The Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) organized a half day working session on Saturday 17th June 2017 on Employment Contracts for Childminding Services. This is part of the continuous professional development for Childminders to support their transition from an informal into the formal childminding sector and more importantly in view that the Government is assisting the registered Childminders with a financial subsidy on a monthly basis. The session was facilitated by lawyer Mr. Bernard Adonis, a legal expert on employment issues.
Mr Adonis giving ample information on the different types of contracts available to the Childminders.
The aim of the training session was to sensitize Childminders on the legal requirements of their service and legal framework on employment in force. The presentations focused on three different types of Employment Contracts which Childminders, minding more than five Children, may be likely to use as they are expected to employ staff e.g. an Assistant Childminder. Mr. Adonis explained the legal details of the contracts such as part-time, continuous and the fixed-term.
Q&A with the Childminders
The Childminders were encouraged to adopt professional practice within their establishments at all times; staff files must detail employee roles and responsibilities, have signed contracts with clear terms and conditions of employment, including hours of work, salary, leave entitlements and current disciplinary policy and procedures. They familiarized themselves with the contents of the three contracts, discussed instances where they would use each and practiced completing sample contracts. They also got the opportunity to share their current practices and seek guidance and advise from the facilitator.
A similar working session was organized for Childminders based on Praslin and La Digue early July 2017.
