Terms Of Use | Utopia Education

Utopia Education Terms & Conditions

Last Revised: August 31, 2026

Utopia Education (“Utopia Education”, “we”, “our”, “us”, “Company”) is a platform between relief teachers (“Candidates”) and ECE centres and other educational organisations (“Clients") via our website (www.utopiaedu.co.nz) and Apple AppStore and Google Play mobile applications ( each a “Site”). All use of the Services and a Site is subject to these Terms & Conditions. References in these Terms & Conditions to “you” shall be deemed to mean Client unless the context otherwise requires.

We may from time to time amend these Terms & Conditions on reasonable notice.

1. Acceptance of Terms & Conditions

By making any on-demand request for the provision of education and teaching services assignments (“Services”) via the Site, this constitutes an acceptance of these Terms & Conditions by the Client.

Utopia Education will licence the Client to use its Site to enable the Client to seek, receive and fulfil on-demand requests for the provision of education and teaching services assignments.

2. Definitions

For purposes of clarification the following definitions apply:

“Candidate” – any persons introduced to the Client by Utopia Education, for the purposes of relieving assignments. Candidate is also used interchangeably with the word Reliever.

“Reliever” – means any person supplied by Utopia Education for the purposes of assignments supporting the staff and team members at the centre.

“Client” – any person or organisation who has engaged the services of Utopia Education.

“Services” – means any on-demand requests for the provision of education and teaching services assignments.

“Permanent Offer feature” – the function within the Site through which a Client may make a structured offer of permanent employment to a Candidate, and through which the Candidate may accept or decline that offer.

“Qualifying Hours” – in respect of a Client and a particular Candidate, the total hours of assignments completed by that Candidate for that Client through the Site. Hours completed for any other Client are not Qualifying Hours.

“Trial Job” – an assignment created by a Client through the Site and identified to the Candidate as being made with a view to possible permanent employment.

“Introduction” – has the meaning given in clause 3.4, and “Introduced” has a corresponding meaning.

“Restricted Period” – has the meaning given in clause 3.5.

“Associated Entity” – in relation to a Client, any other centre, service or entity that the Client controls, is controlled by, or is under common control or common ownership with, and any other centre or service operated under the same brand or licence holder.

3. Relieving Teacher Services

Utopia Education gives no guarantee of the continued availability of any Candidate and will not be liable to you should a confirmed Candidate become unavailable for a confirmed job.

Candidates are to provide a copy of their primary and secondary ID. If the Candidates are Registered Teachers, they will provide their Teachers Practicing Certificate.

Any cancellations by a Client of a confirmed job booking must be made with no less than 12 hours’ notice from the start of the confirmed job booking. A Confirmed job booking cannot be cancelled within 12 hours. If you cancel within 12 hours of the start of the confirmed job booking, you will be charged a 30% of the full amount of your booking hours (“Cancellation Fee”). You will not be charged a Cancellation Fee if at the time of cancellation no Candidate had confirmed the acceptance of your assignment.

3.1 No placement fee. The Company does not charge any placement fee, introduction fee, or similar fee where a Client engages a Candidate in permanent employment through the Permanent Offer feature. The Company does not operate a recruitment service and does not charge for introducing Candidates to Clients.

3.2 Access to the Permanent Offer feature. The Permanent Offer feature becomes available to a Client in respect of a particular Candidate once that Candidate has 150 or more Qualifying Hours with that Client. The Candidate’s progress towards 150 Qualifying Hours is displayed to the Client in the Site. A Client may create a Trial Job at any time to begin accruing Qualifying Hours with a Candidate. The Company may vary the threshold on reasonable notice; the threshold applicable to a Candidate is the threshold displayed in the Site at the time the offer is sent.

3.3 Meaning of permanent employment. For the purposes of this clause, “permanent employment” means an ongoing employment relationship of no fixed duration. It does not include fixed term employment within the meaning of the Employment Relations Act 2000, or casual employment. The Permanent Offer feature supports offers of permanent employment only.

