Circular 2008/01 - Settlement of the Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement, the IEA and the NZ Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II and Recruitment, Retention and Responsibility (3R) Payments

The recent settlement of the Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement, Secondary Principals' Individual Employment Agreement and Secondary Principals' concurrence; the NZ Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II; Recruitment, Retention and Responsibility (3R) Payments

Date 28 January 2008 | Circular 2008/01 | Category Industrial Relations

This circular is about the recent settlement of the Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement, the Secondary Principals' Individual Employment Agreement and Secondary Principals' Concurrence; the NZ Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II; and Recruitment, Retention and Responsibility (3R) Payments.

This circular replaces does not replace any other.

The action needed is to note the contents of this circular and complete the requirements.  Please ensure that all staff who may be eligible for enrolment in the New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II are made aware of the relevant information.

It is intended for Boards of Trustees who employ secondary principals and secondary teachers.

For more information contact your NZ School Trustees Association about human resource issues generally on 0800 782 435.  Email the Ministry of Education's Industrial Relations Unit: industrial.relations@education.govt.nz. 

Introduction

The Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement (SPCA) was settled on 28 November 2007 and ratified on 10 December 2007. The settlement is for a three year term with salary increases and other improvements introduced over the three years. This circular provides a summary of the changes and new provisions. The full collective agreement will be available on the Ministry of Education website.

Boards should note that following the settlement (and ratification) of a collective agreement, all remuneration or benefits which are additional to those provided in the collective agreement or the promulgated individual employment agreement are terminated at the time the new rates in those agreements are paid for the first time. New concurrence is required should a board wish to continue to provide additional remuneration or benefit for additional responsibility.

Board members should ensure that they adequately familiarise themselves with the new provisions in the collective agreement before any consideration of additional board funded remuneration. It should be noted that the settlement contains significant improvements in remuneration and other conditions of employment for principals.

This circular provides an update on the New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II. Please ensure that all staff who may be eligible for enrolment in the New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II are made aware of the following information on the Diploma.

The circular also outlines some changes to the policy on Recruitment, Retention and Responsibility payments that are paid by some boards to secondary teachers (RRR/3R payments).

The following is contained in this circular:

• Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement - Key Features
• Individual Employment Agreements for Secondary Principals
• Concurrence
• New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Seconda1y Teacher) Division II
• Processing RRR/3R Payments for Secondary and Area Teachers
• Promulgated Individual Employment Agreement for use by boards.

Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement - Key Features

Lump Sum Payment

The Terms of Settlement include a provision for a lump sum (gross) payment of $1000 for members of the PPTA (as at 10 September 2007) and who are bound by the settlement on 28 November 2007. The payment was agreed as part of the settlement between the parties and in recognition of the benefits entering into a three year collective agreement.
Eligible principals will receive the lump sum in the last pay run in March 2008. Principals who are on authorised leave on 28 November 2007 may also be eligible for the lump sum providing they return to their positions on or before 30 June 2008.

Base U-Grade Rates, Staffing Funding Component (Supplementary Funding) and Decile Payments

The salary increases agreed in the settlement are as follows:

• A four percent increase to base U-Grade rates, to the staffing funding component (which was previously called supplementary funding) and to the decile payments with effect from 30 November 2007; and
• A further four percent increase to base U-Grade rates, to the staffing funding component and to the decile payments with effect from 2 July 2008; and
• A further four percent increase to base U-Grade rates, to the staffing funding component and to the decile payments with effect from 1 July 2009.

The settlement also introduces two new U-Grades (U15 and U16) for the largest schools. U15 will apply to school’s that are a roll size of 2,201-2,400 and U16 will apply to schools with rolls above 2,401.

Payment of the new U-grade rates, staffing funding component and decile payments, including any applicable backpay, will occur in the last pay run in March 2008.

