Staff at a chain of early childhood centres have been threatened with having their pay docked for “wasteful” use of heating.
The owner of the Chrysalis Group sent staff an email saying heat pump temperatures had to be kept between 18C and 20C and doors and windows must be kept shut.
The email, supplied to 1News, from Dr Darius Singh warned employees changes must be made after he observed "careless practices" during visits to a number of the centres.
"If practices continue to not care about our philosophy and if our leaders and managers see children's fees getting wasted down the drain in reckless and unnecessary use of heat pumps, then we may need to look at comparing each month's bill against the average for the season and charging wasteful costs to everyone's pay until more responsible practices are established," he wrote.
Singh, who is the President of the Early Childhood Council, says heat pumps were "seen to be blasting away on high temps" while sliding doors were open to allow fresh air inside.
He said the annual power bill across the group, which has five centres in Auckland and Tauranga, has risen to $35,000.
According to the Wages Protection Act 1983, it is unlawful for an employer to make deductions from pay outside specific criteria, such as being overpaid or ordered by a court.
Employment advocate Maryline Suchley said attempting to reclaim the power costs would fall outside the scope of the law.
"The threat to deduct money from employees’ wages due to an increase in heating costs is unlawful as the circumstances are not reasonable, there is no written consent from the employees and it is only for the benefit of the employer," she said.
Employees would have grounds to raise a personal grievance, Suchley said.
"We all understand the frustrations of trying to keep costs down. However, a fair and reasonable employer would seek other ways to combat the issue. Threatening employees is neither ethical or legal."
'A mistake'
In response to questions from 1News, Singh said the email was a mistake and he regrets the way he put this message. "Our team is our number one priority and I’ve apologised to them today, after becoming aware of how it was received," he said.
"It’s not possible to dock pay like this, I shouldn’t have even raised it even as a suggestion. I have apologised to my team for the way I wrote this – my professional training to date including company directorship and ongoing governance reminds me that I know better than this for the future.
Singh said he has held follow up staff meetings after sending the email and advised there has been progress in coming to an agreement, with further ideas put forward. He said he's received positive feedback about addressing the use of heat pumps.
The email came from a place of frustration and his emotions had got the better of him, Singh said.
Susan Bates, a teacher and advocate who commonly acts on behalf of others to deal with industry-wide issues, said ECE staff have little or no protection from unethical and illegal practices from owners.
Speaking in general about issues educators are facing, she said: "Teachers are afraid, they fear for their jobs."
Bates, who founded the Teachers Advocacy Group (TAG) Facebook support group to promote rights of early childhood educators, says she is concerned people don't speak up enough.
1News approached the Early Childhood Council about the message advising staff could face paying for heating costs.
A spokesperson advised they were unable to comment on specifics around Singh and his team as they come under employment matters.
They said: "Everyone deserves to feel supported and respected at their place of work.
"We encourage any employer or employee to use a positive and constructive dialogue to set and understand expectations clearly and be able to raise and work through concerns should they arise."
The Ministry of Education's Sean Teddy, Hautū (Leader) Operations and Integration, said it is expected that all early education providers comply with national laws.
"The ministry expects that early learning services comply with employment legislation as does the Labour Inspectorate.
"All licensed service providers are required to meet ministry regulations which includes complying with employment legislation."
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