Where a Client engages a Candidate on a fixed term or casual basis, that engagement is not a permanent engagement for the purposes of this clause, and the final paragraph of this clause 3 continues to apply, so that the Candidate’s assignments must be entered into through the Site. Where such an engagement continues beyond its stated term, or is succeeded within six months by an ongoing engagement of no fixed duration, it is treated as permanent employment from the date the ongoing engagement begins and clauses 3.5 to 3.7 apply to it.

3.4 Introduction. A Candidate is Introduced to a Client when the Client first obtains, through the Site, the identity of that Candidate or information from which that Candidate can be identified. Without limiting that, a Candidate is Introduced when the Client views the Candidate’s profile, bookmarks the Candidate, invites the Candidate to a Trial Job, or books the Candidate for an assignment. Any Candidate Introduced through the Site is deemed to have been introduced to the Client by the Company first, except as provided in clause 3.8.

3.5 Engagements within six months of an Introduction. During the Restricted Period, the Client must not, and must ensure that its Associated Entities do not, engage a Candidate Introduced through the Site in permanent employment otherwise than through the Permanent Offer feature. The Client must also not, during the Restricted Period, pass a Candidate’s details to any third party, including any other centre, service, employer or recruitment agency, that subsequently engages that Candidate. The “Restricted Period” ends six months after the later of (a) the date the Candidate was Introduced, and (b) the last day on which the Candidate performed an assignment for that Client through the Site.

This clause does not restrict a Candidate. A Candidate is free to accept employment from any person at any time, and is not liable for any fee under these Terms & Conditions. The obligations in this clause are obligations of the Client only.

3.6 Notification. Where a Client engages a Candidate in permanent employment otherwise than through the Permanent Offer feature, the Client must report the engagement through the Site within 5 Business Days of it being agreed, stating the Candidate’s name, Teaching Council registration number, position and start date. This obligation applies whether or not an amount is payable under clause 3.7, and applies to an engagement agreed during the Restricted Period even if employment begins after it ends. The Candidate will be notified of the report and may dispute it.

3.7 Amount payable where a Candidate is engaged before completing 150 Qualifying Hours.

(a) Where a Client, or an Associated Entity of a Client, engages a Candidate in permanent employment in breach of clause 3.5, and that Candidate had fewer than 150 Qualifying Hours with that Client at the date the engagement was agreed, the Client must pay the Company $7,000.00 plus GST as agreed compensation. The same applies where a Candidate becomes employed by the Client or an Associated Entity in any way as a result of an Introduction made through the Site. The amount applicable is the amount published in these Terms & Conditions at the date the engagement was agreed; the Company may vary it on reasonable notice.

(b) Candidates with 150 or more Qualifying Hours. No amount is payable under paragraph (a) where the Candidate had 150 or more Qualifying Hours with the Client at the date the engagement was agreed. Such an engagement is one the Company would have permitted free of charge, and the Client’s only obligation is to report it under clause 3.6 so that the Company can close the Candidate’s open offers and availability settings.

(c) Basis of the agreed compensation. The Client acknowledges that the amount in paragraph (a) is a genuine pre-estimate, agreed at the date these Terms & Conditions are accepted, of the loss the Company suffers when a Client takes a permanent placement without the Candidate having completed 150 Qualifying Hours. That loss includes the cost of recruiting, verifying, safety-checking and onboarding the Candidate, the relief booking revenue foregone, and the cost of establishing that the engagement occurred and when. The Client further acknowledges that the amount is no greater than the placement fee ordinarily charged in the New Zealand early childhood sector for a comparable permanent placement, that the Company provides that placement at no charge to Clients who complete the 150 Qualifying Hours, that the Company has a legitimate interest in Clients doing so, and that the amount is not intended to operate as a penalty.

(d) Compliant route always available. No amount is payable under paragraph (a) where the Client makes the engagement through the Permanent Offer feature, or is within paragraph (b) or clause 3.8. A Client that wishes to engage a Candidate permanently and free of charge may do so by continuing to book that Candidate for assignments through the Site until 150 Qualifying Hours are reached.