The new salary scales, staffing funding component and decile payments are printed below:

Salary Scale:

The staffing funding component is generated by the relevant formula below:

Rates effective 19 July 2006
Total Teacher Staff < 13; staffing funding = ($613 x Total Teacher Staff) + $2,388 Total Teacher Staff > 13; staffing funding = ($121 x Total Teacher Staff) + $9,124

Rates effective 30 November 2007
Total Teacher Staff < 13; staffing funding = ($638 x Total Teacher Staff) + $2,484 Total Teacher Staff > 13; staffing funding = ($126 x Total Teacher Staff) + $9,489

Rates effective 2 July 2008
Total Teacher Staff < 13; staffing funding = ($663 x Total Teacher Staff) + $2,583 Total Teacher Staff > 13; staffing funding = ($131 x Total Teacher Staff) + $9,869

Rates effective 1 July 2009
Total Teacher Staff < 13; staffing funding = ($690 x Total Teacher Staff) + $2,686 Total Teacher Staff > 13; staffing funding = ($136 x Total Teacher Staff) + $10,263

Decile Payments - Decile I or 2 Schools:

Decile Payments - Decile 3 or 4 Schools:

Leadership in Realising Youth Potential

A new payment has been introduced from 28 January 2008 in recognition of the work that secondary principals will do to develop and implement actions to increase the retention, engagement, and achievement of students in secondary schooling, help young people build on their qualifications when they leave school, and to progress along clear pathways into sustainable employment.

The annual payment will consist of a $2,000 payment plus $3 for each Year 11-1 5 student (excluding foreign fee-paying students and adult returning students), from 28 January 2008. The Education Service Payroll will generate this payment using the roll data that is used to determine staffing entitlements for the supplementary component of the remuneration package.

Experience payment

A new annual allowance will be introduced from 28 January 2008 that will provide
$3,000 per annum to principals who have three years current continuous service in a state or state integrate d secondary or area school. This payment is in recognition of the principals' strong professional leadership, which is demonstrated through experience in the role and sound performance as appraised by the board. The Education Service Payroll will determine from the pay records those principals initially eligible (three years current continuous service as a principal) and contact board chairpersons for verification of recent successful appraisals. Schools will continue to be contacted as and when their principal becomes eligible in terms of the service criteria.

Salary protection for U-Grade and decile change

The 12 month salary protection that exists for those principals whose salary will decrease due to either U-grade changes or decile changes will increase to 24 months.

This will mean that any principal whose remuneration decreases as a result of the recent decile changes will have the decile component protected for 24 months from 28 January (when the changes take effect). The protection is at the rate the decile payment was at 28 January.

A principal whose U-grade has gone down as a result of falling student rolls will now have 24 months protection (inclusive of the year the U-grade is confirmed in the March roll). The protection is at the rate that applies when the U-grade change takes effect.

Removals

An addition to the Transfers and Removals clause (clause I 0.1.1) gives the Secretary for Education the authority to exercise discretion, and allow a principal who would not otherwise be eligible, to access removal expenses in limited circumstances.

To apply, a principal would need to write to the Ministry of Education outlining the special circumstances that entitle the principal to access removal expenses. The address to send such an application to is the Resourcing Division, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington - or email at resourcing@education.govt.nz.

Medical retirement

The medical retirement benefit contained in Part Seven of the Collective Agreement has been improved to allow a principal whose employment has been terminated for medical reason to receive both unused sick leave and the annual leave entitlement that would have accrued for the period of unused sick leave.

Annual leave

Annual leave has been increased to 25 days per annum, and clause 5.10 has been amended to ensure that it is clear that annual leave is normally taken when the school is closed for instruction. Principals and their boards need to ensure that annual leave has been taken each year, and that the annual leave is recorded. Boards should note that recording leave taken is a requirement of the Holidays Act 2003. Boards can get further information on this requirement from NZSTA or from their usual source of employment advice.

Expenses

In recognition of concerns raised by the PPTA regarding expenses incurred in the performance of the principals' role, it has been agreed as part of the settlement that the New Zealand Secondary Principals Council, the New Zealand School Trustees Association and the Ministry of Education will develop joint advice by March 2008.

Health and safety clause

A new clause has been inserted into the collective agreement to help recognise the importance of ensuring good and safe working conditions through health and safety in the workplace.

Professional supervision

A project on professional supervision will be undertaken in the first half of 2008. The purpose of this project is to inform the parties about current practice and identify options for consideration by the Secretary for Education.

