What do I need to know about?
Teacher Registration (including Salary Assessment for Beginning Teachers)
Registration 'Subject to Confirmation' (STC)
Full Registration
Maternity Leave
What are my maternity leave entitlements?
Sick Leave
What are my sick leave entitlements?
Other Leave
Can I have a paid day off to attend a wedding/graduation/positive celebration?
Jury Service
What’s the jury service entitlement and how does it work?
Termination of Employment
What is my resignation period?
If I resign do I get paid during the holidays?
Relieving
What's the difference between short and long term relieving, and how does it affect my pay?
Breaks
What's my entitlement to rest breaks, morning tea and lunch?
Classroom Release Time
What do I need to know about Classroom Release Time?
Unit Allocation Guidelines
What do I need to know when developing unit allocation policy?
If you're a NZEI member, refer to the relevant part of your collective agreement.
If you're not a member, you can join NZEI online or call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443) for information on how to join.
About maternity leave
Maternity leave is one part of the provisions of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987, which gives eligible members entitlement to:
Unpaid
- Maternity leave of up to 18 weeks
- Special leave (pregnancy related) of up to 10 days
- Paternity/partners' leave of up to 2 weeks
- Extended leave of up to 52 weeks
Paid
- Up to 18 weeks of parental leave payments
Note: Parental leave payments are processed by Inland Revenue. You can get the application form from the IRD website or call the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on 0800 20 90 20.
General population provisions
For the population at large the three main components of maternity, special and extended leave must fit within the 52 weeks limitation. In other words, if a woman takes 18 weeks maternity leave, usually taken before the birth of the baby, the maximum “extended leave” available would then be 34 weeks (52 - 18).
With the changes to the Parental Leave Act as of the 1st of April 2016 all employees who meet the work test outlined on the IRD website will be entitled to 18 weeks of parental leave payments, irrespective of whether they have position to take leave from. This means that teachers who are short term relievers or on fixed term contracts who meet the work requirements are now entitled to the full 18 weeks worth of payments.
Primary teacher and principal provisions
For primary teachers and principals, however, the maternity leave does not count against the extended leave entitlement. You could, therefore, take 18 weeks maternity leave prior to the birth of the baby and then take a full 52 weeks of extended leave.
This amount of leave is available to you if you have been teaching at least 12 months immediately before the leave. There is less leave available to women with less than 52 weeks service.
The leave can be taken any time during pregnancy so long as you give the Board of Trustees one months notice in writing (with a medical certificate confirming pregnancy).
Maternity grant
A maternity grant (calculated on the basis of six
weeks salary) is available to you if you:
- qualify for maternity leave (you must be entitled to take leave from a position, not just the 18 weeks' paid parental leave payment), OR
- resign becuse of pregnancy or adoption
Note: The maternity grant will not be paid if
you have not produced a medical certificate confirming pregnancy before
commencing leave or resigning. You must submit your application through your school Payroll Officer to Novopay using form NOVO 27. A
copy of your child's birth certificate (certified that the original has been
sighted) must also be attached to this application. You must ensure that you
have provided proof of pregnancy at the point of your application for maternity
leave.
You should contact IRD to discuss any possible tax implications of receiving the maternity grant and paid parental leave payments at the same time.
If you have a period of parental leave without pay in any one school year, your holiday pay will be reduced (a holiday pay adjustment) based on the total number of days without pay in that year.
If you're a member of NZEI, call 0800 693 443 for further advice about your entitlements in the relevant collective agreement.
If you're a NZEI member, refer to the relevant part of your collective agreement.
If you're not a member, you can join NZEI online or call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443) for information on how to join.
These sections are quite detailed. You will need to check the clauses to find an answer to your query, or call 0800 NZEI HELP. In simple terms, however, sick leave entitlement is based on service and is allocated in two ways:
Minimum Entitlement
After
six months service, you will be entitled to 5 days sick leave on pay
for the following twelve months. You will then be entitled to further
lots of 5 days sick leave on pay for each subsequent twelve months of
service. Any unused sick leave may be accumulated. In addition you are
entitled to:
Additional Entitlement
At
the start of set periods of service you are entitled to blocks of sick
leave as stipulated in Table A of part 4.1.3. For example:
- From 0 to 3 months 7 days
- From 3 months and up to 6 months 7 days
- From five years and up to ten years 19 days
These blocks of leave are in addition to the “minimum entitlement” and may also be accumulated.
Note:
There is another table, Transitional Leave Table B, which applies only
to people who were employed immediately prior to 1 July 1992. Once the
employee has completed a single period of service in Table B the sick
leave provisions shall revert to Table A.
Debiting of Sick Leave
Your
sick leave is debited on the basis of actual working days as long as
you are not away for more than five consecutive working days. You will
lose weekends
only if your absence is for more than five consecutive working days.
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Principals’
Collective Agreement within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800
NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
- Part 7.4, Discretionary Leave
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
- Part 4.5, Discretionary Leave
Approval
for such leave is at the discretion of the Board of Trustees. The Board
of Trustees also decides whether it shall be paid leave or leave
without pay.
The decision may be based on the reason for the
request and the effect granting the leave may have on the operational
requirements of the school.
The Primary Teachers’ Collective gives
examples of a variety of activities that may be covered by these
provisions. The list is not exhaustive.