(e) Recovery. Amounts payable under this clause are recoverable as a debt due to the Company. The Company may suspend a Client’s access to the Permanent Offer feature, and to the profiles and performance reports of Candidates, while an amount payable under this clause remains unpaid.

3.8 Candidates not introduced by the Company. No amount is payable under clause 3.7, and clause 3.5 does not apply, where the Company’s records show that the Candidate was not Introduced to the Client through the Site, or where before or at the time of the Introduction the Client notified the Company in writing that it already had a relationship with that Candidate, giving reasonable particulars. A Client that considers it has such a relationship should notify the Company at that time; a notification given after an engagement has been agreed is not effective for the purposes of this clause.

3.9 Anti-avoidance. The Client must not seek to obtain a Candidate’s contact details, or arrange an engagement with a Candidate, otherwise than through the Site during the Restricted Period. Where a Candidate accepts an offer made through the Permanent Offer feature and that offer is subsequently withdrawn or cancelled, and that Candidate commences employment with the Client or an Associated Entity within six months of the acceptance, that employment is treated as having been engaged through the Permanent Offer feature.

In the absence of engaging any Candidate(s) by a Client as a permanent employee or contractor directly, all assignments must be entered into through the Site.

4. Roles / Responsibilities of a Reliever

For clarification purposes, the role of a Utopia Education Reliever is to support the staff and team members at a Centre.

Different Centres will have different needs/requirements from a Utopia Education Reliever. Likewise, Utopia Education Relievers may also have different expectations when relieving at a Centre. Utopia Education Relievers are told to be respectful and attentive to the needs of the Centre. We appreciate the same courtesy to be shown to our Relievers.

5. Non-Performance

If you are unhappy with the calibre or performance of any Reliever and would like to end the booking, you are recommended to note this where relevant on the Site and end the booking based on your agreement with the Reliever. To ensure your future bookings are not accepted by the same Reliever, you are recommended to use the relevant Block Feature on the App to ensure your future bookings are not revealed to the Reliever. We will use reasonable endeavours to ensure this action is confidential.

Failure to report any dissatisfaction will mean that you agree to continue engaging with the Services of the Candidate for the duration of the assignment, and will be charged for Services rendered

5.1 When a Client blocks a Candidate, the Client will be asked to indicate the reasons for that decision. The Client acknowledges that the reasons provided may be used by the Company in compiling the Candidate’s performance information, and undertakes to provide reasons that are accurate and given in good faith. Reasons relating solely to fit with the Client’s team or culture are recorded for matching purposes and are not treated as an assessment of the Candidate’s quality of work. The Company may review, moderate, or exclude any feedback it considers inaccurate, retaliatory, or given in bad faith, and may limit the effect that any single Client’s feedback has on a Candidate’s performance information.

6. Paid / Unpaid Breaks

While Relievers are engaged by Utopia Education as contractors and so are expected to manage any breaks that they require during the course of any assignment, the Client and the Reliever should discuss and agree what breaks (if any) are to be taken during any assignment(s).

It is Utopia Education’s expectation that Relievers have sufficient breaks during the course of any assignment.

As a guide, the following is set out in the Employment Relations Act 2000:

Only lunch breaks are considered unpaid breaks.

Rest breaks need to be provided in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Relations Act 2000. The number of rest and meal breaks the Reliever is entitled to is determined by the length of the shift. Unless otherwise specified in writing, our Relievers will be entitled to the following breaks:

Duration of shift Break entitlement

Between 2 and 4 hours 10 minute paid rest break

Between 4 and 6 hours One 10 minute paid rest break and 30 minute

unpaid meal break

Between 6 and 8 hours Two 10 minute paid rest breaks and 30 minute

unpaid meal break

7. Client Obligations

Clients are responsible for familiarising themselves with, and complying with, their obligations under all health and safety statutory requirements (including the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and applicable regulations).

The Client’s obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 includes being responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of Candidates that are working for them.

From the time the Candidate shows up for duty, they are deemed to be under the supervision and direction of the Client for the duration of the assignment and agrees to be responsible for all their acts and/or errors. That will include ensuring the Candidates are familiar with, understand, and comply with any health and safety policies, procedures, training and inductions that apply at the Client’s workplace.

