Emergency Staffing Scheme
Find information about eligibility, how to apply, and more.
| Level of compliance | Main audience | Other |
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Inform
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When a school cannot recruit senior management staff, they may be eligible to access personnel through the Emergency Staffing Scheme.
- About the scheme
- The conditions of the scheme
- How to access the scheme
- The emergency teachers’ retainer
- Paying the ESS pool teacher's salary
- Living away from home allowance criteria
- Expenses you can claim
- Expenses that you may not claim
- How the board pays expenses and claims reimbursement from the Ministry
- Final date for claims – 31 March
About the scheme
The pool of 30 emergency teachers is available to state and state integrated schools.
The Emergency Staffing Scheme (ESS) is funded by the Ministry of Education and administered by the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA).
The conditions of the scheme
The placement is usually for a principal vacancy. Conditions are:
- an acting appointment from within the school is impossible or impracticable
- the board has made every effort to find a relief principal to cover the vacancy, including using local and regional resources
- support is required for 10 school weeks or fewer
- the emergency has arisen from a situation outside of the board's control.
Vacancies for a deputy principal or other senior leadership may be approved if the school can show that the role can't be filled in any other way, and the situation meets all the other conditions above.
Placements beyond 10 weeks
Placements beyond 10 school weeks or extensions to existing placements beyond 10 school weeks must have prior approval from the Ministry and NZSTA. They'll only be considered in exceptional circumstances.
How to access the scheme
Contact the NZSTA's head office in Wellington for the name of your nearest ESS regional coordinator.
New Zealand School Trustees Association
Level 8
142 Lambton Quay
Wellington
PO Box 5123
Wellington
Phone: 0800 782 435
Fax: +64 4 473 4706
Email: eradvice@nzsta.org.nz
The emergency teachers’ retainer
The NZSTA pays Emergency Staffing Scheme pool members a retainer, $6,000 per annum plus $500 per term for distance placements. Distance payments are when a school is 100 kilometres or more from the pool member’s normal address.
This retainer is paid through NZSTA to the pool member in 4 equal instalments by direct credit into the ESS pool member’s nominated bank account.
When you engage an emergency teacher, you pay their salary.
Paying the ESS pool teacher's salary
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If the position to be covered by the ESS pool teacher |
then the ESS pool teacher's salary is ... |
|---|---|
| is currently vacant | paid from teachers' salaries. The board becomes the pool teacher's employer and the provisions of the relevant collective agreement apply.
ESS pool teachers are paid at the rate applicable to their qualifications and experience. |
| covers a teacher on long-term leave with pay (and sick leave) |
met by the board from its operational funding. |
Expenses you can claim
The expenses that an ESS pool member can claim from you, which you can have reimbursed by the Ministry, are as follows.
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Travel |
Entitlement |
|---|---|
| Pool teacher living at normal place of residence and travelling up to 60 kilometres each way to placement. |
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| Pool teacher living at their normal place of residence and travelling between 60 and 100 kilometres each way to placement. |
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| Pool teacher living away from their normal place of residence where placement is at least 100 kilometres away |
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Living away from home allowance criteria
- The school board can apply to be reimbursed up to $130.00 GST inclusive per day for costs relating to accommodation and food.
- Below are some examples that fit under the allowance:
- Rent and costs relating to rent such as electric/gas/water
- Costs for hotels or Airbnb’s
- Cost to pay boarding fees
- Groceries (please note groceries will only be reimbursed up to $12.00 per day) and this need to be made clear in documentation provided with the application.
Expenses that you may not claim
An ESS pool teacher may wish to travel home in term time during the appointment. This travel will be at the expense of the employee. The daily allowance, however, will continue to be paid.
How the board pays expenses and claims reimbursement from the Ministry
The board employing the ESS pool teacher is responsible for paying travel expenses and the daily living away from home allowance. The Ministry will then reimburse these expenses to the employing board.
The board employing the ESS pool teacher is responsible for paying travel expenses and the daily living away from home allowance. The Ministry will then reimburse these expenses to the employing board.To be reimbursed for these expenses, the school board will need to provide the ministry with documentation/evidence that these costs were paid by the ESS principal and then reimbursed by the School Board to the principal.
Evidence can be provided by:
- Invoices
- bank statements
- receipts.
We are only able to reimburse costs that are directly paid out of board funds.
How to claim reimbursement for qualifying ESS expenses
| Stage | Description |
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| 1 |
The ESS pool teacher submits their claim to the board. The claim consists of:
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| 2 | The board initially pays the qualifying expenses from its operational funding. |
| 3 | The board seeks reimbursement from the Resourcing Division of the actual costs paid. We will only reimburse claims listed in the table above. |
Emergency Staffing Scheme Claim Form [DOCX, 58 KB]
Final date for claims — 31 March
The final date for processing claims for any school year will be 31 March of the following year.
Claims received at the Resourcing Division after this date will not be actioned, nor will claims received prior to the cut-off date where appropriate and full documentation didn't accompany the claim.
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