2016 Wage Enhancement Funding Application Guidelines Centre-Based Child Care / Licensed Home Visitors

Transcription

1 2016 Wage Enhancement Funding Application Guidelines Centre-Based Child Care / Licensed Home Visitors All licensed child care operators and licensed home child care agencies in the City of Hamilton may apply for Wage Enhancement /Home Child Care Enhancement Funding. This document provides guidelines and instructions for licensed centre based child care positions and licensed home visitor positions. If you are a licensed home child care agency use this application for the home visitors and the 2016 WE Application Form (Home Child Care Providers) for the home child care providers. This application form and instructions can be found on the City of Hamilton website: Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG) Funding Application: Centre Based Child Care / Licensed Home Visitors The information in this application will be used to calculate the eligible amount for wage enhancement funding and supplemental grant funding. The wage enhancement funding application is an MS Excel spreadsheet. The excel file consists of two tabs: Tab 1: Instructions summary of instructions regarding completing the application Tab 2: Wage Enhancement Grant (WEG) Application How to complete the Wage Enhancement Funding Application Spreadsheet Tips 1) You are only required to enter data in the green cells All calculations will be performed automatically. 2) Definitions have been included for certain fields on the spreadsheet to help you complete the form. You can activate these definitions by clicking on the cell. You can also move these cells to a different location on the application form if its placement makes it difficult for you to see other information on the form. Screen Shot: Pop-up definition box to move it click on it and drag it to a new location

2 3) Some cells have a drop down list where you can only use the answers in the list. Screen shot: Drop down box 1) Click on the arrow to the right of the cell 2) Click on the appropriate answer in the list Section 1: Child Care Centre / Agency Information The tables below outline the description of the information required by sub-section Child Care Centre / Agency Information Child Care Centre / Agency Name Operator Name Licence Number Auspice Type Centre/Agency Mailing Address The name of the centre for this application each centre must have a separate application The name of the centre Agency / Head Office The CCEYA License number Type of business ** click on the arrow for the drop down list Street address of the centre Contact Information Name Phone Number The name of the person who completed the form and can answer questions regarding the submission The phone number of the Contact Name address for the contact person

3 Centre Operating Information How many weeks was your centre open in 2015? Standard work week hours Total Operating Capacity (N/A for home child care provider agencies) Total Licensed Capacity (N/A for home child care provider agencies) Enter the number of weeks the centre was open in 2015 Enter the weekly hours worked by full time staff Based on the requirements of the CCEYA, operating capacity is the number of children for which the program is staffed on an ongoing basis for all age groups added together. Operating capacity may be less than licensed capacity but it cannot exceed licensed capacity. This is NOT your current enrollment. **See below example The number of spaces in the Primary License for the centre as issued by the Ministry of Education for all age groups added together Service Data Number of ineligible RECEs Number of ineligible Non- RECEs Number of ineligible Supervisors Number of ineligible Home Visitors Enter the number of RECEs ineligible for WEG as the hourly rate exceeds $26.27 Enter the number of Non-RECEs ineligible for WEG as the hourly rate exceeds $26.27 Enter the number of supervisors ineligible for WEG as the hourly rate exceeds $26.27 Enter the number of Home Visitors ineligible for WEG as the hourly rate exceeds $26.27 **Operating Capacity Example: Primary Licensed Capacity Average Daily Enrollment Operating Capacity 10 Toddlers 6 Children 32 Preschoolers 21 children 2 staff would be necessary to satisfy the required staff ratio. Therefore operating capacity=2x5= 10 3 staff would be necessary to satisfy the required staff ratio. Therefore operating capacity=3x8= 24

4 Section 2: Staffing Information Step 1: Determine Eligible Positions In order to successfully complete your wage enhancement application you must determine which of the positions as of December 31, 2015 in your licensed child care centre / agency are eligible for the enhancement to generate your 2016 funding entitlement. Licensed child care centre positions that existed on December 31, 2015 should be included on the application if the position can be counted toward adult to child ratios under the Child Care Early Years Act (CCEYA). Full Wage Enhancement To be eligible to receive the full 2016 wage enhancement of $2 an hour plus 17.5% in benefits, staff must: Be employed in a licensed child care centre or agency; Have an associated base wage excluding year one s wage enhancement of less than $24.27 per hour (i.e.$2 below the wage cap of $26.27); and Be in a position categorized as a childcare supervisor, RECE, home visitor, or otherwise be counted toward adult child ratios under the Child Care Early Years Act (CCEYA). Other staff positions that are required to spend a minimum of 25% of the day in a position that can be counted toward ratio (this can include cooks, etc.) and meet the eligibility outlined above, are also eligible for wage enhancement. Partial Wage Enhancement Where an eligible centre-based or home visitor position has an associated base wage rate excluding year one s wage enhancement between $24.27 and $26.27 per hour, the position is eligible for a partial wage enhancement. The partial wage enhancement will increase the wage of the qualifying position to $26.27 per hour without exceeding the cap. For example, if an RECE position has a base wage rate excluding years one s wage enhancement of $24.50 per hour, the position would be eligible for wage enhancement of $1.77 per hour. These positions include permanent, full-time, part-time, contract and supply positions. Supplementary program staff positions that are in place to maintain lower adult-child ratios than required under the CCEYA are also eligible for wage enhancement.