Failure to provide these instructions to the Candidate is the Client’s risk to undertake.

The Client is responsible for the Candidate’s health and safety while at the Client’s premises.

If an accident, incident or other event occurs at the Client’s premises involving a Candidate that is required by law to be notified to WorkSafe, then the Client will immediately notify both WorkSafe and the Company of that event. The Client agrees to indemnify the Company against any loss, damages or expenses that may occur as a direct/indirect result of the Candidate’s actions or inactions.

8. Candidate Verification & Safety Checking

We undertake a structured onboarding and verification process for Candidates, which may include safety checking measures aligned with the requirements, principles, and expectations of the Children’s Act 2014, Ministry of Education guidelines, and applicable early childhood education sector practices.

Depending on the nature of the role, the information available, and operational circumstances, our onboarding and verification process may include:

identity verification;
practising certificate and registration verification;
qualification and credential checks;
New Zealand Police vetting;
overseas criminal history checks where applicable;
referee and employment history checks;
work entitlement, immigration, and visa checks; and
other safety-related, compliance-related, or suitability assessments considered reasonably necessary by us.

Certain information relied upon during the onboarding and verification process may be supplied directly by the Candidate or obtained from third-party sources, including government agencies, regulatory bodies, referees, former employers, or external verification providers.

We may periodically request updated information, renewed documentation, or re-verification from Candidates where considered appropriate or reasonably necessary.

While we take reasonable steps to support Candidate verification and compliance processes, and may provide notifications, reminders, status indicators, expiry alerts, or other tools designed to assist Clients and Candidates in monitoring compliance-related information, Clients acknowledge that safety checking and regulatory compliance obligations ultimately remain the responsibility of each Client as the engaging service provider and employer.

Clients are responsible for independently assessing the suitability of each Candidate and ensuring compliance with all applicable licensing, staffing ratio, funding, employment, health and safety, immigration, safeguarding, and Ministry of Education requirements relevant to their service.

Compliance-related information may change over time, and we do not warrant or guarantee the ongoing validity, accuracy, completeness, or regulatory status of any Candidate information after it has been provided, verified, or made available through the platform.

9. Limitation of Liability

We provide no warranty to the Client that the Services generally available through Utopia Education will be error/fault free.

The Client will indemnify and hold us harmless from and against all damages, losses, and expenses of any kind (including any legal fees and costs). We shall not be liable to you by reason of any implied warranty, condition or other term, or any duty at common law, or under the terms of this contract, for indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of business or future business or loss of information or data (in each case whether direct or indirect).

10. Payments

Utopia Education issues invoices to the Client daily. Invoices are to be paid within five working days of receipt of the invoice.

The hourly charge out rate for relievers (“Fees”) are displayed within our application.

Utopia Education may vary the Fees at any time on reasonable notice to the Client.

All payments must be made in cleared funds to our bank account as notified to you from time to time.

Any outstanding balances that remain unpaid for a period exceeding thirty (30) days from their due date shall accrue interest. The interest shall be calculated at a rate equivalent to one percent (1%) of the total payment due for each day subsequent to the due date until the date the payment is fully settled.

Utopia Education reserves the right to engage any debt collection agency to retrieve any monies owed. Any additional costs or fees incurred as a result will be borne by the Client.

All charges and fees shown under this agreement are exclusive of GST. GST shall be calculated and shown in the Company’s invoice and must be paid by the Client receiving the benefit of the Company’s Services.

Any dispute or set off claim raised by a Client does not entitle the Client to withhold payment of any money owed to the Company.

It is the Client’s responsibility to confirm a Reliever’s submitted hours for the provision of Services during an assignment. All Clients must confirm the Reliever’s submitted hours or timesheet by no later than 6pm the following day:

If the Client does so by that time, and the Client’s confirmation is the same as the details of the Reliever’s submitted hours or timesheet, the Company will invoice the Client in accordance with the confirmation received from the Client.

