Area School Principals' Collective Agreement

1.1.1 This agreement shall be called the Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement and referred to hereafter as the “agreement”.

1.2.1 The parties to this agreement shall be:

1. 1. The Secretary for Education acting under delegation from the Public Service Commissioner made pursuant to clause 6 of schedule 3 of the Public Service Act 2020 and acting in accordance with section 586(5) of the Education and Training Act 2020; and
   2. The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’ Association Te Wehengarua and The New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (referred to hereafter as “the Association” and the “Institute” respectively).

1.3.1 This agreement covers Principals employed in Area Schools.

1.3.2 This agreement shall be binding on:

1. 1. All employees who come within the coverage clause and who are at the commencement of the agreement or who become during the term of the agreement, members of the Institute or the Association.
   2. Pursuant to section 586(6) of the Education and Training Act 2020, the employers of those employees.

1.4.1 New employees whose work falls within the coverage clause of this agreement shall, in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000(external link), be advised of the existence of this collective agreement and be offered the opportunity to join the Association or the Institute and thereby become bound by this agreement.

1.4.2 Employees who join the Institute or the Association during the currency of this agreement shall become bound by this agreement from the date on which they joined.

1.4.3 The parties agree that this agreement shall become binding on any new School Board which employs a Principal to whom clause 1.3.1 applies.

1.5.1 This agreement shall come into force on 3 July 2023 and shall expire on 2 July 2025, except as provided for by section 53 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

1.6.1 The parties agree that the terms and conditions of this agreement may be varied at any time by written agreement between the Secretary for Education, under delegation from the Public Service Commissioner made pursuant to clause 6 of schedule 3 of the Public Service Act 2020, and the Association and the Institute.

1.7.1 This agreement shall apply only to Principals who are certificated teachers.

1.8.1 The following definitions apply unless the agreement otherwise specifies:

1. 1. “Advertised” means advertised nationally.
   2. "Area School" means a composite school that offers education to students in years 1 to 13.
   3. “Association”, means the Post Primary Teachers’ Association and “Institute” means the New Zealand Educational Institute. “Unions” means both the Association and the Institute.
   4. “Employer” shall mean a School Board or where a Commissioner has been appointed under the Education and Training Act 2020 to act in place of the School Board, the Commissioner. (Note: In relation to a dispute about the interpretation, application or operation of this agreement, the employer shall act, if the Public Service Commissioner and/or the Secretary for Education acting under delegation so requires, together or in consultation with the Public Service Commissioner and/or the Secretary for Education.)
   5. “Employee” means a Principal who is, or becomes or is seeking to become bound by this agreement under clauses 1.3 or 1.4.
   6. “Principal” shall mean an area school teacher who has been fully certificated or provisionally certificated or certificated subject to confirmation by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand (Teaching Council) and who has been appointed to the position of Principal of an area school.
   7. "Secondment" shall mean a period shall mean a period where a Principal takes agreed leave with or without pay from their employer, in order to undertake fixed term employment as a principal in another school or with a specified education sector agency.
   8. “Specified Education Sector Agency” means Te Mahau, Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga (the Ministry of Education), ERO, NZQA, and NZCER and the Teaching Council.

1.9.1 Pursuant to section 595 of the Education and Training Act 2020, the terms and conditions contained in this agreement are declared actual terms and conditions, provided that concurrence may be given from time to time by the Secretary for Education under authority delegated from the Public Service Commissioner, to additional terms and conditions, where such terms and conditions are not inconsistent with the terms and conditions contained in this agreement, and/or to the salary rates or allowances being treated as minimum rates where there is agreement to this between the employer and any of its employees.

Note: Where an individual employee had such a concurrence issued by the Public Service Commissioner or the Secretary for Education on the coming into force of this agreement, that concurrence is rescinded and the employee’s Board will need to reapply to the Secretary for Education. Further information on concurrences can be found on the Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga website.

1.10.1 The parties to this agreement recognise the value in their ongoing and productive relationship, including their joint efforts to build an environment in which the teaching profession is highly regarded, sustainable, and is fit for now and the future of learning, and that collective bargaining is a key part of those joint efforts.

1.10.2 In recognition of the benefits arising out of the parties’ relationship, including NZEI and PPTA’s role in negotiating terms and conditions for Principals, subject to clause 1.10.7, each principal who is a member of NZEI or PPTA as at:

1. 1. 27 July 2023 will be paid:
      1. a one-off gross payment as follows:
         • full-time principals: $2,000
         • part-time principals: A pro-rated payment based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) as at 27 July 2023. 
      2. a further $710 one-off gross payment (the Teaching Council fees payment).
   2. 1 December 2023 will be paid one-off gross payment as follows:
      
      1. Full time Principals: $1000
      2. Part time Principals: A pro-rated payment based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) as at 1 December 2023.

1.10.3 Principals who are on approved unpaid leave under Part 5 of this collective agreement as at 27 July 2023 (for the payment in (a) above) or 1 December 2023 (for the payment in (b) above) are entitled, upon application, to receive the payments on their return to their position providing that they return on or before the end of Term 3, 2024 or on or before the start of Term 1, 2025 for those on parental leave. The pro-rated payments will be based on the Principal’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave.

Additional Payments for all Principals 

1.10.4 Subject to clause 1.10.7, a one-off gross payment of $1,500 will be paid to full-time Principals employed as at 3 July 2023.

1.10.5 The payment will be pro-rated for part-time Principals based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) as at 3 July 2023. 

1.10.6 Principals employed as at 3 July 2023 who on that day were on approved leave under Part 5 of this collective agreement are entitled, upon application, to receive the $1,500 payment on their return to their position provided that they return on or before the end of Term 3, 2024 or on or before the start of Term 1, 2025 for those on parental leave. The amount payable will be based on the principal’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave.

Only one entitlement across Education Service

1.10.7 If a Principal is or was entitled to be paid a lump sum payment(s) under another collective agreement that binds employees of school boards and that has come into force since 30 November 2022, then that payment(s) will be deducted from the payments in 1.10.2 above.

Note: Clause 1.10 will be removed in subsequent collective agreements.