5 Step 2: Enter Staffing Information (Columns D-K) For each of the qualifying positions, complete the columns as follows: Position Description Describe the position with sufficient information to allow you to provide additional information should it be requested. For example: Infant Room A Teacher Toddler Room B Helper Supervisor Supply Staff Teacher Cook/Helper Assistant Supervisor NOTE ON SUPPLY STAFF: Operators have two options in terms of reporting the hours worked in an eligible position by both regular and supply staff: 1. If all hours worked by a supply staff are to replace the regular staff s hours (sick days, vacations days, etc.), the operator can report all hours worked by the regular staff including their sick days and vacation days on one line on the application and exclude the hours worked by the supply staff. This option was suggested in 2016 to reduce some administrative burden on having to keep track of the hours worked by all individuals in the same eligible position separately. 2. If operators decided to report the hours worked by a supply staff on a separate line, then the hours worked by the regular staff during 2015 should include actual hours worked only (i.e. do NOT include sick days, vacation days, other leaves, etc.). New Position created during Jan 1 Dec 31, 2015 (select Yes or No) If a new position has been created due to the expansion of a program during the year, then please provide an estimate for the equivalent # of hours that the position would work during the Jan 1 - Dec 31 period. Enter the estimated hours in the # of Hours Worked column (column J). Category Use the drop-down menu to select the eligible staff category. RECE = Position is a Registered Early Childhood Educator Registered with the College of Early Childhood Educators Non-RECE = Position that can be counted towards the DNA ratios but is not RECE Supervisor = Position approved as supervisor under the DNA. They should only be counted once. If an individual works in a combined position, select the category that represents the largest portion of their time. For example: where an individual works part-time as an RECE 60% of the time, and a Supervisor 40% of the time, select RECE. If a position spends less than 25% of the day in the program, do not include that position on the application as it is not eligible for the wage enhancement.

6 Hourly Wage Hourly wage paid to the position as of December 31, 2015 (excluding year one wage enhancement amounts). If the position is on an annual salary, take the annual salary and divide it by the standard hours of work per year. Note: All subsidies and pay equity payments should be included in this amount. Wages include: Base wage paid by the employer (must be equal or greater than minimum wage) Shift premiums or incentive pay paid by the employer Wage Subsidy issued to operators and distributed to staff Wage Improvement issued to operators and distributed to staff MOS Pay Equity issued to operators and distributed to staff # of Hours Worked This field should include the total number of hours worked in the regular position between January 1, 2015 and December 31. Overtime hours can be included in the application form. For supply hours, see NOTE ON SUPPLY STAFF on previous page. % of Time in Eligible Position If the position covers ratio at all times, please enter 100%. If a position covers ratio for 30% of the time, please report 30%. Please note that the position must work at least 25% of the day in a position that can be counted toward adult to child ratio. To determine the percentage of time in program, consider the average day for the position. Example: The cook works a total of 7.50 hours per day and covers staff ratios in the program for lunches (2.00 hours) and breaks (0.25 hours). Therefore, the cook works in the program 2.25 hours (and 5.25 hours as cook) The % of time in the program is: 2.25 hrs 7.50 hrs % Section 3: Wage Enhancement Determination (Columns L-Q) Once you ve entered the information above the application template will generate the following information: Eligibility status = partial or full, depending on the wage enhancement eligibility rate ($) per hour Eligibility rate = up to $2.00 Annual Funded FTE = could be higher than 1.0 if the total hours worked from Jan 1st to December 31, 2015 exceeds 1, hours

7 Salary component of the enhancement = up to $2.00 per hour for hours worked, including overtime Statutory benefit component of the enhancement = 17.5% of the salary component Total compensation = maximum wage enhancement entitlement which is the sum of the salary and benefit component Section 4: Review of Application Prior to leaving the middle section of the application form, please review the "Summary" section. It contains a summary of the centre s / agency's eligible positions and the total funding you are applying for in regards to salaries and benefits pending approval. This section will also generate the operators' supplemental grant of $150 for each eligible centre based FTE and home visitor FTE. Section 5: Certification Please complete the certification section stating that the information you have included in the application is accurate by selecting "Yes" in the box and completing your signing authority's information. Section 6: Layout and Printing Prior to printing or submitting your application form, please go to cell A41 and left click on the symbol to the right of the "Filter" button. This gives you the ability to only show the rows that contain information.

8 Please ensure that only the "Show" option contains a check mark. You can remove the other checkmark, by left clicking on the box beside "hide". Section 7: Submission Submit the completed application to the City of Hamilton, Child Care Systems Support Team at ccss@hamilton.ca.