If the Client does so by that time, and the Client’s confirmation is not the same as the details of the Reliever’s submitted hours or timesheet, the Company will invoice the Client in accordance with the confirmation received from the Client.

If the Client does not do so (whether due to operational error or due to failure to confirm the hours by 6pm the following day or otherwise), but the Company has received the Reliever’s submitted hours or timesheet, the Company will invoice the Client based on the Reliever’s submitted hours or timesheet.

If the Client does not do so (whether due to operational error or due to failure to confirm the hours by 6pm the following day or otherwise), and the Company has not received the Reliever’s submitted hours or timesheet, the Company will invoice the Client based on the Reliever’s confirmed hours at the time of booking.

10.1 Amounts payable under clause 3.7 are not invoiced under this clause. They are payable on demand, are not set off against Fees for relief assignments, and do not affect the Client’s obligation to pay Fees when due.

10A. Membership and Candidate Reports

10A.1 The Company may offer paid membership plans (“Membership”) which provide access to Candidate performance reports and related features. Membership fees, billing frequency, and included entitlements are as published on the Site and may be varied on reasonable notice.

10A.2 Membership fees are payable in advance and are non-refundable except as required by law. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.

10A.3 Candidate performance reports are made available solely for the Client’s internal assessment of a Candidate’s suitability for assignments or employment with that Client. The Client must not:

(a) copy, publish, distribute, or otherwise disclose any report or its contents to any third party;

(b) use any report for any purpose other than that stated in clause 10A.3;

(d) retain any report for longer than is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was obtained.

10A.4 Candidate performance reports are generated from records of assignments completed through the Site and from feedback provided by Clients. The Company does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or predictive value of any report, and the Client remains solely responsible for its own recruitment and engagement decisions, including all pre-employment checks required by law.

10A.5 Where a report indicates that a measure is still accumulating data, the Client acknowledges that the absence of a score does not imply any adverse assessment of the Candidate.

10A.6 The Company may suspend or terminate Membership, and access to reports, where it reasonably considers that a Client has breached clause 10A.3.

11. Confidentiality

Any information supplied to the Client by the Company regarding a Candidate is done strictly on a confidential basis to enable the Client to assess a Candidate’s suitability for the position. Except where authorised or required by law, disclosure of any information to any third party by the Client will require express written consent from the Company and the Client.

For the avoidance of doubt, information supplied to the Client under this clause includes any Candidate performance report, performance score, statement of assignment hours, or other Candidate record made available through the Site.

All information disclosed by a Client to the Company must be kept confidential by the Company and will not be disclosed to any third party without the consent of the Client. Any confidential information provided by a Client to the Company may be accessed by any agent, employee or affiliate of the Company in order to complete a successful Candidate placement for the Client.

12. General

Nothing in these Terms & Conditions creates an employment relationship between the Client and the Company, or between the Client and any Candidate supplied through the platform, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing.

Candidates engaged through the platform may operate as independent contractors or under other engagement arrangements determined separately between the Company and the Candidate.

Clients remain responsible for complying with all applicable employment, workplace, health and safety, supervision, and regulatory obligations arising from their engagement of any Candidate.

If the Client breaches these Terms & Conditions, then we may at our discretion immediately suspend or terminate the use of our Services on notice to you. We will notify you by email or at the next time you attempt to access your account. We may also terminate the provision of the Services and/or revoke the licence to use the Site on reasonable notice to you.

Any termination shall not affect those provisions intended to or capable or surviving termination and shall be without prejudice to our rights and remedies accruing prior to termination, including payment of Fees.

No waiver by us of any breach or failure to enforce any provision of these Terms & Conditions shall in any way affect, limit or waive our right to subsequently enforce and compel strict compliance with these Terms & Conditions.

If any provision of the Terms & Conditions is or becomes invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be deemed deleted and such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the other provisions of, all of which shall remain in full force and effect to the extent permitted by law, subject to any modifications made necessary by the deletion of the invalid or unenforceable provisions.

These Terms & Conditions will be governed by New Zealand law and subject to the jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.