As a childcare worker in Australia what are you expected to be paid? How do you determine your pay rate? What is your current childcare wage?
I know a lot of you may be wondering how much that you, as a childcare worker should be paid. At times I’m sure most of us feel that we should be paid more than what we get. I’m, also wondering the same… ever since the new modern award wage set in I feel as if I’ve kinda lost out and actually getting paid less than I would of previously. I was overseas at the time the new modern award wage set in so I don’t know a lot about it. But from what I understand with the new modern award wage, it states the minimum hourly wage that you can receive. So, if the minimum hourly wage is $15 an hour then your employer has a right to pay that.
In the previous award as a diploma trained, each year that you hold your diploma you will receive a pay increase every year for upto 4 years. As far as I am aware I don’t think this is the case with the new modern award. I also have heard about the transitional period. I think this means that if you were working at a centre when the modern award wage kicked in, you will be given a different hourly wage (which the government worked out) before you received the new award. My question is how an employer determines how much to pay you… For instance, I’ve had my diploma since 2007 and I’ve been working in childcare for over 7 years and at the moment I am getting around $23.50 per hour. With the new modern award wage it states that the minimum wage for a diploma with a level 4 is around $22 per hour. So this is actually less than what I got previously. I am actually losing out with this new modern award. Has anyone of you experienced this? The thing is there is no set amount that we are to be paid which makes it so difficult in knowing how much we are actually supposed to be getting. Also thinking about it, this also sounds very unfair for people who have had many years of experience. Over my time I’ve worked with great staff who have been working in childcare for a certain number of years but was never able to do a qualification…from what I see experience is invaluable, if you are under these circumstances how can you benefit?
If you don’t mind me asking, I would actually like to hear from you how much you are getting at your current centre. You don’t need to disclose your name or the centre you are working at but I would be very interested in hearing the hourly wage you receive. If you are an employer, I would like to hear about how you deal with pay and how you determine what amount to pay the employees. This topic is an open discussion and Please share your thoughts and views on this issue as I’m sure a lot of us have many questions about our wages in childcare. I am hoping the discussions in this topic will also help all us childcare professionals understand more about negotiating wages when applying for a new job as well as to get an idea of how much we are expected to be paid.
Looking forward in reading your comments,
Cheers
,L.A
Montessori is recognised worldwide so that was a surprise.
its pathetic ... someone needs to make some changes to how early childhood carers/educators salaries are assessed for sure.
I put in extra hours making games (yes, home made games) re-setting my space and mowing lawns etc. The only reason I continue in my current employment is that I simply believe in small groups of children, a community need for intimate groupings and, having worked in varying styles of centres, a dislike for large institutional settings (even tho I know this last remark may be contriversial - each to their own.) Oh, I have cert 3 in child care and 13 completed diploma thingies.
