Your childcare employees are invaluable assets to your business and community. They do a lot for your childcare center, including caring for the kids, communicating with parents, creating a safe environment, and teaching the curriculum each day. Because there are so many tasks and policies to keep track of, it’s essential to provide your hardworking employees with a handbook.
A childcare employee handbook is a must-have resource in your business. It ensures your staff members maintain quality care, uphold high standards, and stay consistent. It also equips new employees with all the necessary information they need to meet company expectations.
Below, we’ll cover the main items to include in an employee handbook so you can effectively manage your childcare staff.
What is a Childcare Employee Handbook?
A childcare employee handbook is a detailed manual of information your staff is required to know. It includes everything from onboarding and ethics guidelines to promotion and conflict resolution expectations.
Your employee handbook is essential. It allows your employees to refer to childcare standards, policies, and procedures at any time. It also covers employer benefits, staff rules, local and state childcare laws, details on how to provide different types of care, and more.
How to Write a Childcare Employee Handbook
When writing (or updating) your childcare employee handbook, list the most important aspects of your childcare operation. While employee handbooks often include the same main sections, you can customize yours to meet the specific philosophy and situation of your program.
Remember, your employee handbook is for your staff members. Write it for them, using a language and tone that’s relevant to all their different roles. The handbook is for teachers, support staff, childcare directors, assistants, and more. If you’re a larger company, you can create modified versions of the handbook for each role.
If you need help making an employee handbook for your childcare center, there are professional HR organizations you can outsource to. Whether you hire help or write it yourself, cover the following sections.
Welcome Message and Company Page
The first section of your employee handbook gives a welcome message to new employees. It introduces your company to new hires, briefly sharing its history, about page, learning philosophy, and current leadership roles. This sets the tone for the rest of your employee handbook.
Employee Requirements
Open the employee information sections with a list of requirements all staff members must complete. This includes background checks, education achievement, age, health/drug screenings, and legal identification.
Here, you can also include subsections that detail your non-discrimination, anti-harassment, and at-will employment clauses.
Employee Policies and Procedures
Policies and procedures explain what employees can expect when working at your company. It clarifies processes for things like:
- Clocking in/out
- Viewing the work schedule
- Requesting time off
- Vacation hours
- Sick time
- Overtime
- Staff breaks
- Pay periods and paycheck schedules
- Employer benefits
- Trading shifts
- No call/No show policy
This section should answer common questions employees have about when and how they show up to work.
Employee Ethics and Professional Conduct
Ethics and professional conduct explain the social and behavioral expectations of your staff at work. Since childcare workers interact closely with children and families, this section supports the integrity of your workplace. Include subsections on things like:
- Staff-to-parent interaction
- Coworker interaction
- Childcare property
- Records, documents, and filling systems
- Staff-to-child ratios
- Employee dress code
- Security
- Privacy
- Staff attendance
- Cellphone/social media use
- Drug and alcohol use
- Prohibited items (e-cigarettes, weapons, etc.)
The purpose of this section is to encourage an ethical, safe workplace and to set professional boundaries for everyone.
Expectations at the Workplace
This section outlines the expectations of staff regarding job duties, responsibilities, and tasks while on the clock. It defines things like authorizations, daily duties, family communication, conflict resolution, child assessments, incident recording, playtime rules, and mandated reporting.
Health and Safety
Health and safety policies keep your staff accountable for upholding safe, sanitary working conditions around children. Include instructions on how to decrease the spread of viruses and bacteria, referring to your daily cleaning and disinfection checklist. Include best practices for injury prevention, safe food handling, health screening, child medication administration, and your childcare sick policy.
Emergency Procedures
Don’t forget to provide thorough guidelines on what staff must do in case of emergencies. You should have an emergency plan in place and conduct staff training on it.
Include procedures that explain what to do before, during, and after childcare emergencies such as natural disasters, medical emergencies, lockdowns, evacuations, and more.
Classroom Care
A section on classroom maintenance informs staff of how to set up and clean up classrooms each day. Many childcare centers have rotating cleaning lists that encourage classroom cleanliness and orderliness. Consider making a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cleaning checklist shared among the team.
Disciplinary Guidelines
Childcare employee disciplinary guidelines cover all the grounds for termination. This should include the procedure for employment termination, final paycheck, voluntary termination, and any “three strikes” warnings you uphold.
Training and Professional Development
Include a section explaining employees’ options for training and professional development. Outline the initial training and onboarding process. Additionally, employees should know their future opportunities for success. Inform staff of company development meetings, fundraisers, conferences, and promotions available.
Technology and Scheduling
If your company operates with childcare management software that staff must utilize, include a section explaining the technology. Many childcare providers use childcare apps where staff can record child attendance, log notes to parents, clock in/out of work, view learning assessments, and update the curriculum. Add screenshots or online tutorials for staff to refer back to.
Staff Resources
At the end of your childcare employee handbook, it’s helpful to offer a list of employee resources. This includes leadership contact information or websites of organizations that relate to your childcare company. It can also include links to the staff login page, staff access codes, childcare licensing information, and more.
Childcare Employee Handbook and Staff Management Tools
Every employee matters at your childcare center. It’s your job to set them up for success, and one vital way to do so is to equip them with a reliable handbook.
Whether you provide your team with a physical or digital copy of the handbook, there are childcare staff management tools to help everyone stay organized on the job. With software tools like Daily Connect, you can run your childcare center, manage your staff, and grow your business with ease.
To get started with Daily Connect’s helpful childcare staff management features, get started with a free trial today.
