Early childhood groups say a pay rise won by kindergarten teachers will make it harder for other early childhood centres to attract and retain staff.
The Educational Institute and the Ministry of Education have reached a proposed settlement that retains kindergarten teachers' pay parity with school teachers and boosts the pay of kindergarten head teachers.
The proposed settlement provides pay rises of between 2.5% and 3% over the three years, and increases head teachers' pay by more than $2,000 to $77,000 a year by 2015.
The government will increase its subsidies to kindergartens so they can afford the pay rises.
The Early Childhood Council and the Childcare Association say other services will be under pressure to match kindergarten's pay rates.
But they say that will be difficult unless the Government increases their subsidies in next year's Budget.
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