Jun
20
Keep funding 15 hours …. hear what the sector says
Early Learning Association Australia recently asked early childhood educators, service providers, and thought leaders about the need to fund 15 hours of preschool for 40 weeks in the year before school.
Listen to their insightful views in the videos below.
Jun
06
May
26
May
16
VECTEA 2016 Update – Application filed with Fair Work Commission
On 22 April 2016, ELAA and the Australian Education Union declared the result of the ballot for the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. A resounding 95% of eligible early childhood teachers and educators voted “YES” to endorse the new agreement.
This is a fantastic result and reflects an enormous amount of hard work by ELAA and the AEU to deliver a simplified, user-friendly agreement that addresses the principal concerns of all parties – salaries, workloads and flexibility – and that is easy for managers and staff to interpret and apply in the workplace.
On 6 May, on behalf of 405 organisations, ELAA submitted an application for approval of the Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement (VECTEA) 2016 to the Fair Work Commission. The Commission will now take between 4 and 12 weeks to consider the agreement. The Agreement will take effect seven days after the date of Certification.
As your bargaining agent in the negotiations for a new agreement, ELAA is obliged to provide you with a copy of the application, which is available for download on the ELAA website in Latest News.
ELAA will continue to keep you updated regarding the progress of the application. We are also developing an implementation kit and a number of online resources to support members to implement the new agreement.
Please do not hesitate to contact us on 03 9489 3500 and speak to a Member Services officer if you have any questions in relation to the proposed agreement.
May
04
Apr
28
Mar
24
Enterprise Bargaining Agreement
Extension of time for the ballot to Friday, 15 April 2016
In consultation with the AEU, ELAA has decided to extend the time of the EBA ballot period for voting on the proposed new enterprise agreement (VECTEA 2016).
This is to ensure that all eligible employees of services that are part of the agreement have the opportunity to cast their vote.
As the bargaining representative of the almost 500 employers that are parties to VECTEA, ELAA wants to ensure that all eligible employees are able to exercise their right to vote on the agreement in line with the requirements of the Fair Work Act.
In recent days, it has come to our attention that a small minority of employees has not been provided with the agreement and/or had adequate time to consider it and cast their vote within the required timeframe (i.e. 7 days) under the Act.
Due to the coming Easter break and term holidays, we have therefore agreed with the AEU to extend the ballot process until 5pm, Friday 15 April, 2016.
Please note that all ballots must reach the ELAA office by 5pm on Thursday, 21 April. Together with representatives of the AEU, ELAA staff will then count the ballots and a result will be declared shortly thereafter.
While we understand that this extension will delay finalisation of the agreement, ELAA and the AEU have agreed that this extension is in the interests of fairness and equity for all eligible employees across the early childhood education sector.
Please note that services that have already made the ballot available to their staff as per the previously advised timelines are not required to ask their staff to vote again.
Completed ballots should be sent to ELAA as soon as possible where they will be collated and included in the counting process.
Please contact ELAA staff on 9489 3500 for more information.
Shane Lucas
Chief Executive Officer
Mar
16
Voting for the EBA starts today
Early Learning Association Australia (ELAA) has negotiated on behalf of early childhood services with the Australian Education Union (AEU) and United Voice to develop an enterprise agreement to replace the Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Assistants Agreement 2009.
A new proposed agreement titled Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement (VECTEA) 2016 has been negotiated reflecting terms and conditions agreed between the parties, including salary rates and classifications. The VECTEA 2016 and summary document is available to download below.
In line with the requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009, all teachers and educators employed in services who will be covered by the proposed agreement will now be asked to participate in a voting process. The voting process commenced Wednesday 16 March and shall close Tuesday 22 March.
ELAA has prepared and posted an Employer Voting Pack for early childhood services and their teachers and educators who are particpating in the VECTEA 2016. The Employer Voting Pack is also available to download from the member’s section of this website.
Please contact our Member Services team on (03) 9489 3500 or elaa@elaa.org.au, for information on the voting process.
- VECTEA 2016
- VECTEA 2016 summary document
- National Employment Standards (referred to in the VECTEA 2016)
Feb
17
ELAA’s Budget Submission to the Victorian Government focusses on the big picture
ELAA has released its 2016-2017 Budget submission to the Victorian Government. The submission points to short and long-term investments which are necessary to build on the strong early learning foundations already in place in Victoria.
Dec
03
Commonwealth Child Care Package is just like Christmas: good for many, but not for all
The Australian Government introduced legislation into Parliament yesterday to implement its Jobs for Families Child Care Package, developed in response to a 2014 Productivity Commission inquiry into the affordability and accessibility of early childhood learning and child care.
