School employees standing for election to Parliament#

Category: Employment relations 

This circular does not replace any other.  

It is intended for presiding members of school boards and principals of all state and state-integrated schools.

For more information, contact Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa | New Zealand School Boards Association (NZSBA).

Phone: 0800 782 435

Email: [email protected]

Action#

The action needed is to note the contents of this circular, particularly if you have any employees standing for election to Parliament.

Introduction #

The Electoral Act 1993 sets out legal requirements for school employees standing for election to Parliament.  This circular summarises these requirements.

Note that this information applies only to school employees who are employed by the school board. If someone working at your school is employed by, for example, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry’s requirements will apply to them.

General information#

Under the Electoral Act 1993, employees of school boards are considered to be state servants and are entitled to stand for election to Parliament, subject to the provisions of that Act.

If an employee intends to stand for election, they must:

• notify their school board of their intention to stand for election, and
• take leave from at least nomination day to the first working day after polling day.

Leave#

Employees of school boards standing for election to Parliament must take leave, at a minimum, from nomination day to the first working day after polling day. 

This year, nomination day is 8 October 2026. Nomination day is the final deadline for candidates and parties to submit nomination forms and party lists to the Electoral Commission.

If a school board believes that an employee’s candidacy will materially affect their ability to carry out their duties satisfactorily or to be seen as independent in relation to particular duties, the board can require leave to start before nomination day.  This is a decision for school boards to make after consultation with the employee.

When an employee is on leave because they are standing for election to Parliament:

• they cannot carry out any normal work duties, and
• they cannot receive remuneration, except any annual leave or other leave entitlement they may be owed.

If an employee is elected to Parliament#

If an employee is elected to Parliament, they are considered to have vacated their employment.

The exception to this is where a person may have been elected and vacated their employment, but their election is later made void (such as after a recount of a very close election). In these cases, the person can return to their job if certain conditions are met.  

We recommend school boards seek advice from the Te Whakarōpūtanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa | NZ School Boards Association if this situation occurs.

Excerpts from the Electoral Act 1993#

Set out below are relevant excerpts from the Electoral Act 1993

52    Candidacy and election of State servants#

(2)    Any State servant who desires to become a candidate for election as a member of Parliament shall be placed on leave of absence for the purposes of his or her candidature.

(3)    Subject to subsection (4), the period of leave shall commence on nomination day, and, in the event of his or her nomination as a constituency candidate or of the inclusion of his or her name in a list submitted under section 127, shall continue until the first working day after polling day, unless, in any case where he or she is a constituency candidate, he or she withdraws his or her nomination.

(4)    Where the employer of any State servant is satisfied that the State servant desires to become a candidate and that the candidacy will materially affect the ability of that State servant—

(a)    To carry out satisfactorily his or her duties as a State servant; or

(b)    To be seen as independent in relation to particular duties,—the period of leave shall, if the employer so determines after consultation with the State servant, commence before nomination day on a day appointed by the employer.

(5)    During the period of his or her leave, the State servant shall not be required or permitted to carry out any of his or her official duties, nor shall he or she be entitled to receive any salary or other remuneration as a State servant in respect of that period or any part thereof, except to the extent to which he or she takes during that period any leave with pay to which he or she is entitled: …

53    Members disqualified from being State servants#

(2)   If any State servant is elected as a member of Parliament, he or she shall forthwith on being declared so elected, be deemed, subject to subsections (3) to (6) of this section, to have vacated his or her office as a State servant.

Issued by#

Tim Tucker, Manager – Employment Relations and Payroll Operations
Te Pou Ohumahi Mātauranga | Education Workforce

Ministry of Education, National Office, 1 The Terrace, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.

Phone: 04 463 8000

Email: [email protected]