Some regulated child care centres are raising the alarm over what they see as strong-arm tactics being used by government to provide care to the children of essential workers.

Day care operators say they have been told that the compensation package being offered to pass savings on to parents will only flow if they agree to provide daycare for the children of essential workers.

While many operators understand that the service is required to keep essential workers doing what needs to be done, they don’t like the operational requirements laid out by government – something they say will be impossible to meet.

Operators will have to enact social distancing while caring for up to eight children and at the end of the day all toys, items, tables, chairs, and floors will have to be sanitized. Even grocery items will have to be wiped down before being stored.

Premier Dwight Ball says it’s about supporting those who are providing essential services.

ECEs say putting their health and the health of their families is not the answer, and they feel stuck between a rock and a hard place.