Individual Employment Agreements for Secondary Principals

Principals not bound by the Collective Agreement, i.e. secondary principals who are not members of the PPTA, will need to sign a new Individual Employment Agreement (IEA) for improvements to pay and conditions. Concurrence from the Ministry is not required where the board and principal agree to the promulgated IEA. Concurrence is required for any proposed variation to the promulgated lEA. IEAs will be effective from the date of signing and cannot be effective earlier than the promulgation (which is 10 January 2008). The Education Service Payroll will be sending the appropriate payroll instructions to schools for completion/authorisation by the Board Chairpersons for return to the local Payroll Service Centre.

Normally any payments cannot be backdated to prior to the date of signing of an IEA, but as the production of this circular was delayed due to the intervening Christmas break, backdating of the pay increases will be accepted on the following conditions:

• Any notification of a signed IEA for a secondary principal received at the Payroll Service Centre prior to 5pm on Friday 29 February 2008 will have the four percent increase to base U-Grade rates, to the staffing funding component and to the decile payments backdated to 10 January 2008.
• Any notification of a signed lEA for a secondary principal received after 29 February 2008 will not be eligible for this backdating of pay.

Current payments by the board to the principal in addition to those in the promulgated 2004-2007 IEA will be ceased by payroll at the time the new rates are paid (see below). New concurrence is required if the board wishes to continue to pay additional rates.

A promulgated IEA is attached to this circular and is also available on the Ministry of Education website at: www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/employmentagreements. Any questions about the application of IEAs should be directed to your NZSTA representative.

Concurrence

Following the settlement (and ratification) of a collective agreement, all remuneration or benefits which are additional to those provided in the collective agreement (or the promulgated 2004-2007 IEA) arc terminated at the time the new rates in the collective agreement are paid for the first time. Therefore, existing concurrence to additional pay will automatically expire on the 25 March 2008. New concurrence is required should a board wish to continue to provide additional remuneration or benefit for additional responsibility.

Applying for new concurrence

Board members should ensure that they adequately familiarise themselves with the new remuneration rates prior to making a decision on the amount of concurrence that will be requested on behalf of their principal.

Outlined below is the procedure relating to the application of concurrence for principals covered by the Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement and the respective promulgated individual employment agreements. The Secretary for Education has the delegated authority from the State Services Commissioner to agree to a board paying a principal remuneration and other benefits that are in addition to the remuneration and benefits specified in the applicable collective agreement or promulgated individual employment agreements (IEA) based on the collective agreement. This delegation has been further delegated to the Employment Relations Unit.

Purpose of payment

The additional remuneration or benefit can only be for the limited purpose of recognising and compensating the principal for the performance of additional duties or responsibilities that are for the benefit of their school and that are outside the scope of the normal duties and responsibilities of a principal.

An additional remuneration or benefit would not be necessary or appropriate in respect of duties and responsibilities that form the basis for determining the principal's basic salary. Furthermore, any additional remuneration or benefit would not be valid if the purpose is to reimburse the principal for a private expense, such as health insurance.

Application of policy

An agreement between a board of trustees (the employer) and principal (the employee) to provide additional remuneration or benefits is not legal or binding without concurrence from the Industrial Relations Unit (on behalf of the Secretary for Education).

Where a board has determined that the principal is required to undertake responsibilities which are additional to those normally required of a principal, and has agreed and recorded in the board minutes that it wishes to pay additional remuneration, concurrence must be sought before any formal offer is made to the principal. Any additional remuneration is based in the U-Grade component of salary only.

The board should record the additional duties and remuneration (and other relevant terms) in a variation of the principal's employment agreement, to reflect that it is a legally enforceable term of employment in addition to those terms and conditions provided in the Collective Agreement or the promulgated IEA.

The additional remuneration which has received concurrence will be paid on a fortnightly basis with the principal's normal salary.

Concurrence is granted for the current school year only. If a board wishes to continue making the payment it must seek concurrence from the Ministry for a further defined period.

For those principals not bound by the collective agreement and who are on an IEA, new concurrence is required at the time the offer of the new IEA occurs.

Reasons for additional remuneration or benefits for which concurrence may be given

Some of the reasons that the Ministry would usually consider an acceptable basis for granting concurrence include (but are not restricted to):

• Management of, and responsibility for, a residential/boarding hostel;
• Recruitment and management of large intakes of foreign fee paying students;
• Management of, and responsibility for, a significant initiative that earns extra revenue for the school and is in addition to the principal's normal role;
• Management of a school that is considered an exemplar of practice which results in other schools seeking info1111ation and advice on the processes undertaken to achieve and maintain the high levels of practice;
• Management of, and responsibility for, implementing a significant change process.

