attendances submitted to Windermere through HubWorks are in accordance with Windermere policies. Windermere Family Day Care requires you to:
Charge for the appropriate hours of care. Care is charged at a minimum on the booked hours. If a child starts care before the booked time or is collected after the booked time additional charges will occur. Care is charged in 15 minute blocks so if a child is booked to start at 9am and comes into care at 8.50am the charge will occur from 8.45am, which is the time that must be recorded in HubWorks.
Apply the relevant food and travel charges for any child/ren you provide food or travel for, unless otherwise negotiated during your annual remuneration process.
Please note: If you take a child to kindergarten (preschool) and you are also the person collecting them at the end of their session the parent is required to pay you whilst that child is at kindergarten. Under the law you are not allowed to charge travel costs for children in this situation. 3.5
Absences
CCB is not payable before a child has physically attended care or after a child has physically ceased care at your service. This means that you cannot report an absence for a child before they start attending care at your service or after a child has physically ceased care at your service. You must:
Report any sessions where a child was absent, including the type of absence.
Make sure the parent provides supporting documentation for all additional absences and keep this for your records.
Cancel all the absences after the last day of attendance where you have reported absences for a child because you are expecting them to return to care but they do not come back
If a child does not return to care, any CCB paid for the absence period should be returned to the Department of Education and Training. As a result of this legal requirement regarding the reporting of absences, Windermere requires you to:
Record absences on the attendance records (and ensure that the parent/guardian signs for the absence)
Report any sessions where a child was absent in HubWorks when submitting attendances
Get supporting documentation from families for all additional absences and keep this for your records (and provide copies to Windermere Family Day Care).

Advise families that they cannot start or finish care on an absence.

Advise us if a child is exiting care and/or if a child ceased coming to care prior to their final day (these are recorded as cessation of care and parents will be charged full fee).
3.6
Vacancies
Windermere Family Day Care is responsible for submitting vacancies to the Department of Education and Training each week. This is done directly through HubWorks. As an educator you are responsible for updating and submitting your vacancies to us each week by 12noon on Thursdays. The completion of booking and exit forms and submitting signed copies to Windermere within one business day also helps us to keep on top of vacancies, making it easier to place children in to care.
4.
ATTENDANCE AND PAYMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS
4.1
Issue raised by parent/guardian
If a parent/guardian contacts Windermere Family Day Care disputing a charge or attendance the following process will be followed: 1. The relevant staff member will take down the dispute details from the parent/guardian and as much information as possible to investigate the matter appropriately. 2. The relevant staff member will check HubWorks for what has been submitted and processed. 3. The relevant staff member will check the signed, hard copy attendance record (if this has not been submitted to Windermere Family Day Care yet the educator must make a copy available immediately). 4. If an error has been made between what is reported on the attendance record and what is reported in HubWorks (or a HubWorks error in general) the error will be rectified and resubmitted. The parent/guardian will be advised. 5. If no error has been made, the relevant staff member (if not in a management position) will take the dispute and gathered information to an appropriate manager for discussion and a decision on the course of action to take. The parent/guardian will be advised. Please note: If a parent makes a complaint or raises a dispute and the educator does not have relevant (required) documentation signed by the parent/guardian, Windermere will have no choice but to side with the parent/guardian. Please ensure you complete all required documentation! 4.2
Issue raised by an educator
If an educator contacts Windermere Family Day Care disputing a charge or attendance the following process will be followed: 1. The relevant staff member will take down the dispute details from the educator and as much information as possible to investigate the matter appropriately.
2. The relevant staff member will check HubWorks for what has been submitted and processed. 3. The relevant staff member will check the signed, hard copy attendance record (if this has not been submitted to Windermere Family Day Care yet the educator must make a copy available immediately). 4. If an error has been made between what is reported on the attendance record and what is reported in HubWorks (or a HubWorks error in general) the error will be rectified and resubmitted. The educator will be advised. 5. If no error has been made, the relevant staff member (if not in a management position) will take the dispute and gathered information to an appropriate manager for discussion and a decision on the course of action to take. The educator will be advised. Please note: If any errors submitted through HubWorks once rectified, result in payment being required to the educator, payment cannot be made until the next scheduled payment date.
5.
EDUCATOR PROCESSING CHECKLIST
5.1
Completing attendance records
Attendance record must be completed with: Child’s full name Dates and days of care with: Child’s arrival time and parent initial/signature Child’s departure time and parent initial/signature Absences noted with parent initial/signature Casual care days indicated Parent name and signature Educator name and signature
5.2
Submitting electronic attendances through HubWorks
Submit to Windermere by 10am on the nominated day If child arrives before booked hours or is collected after booked hours, the arrival and departure time must be recorded in HubWorks. If child arrives on or after the booked hours and is collected on or before the booked hours, the booked times must be recorded in HubWorks. Times are charged in 15 minute blocks (For example: 9am, 9.15am, 9.30am, 9.45am) Absence is recorded (the day will change from green to red) Minimum hours are met (two hours per session for before/after school care and five hours per day for all other care) Meal and travel costs are entered Parent levy is calculated and entered Children not in care for the week you are processing are deleted from your attendance page Casual care fee charged for all casual care
5.3
Submitting hard-copy attendance records
Originals of the hard-copy attendance records sent in to Windermere Family Day Care no longer than every four weeks (you can submit fortnightly if you prefer).