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
- Part 4.5, Discretionary Leave
- 4.5.2, Jury service and Witness Leave
Primary Teachers
As
long as you are not pursuing your own interests or answering charges
against yourself, the Board of Trustees will grant you leave with pay
when you are required by subpoena for jury service. Any fees you receive
must be paid to the Board of Trustees.
Principals
There
is no specific provision in the Primary Principals’ Collective
Agreement covering jury service. The Board of Trustees may grant you
leave with pay for jury service. The Board of Trustees can also formally
apply to the court for an exemption for you if it believes your
attendance at court will disadvantage the school.
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Principals’
Collective Agreement within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800
NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
- Part 10.2, Termination of Employment
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
- Part 2, General Provisions
- 2.9, Termination of Employment
You must give not less than two calendar months notice.
You
may, however, be able to negotiate with your employer and mutually
agree on a shorter period. The emphasis here is on “mutually agree”.
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
The quick answer is yes, but the true situation is a little more complicated.
Holiday
pay is calculated as 30% of the service you provide. Service includes
the days the school is open for instruction plus weekends and statutory
holidays, but not school vacations.
If you worked for a 10 week
term, for example term one, that would equal 70 days service, (10 x 7 =
70 days). This would in turn generate 21 days holiday pay, (70 x 30 % =
21 days).
If you were permanently employed or in a long term
relieving position for one year, fourteen of those days would be used to
pay for the period of the first term break. The remaining 7 days would
be used to cover the longer break over the Christmas holidays.
If,
however, you were to resign at the end of the first term you would be
paid-out, i.e. you would be paid all of the holiday pay you had
generated. This would cover the “holidays” mentioned in your question
plus the additional 7 days pay.
There would be some variations on
this theme if, for example, you moved on to another job from the start
of the next term. The main point is that you would receive all the
holiday pay generated by the amount of “service” you provided.
Reference: Members can refer to your Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
within MYNZEI. Non members will need to call 0800 NZEI HELP (0800 693 443)
- Part 3.25, Payment of Salaries
Long Term Relievers
Part 3.25.2
You
would be classed as a long term reliever if you were employed for more
than 3 weeks. You would be paid at the rate dictated by your service and
qualifications with no “cap” on the rate. If for example, you were
entitled to be paid at step 12 you would be paid at step 12 for all of
your relieving period.
Your actual fortnightly pay would be the
annual salary divided by 365 and then multiplied by 14. For example, if
you were on step 12 your pay (using 2013 to 2015 figures) would be:
- $73,000 / 365 = $200.00 per day
- $$200.00 x 14 = $2800.00 per fortnight
Your
service would also generate holiday pay (21
days pay for a 10 week term, i.e. an additional $4,200.00 gross) and you would
be entitled to various allowances. If your position was for 1 year or
more then you would be entitled to all the provisions that apply to
permanent teachers except for surplus staffing conditions.
Short Term Relievers
Part 3.25.3
You
would be classed as a short term reliever if you were employed for
periods of up to and including 3 weeks. Your salary would be “capped’ at
step 8 of the salary scale.
If you would normally be eligible
for step 8 or above your actual fortnightly pay would be step 8
divided by 190 and then multiplied by 10, i.e.:
- $57,360 / 190 = $301.61 per day
- $301.61 x 10 = $3016.10 per fort night
This rate includes holiday pay and would generate no further income.
Note 1: There are different pay rates for teachers employed hourly.
Note 2:
In the short term the Short Term Reliever rates are more lucrative than
the long term rates. It must be noted that the Short Term Reliever
rates
include holiday pay and do not generate any
further income. Once the cap is lifted and the holiday pay is added to
the Long Term Reliever rates the picture can be very different.
There are no
specific provisions for such breaks in either the Primary Teachers' or
Principals' Collective Agreements.
In light of the recent changes to the Employment Relations
Act 2000, the entitlement to rest breaks for employees in New Zealand have
changed. NZEI holds the view that timely and genuine breaks are an important
part of a healthy workplace environment.
While the Employment Relations Act no longer provides for a
strict entitlement to breaks, employees are either entitled to rest breaks or
compensatory measures. You can find
more information about these changes at the MBIE website.
If you are concerned about your rest break entitlements and
are a member of NZEI you can call 0800 693 443 for further advice. If you are
not a member of NZEI, join online here.
Primary Teachers
Classroom
Release Time has been available to full time classroom teachers since
Term 4 2005. In 2007 Classroom Release Time was extended to those
teachers working 0.8 or more on a pro rata basis. Schools are provided
with staffing to cover the release time.
How could Classroom Release Time be used?
This template policy contains a list of ideas of how Classroom Release Time be used. The two
key things that schools must decide are: what teachers will use the
Classroom Release Time for, and what the class will be taught during the
provision of each teacher’s Classroom Release Time? The answer to these
will vary from school to school depending on their needs and
availability of teaching staff.
Who decides how Classroom Release Time can be used?
Each
school must have a policy on the use of Classroom Release Time. The
policy is designed through consultation between the principal and
teachers. Prior to starting the process the principal should provide a
briefing for the Board of Trustees. (Confirm that the Board of Trustees
has delegated responsibility to the principal.) The final policy should
be presented to the Board of Trustees.
How do I get more information about Classroom Release Time?
See the
Classroom Release Time guidelines booklet, a
list of further FAQs, or contact 0800NZEI HELP for further assistance.
Principals
Classroom Release Time is not available to principals.