Reasons for additional remuneration or benefits that would not be considered appropriate for concurrence

Examples of reasons for additional remuneration or benefits that would not be considered appropriate for concurrence include:

• Performance payments in the role of principal;
• Recruitment and retention of the principal;
• The decile level of the school (this is already part of the remuneration ration formula);
• Personal benefits including; provision of car or private use of board owned car, motor vehicle allowances for transport to and from work, insurances, subsidised housing rental, Koru Club membership where travel is not for school business only, grooming expenses.

The Ministry will consider each application on its individual merits within the policy parameters described in this circular.

Procedure for obtaining concurrence

A letter of application for concurrence must be sent by the board to the Ministry of Education Industrial Relations Unit (PO Box 1666, Wellington). All applications must include:

• Detailed information and/or supporting documents that explain the principal's additional responsibilities; and
• The specific amount of the additional remuneration or benefit the board is seeking to make; and
• Acknowledgement that the board accepts the liability for the remuneration or benefit and has the financial capacity to make the payment without detriment to its other activities; and
• Acknowledgement the board is aware of the current applicable remuneration of the principal.

Where concurrence is sought to provide additional remuneration or benefit to a principal employed on an IEA that provides for different terms and conditions than the promulgated IEA the Ministry must also sight the full draft IEA with the proposed amendments and/or additions prior to the signing of the IEA by the board and principal.

In some cases, the Ministry will request further info1mation from the board before making a decision on whether to grant concurrence.

Retrospective concurrence is not granted for past payments for which concurrence has neither been sought nor granted. Only in exceptional cases will concurrence be backdated, however, it will not be backdated to a previous year.

A letter will be sent from the Ministry confirming that concurrence has either been granted or declined. Where an application is declined, then the Ministry may set out the reasons in the letter. Inappropriate cases, depending on the reasons for the decision, the Ministry may invite the board to re-apply at a later date.

Where concurrence is granted, the board will need to provide a copy of the letter granting concurrence to their payroll service centre when advising that the payments are to be made.

New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II

Please ensure that all staff who may be eligible for enrolment in the New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II are made aware of the following information.

The New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II will be offered by UC Education Plus (University of Canterbury) from early 2008. This diploma gives a specified group of teachers a further opportunity to upgrade their qualifications for eligibility for the G3+ salary group. Trained secondary teachers in the G3 qualifications group, and the G1 or G2 qualifications group who hold permanent units, and have held these units since February 2003, should check to see if they meet eligibility criteria for enrolment in the Diploma.

Teachers interested in this qualification should go to www.edplus.canterbmy.ac.nz/nzdipss/index for information and an application form, and direct any enquiries to Christiane Rupp or Judy Henderson at nzdipss@edplus.cantcrbury.ac.nz. Completed application forms should be submitted to the Industrial Relations Unit of the Ministry of Education (PO Box 1666, Wellington). The Unit will check that each applicant meets the eligibility criteria, and then forward each application to UC Education Plus to consider for ent1y into the Diploma course.

The Ministry of Education has entered into a contract with UC Education Plus for the delivery of the Diploma. This means that the Ministry meets the fees for the Diploma except for the cost of addition al papers where they are required for completion of the Diploma.

Candidates for the New Zealand Diploma in Specialist Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II should expect to find the requirements for successful completion of the Diploma challenging. To meet the Level 7 requirements of the Diploma, candidates could be required to undertake completion of additional papers through a tertiary provider. The cost of any additional papers required is not met by the Ministry of Education and as such will be borne by the teacher.

In addition to the study assistance described above, eligible teachers will receive up to five days study leave upon application by their school's board to the Ministry of Education, using the application form that will soon be available on the Ministry’s website at www.minedu.govt.nz.

Each teacher will receive a payment of $2,500 (gross) upon successful completion of the New Zealand Diploma in Special is t Subjects (Secondary Teacher) Division II. UC Education Plus will notify the Ministry when the teacher has completed the Diploma.

Entitlement to the G3+ salary group is effective from the date of formal notification of completion of the Diploma as per clause 4.2.1(c) of the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement.

Processing RRR/3R Payments for Secondary and Area Teachers

Recruitment, Retention and Responsibility (RRR/3R) payments were introduced in 2001 as a transitional arrangement when bulk funding was removed. They were initially set at the same level as the units available in the collective agreements, although they were not intended to be linked with, or operate in the same way as units do. Some boards have been allocating the RRR/3R payments as though they were units and this has raised a number of issues when the value of units was increased with the settlement of the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement, and not the value of RRR/3R payments.
There has been a review of the policy and boards now have the discretion to increase the RRR/3R payment rate for secondary and area teachers to $3,650 from the beginning of term I, 2008, to $3,800 from 2 July 2008 and to $4,000 from 1 July 2009 if they elect to do so. Boards cannot differentiate between individual teachers in the school in terms of the RRR/3R payment rate. A change to the RRR/3R payment rate must cover the entire staff of the school in receipt of the payment. The payments remain divisible by two provided that both parts are allocated concurrently. There is no restriction on the number of RRR/3R payments that boards can allocate as fixed term payments.

This change in policy will come into effect in the first pay period in term 1 2008. A RRR/3R payment increase cannot be backdated prior to the board making its decision on whether the payment increase will apply to its school. Boards are advised to make the decision regarding the RRR/3R payment increase with reference to their own financial situation and the affordability of this change. It is advisable for boards to also review their policies concerning the distribution and allocation of fixed term and permanent RRR/3R payments as a result of the greater financial impact.

Note that receipt of RRR/3R payments does not entitle a teacher to progress beyond the qualification group maximum on the salary scale.

Schools are reminded that the period of notice for the removal of RRR/3R is two months for the removal of both fixed-term and permanent RRR/3R payments.

Payroll Service Centres have been instructed to action requests from schools as soon as possible after they have been received but not to backdate payments prior to the start of term 1.

Issued by

Chris Collins, Senior Manager Industrial Relations
Ministry of Education, National Office, 45-47 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, New Zealand, Phone 04-463 8000, Fax 04-463 8001, Email industrial.relations@education.govt.nz

INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

(SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL}

BETWEEN the Board of Trustees ("the Board") of ........................................ [insert name of school] ("the Employer") ................................. [insert school name] a statutory body constituted pursuant to section 93 of the Education Act 1989

AND ("the Employee") ...............................................................................

The Board appoints/continues [delete one} the employment of the Employee as the principal working at ............................................. [place of work]. The Employee's hours of work would normally be with effect from [date} upon and subject to the terms and conditions contained in this agreement.

The salary shall be the rate payable for the U-grade of the school as advised in the entitlement notice from the Ministry of Education and the relevant supplementary and decile funding. Other payments, where applicable, are paid in accordance with the Secondary School Principals' Collective Agreement 2007-2010. The work to be performed by the Employee is set out in the attached position description.

The terms and conditions of employment under this agreement reflect the terms and conditions of the Secondary School Principals' Collective Agreement 2007-2010 which, with all the necessary modifications, are applicable for the Employee. ln addition, the attached plain language explanation of the services available for the resolution of employment relationship problems shall apply.

Any relevant term or condition in the collective agreement, including increases in remuneration, that has an implementation date prior to the date of this Individual Employment Agreement being signed shall apply from the date of signing. Except that in 2008, where the Payroll Service Centre has received notification prior to 5pm Friday 29 February 2008 that the board and the employee have signed a new IEA, a four percent increase to each of the base U-Grade rates, staffing funding component and decile payments shall apply from 10 January 2008.

A copy of the Secondary Principals' Collective Agreement 2007-2010 is available on the Ministry of Education website.

In signing this agreement the board and the employee agree that the terms and conditions of employment set out in this individual employment agreement replace all previous arrangements and understandings, including those to which concurrence had previously been sought and granted.

The Employee acknowledges he/she has had reasonable opportunity to seek advice.

SIGNED by (Employee) on .................................................

SIGNED for and on behalf of the above named Board of Trustees by .......................... [date}

....................................................................... [signature]

....................................................................... [print name and position}

....................................................................... [date}

Last reviewed: 30 July 2020 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback