Area School Teachers' Collective Agreement

1.1.1 This agreement shall be called the Area School Teachers’ 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 teachers (excluding principals) employed in area schools and RTLB referred to in clause 1.3.2(c) below.

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 of the Education and Training Act 2020, the employers of those teachers.
   3. Those RTLB who are no longer covered by clause 1.3.2(a) of this collective agreement after 28 January 2012 (but who were covered by it as at 27 January 2012) and who accept employment in the new lead employing school, so long as they remain employed as an RTLB with that lead school employer, and retain their union membership as at 27 January 2012.

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 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 teacher 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(external link).

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, and the Association and the Institute. Any variation shall take effect from the date of settlement unless otherwise specified.

1.7.1 Unless otherwise specified the terms and conditions of employment of every teacher covered by this agreement will be identical with those that applied prior to 1 April 1988.

1.8.1 The following definitions apply unless the agreement otherwise specifies:

1. 1. Except for fixed term positions of responsibility “advertised” means advertised nationally online in the Education Gazette.
   2. “Association”, means the Post Primary Teachers’ Association Te Wehengarua (PPTA Te Wehengarua) and “Institute” means the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI Te Riu Roa). “Unions” means both the Association and the Institute.
   3. “Employer” shall mean a School Board or a Commissioner where a Commissioner has been appointed under the the Education and Training Act 2020 to act in place of the school board, of a state or integrated school which employs teachers as described under clause 1.3 above. It also means a new school board of a school created by the establishment of a new state or integrated school, or by the merger of two or more existing schools where either event occurs during the term of this agreement as described in clause 1.5 above.
      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.
   4. “Employee” means any person who is or becomes bound by this agreement under clauses 1.3 or 1.4.

1.9.1 Pursuant to section 595 of the Education and Training Act the terms and conditions of this agreement shall be actual terms and conditions.

1.9.2 Provided that the Secretary for Education may approve additional terms and conditions of employment where such terms are not inconsistent with the terms and conditions of this agreement.

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

In recognition of the benefits arising out of the parties’ relationship, including PPTA Te Wehengarua and NZEI Te Riu Roa’s role in negotiating terms and conditions for area school teachers, each area school teacher who is a member of the Association or the Institute on 31 July 2023 and is bound by this Agreement as at 18 August 2023 will be paid:

1. a one-off gross payment as follows:
   1. Full time teachers: $1,500
   2. Part time teachers: A pro-rated payment based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) as at 18 August 2023
   3. Short-term relievers, as defined in clause 3.27.1: a pro-rated payment, based on the total number of days worked between the start of Term 4, 2022 and 18 August 2023, and provided at least one day of short-term relief teaching was worked in Term 1 or 2, 2023.
      A teacher may be eligible to have the payment calculated under more than one category. The minimum payment for any teacher, regardless of FTTE, will be $150, and no teacher shall receive more than $1,500 gross in total.
2. A further $710 one off gross payment (the Teaching Council fees payment). Short-term relievers, as defined in clause 3.27.1, will receive the payment provided at least one day of short-term relief teaching was worked in Term 1 or 2, 2023. The Teaching Council fees payment is not pro-rated, but each teacher is only entitled to be paid it once. This means that if a teacher holds another teaching role(s) under coverage of this or another collective agreement, they will still only receive one Teaching Council fees payment. In such a case the Teaching Council fees payment shall only be paid to the teacher under the collective agreement binding the employee which is ratified first.

1.10.2 Employees who are bound by this Agreement as at 18 August 2023 and on that day were on approved unpaid leave under Part 5 of this collective agreement are entitled, upon application, to receive the above payments on their return to their position providing that they return on or before the end of Term 1, 2024 or on or before 3 July 2025 for those on parental leave. The $1,500 payment will be based on the teacher’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave.

1.10.3 Additional payments for all area school teachers

A one-off gross lump sum payment of $5,000 will be paid to all full-time teachers employed as at 18 August 2023.

The payment will be pro-rated for part-time teachers based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) as at 18 August 2023.

Short-term relievers, as defined in clause 3.27.1, will receive a pro-rated one-off gross payment, based on the total number of days worked between the start of Term 4, 2022 and 18 August 2023, and provided at least one day of short-term relief teaching was worked in Term 1 or 2, 2023.

A teacher may be eligible to have the payment calculated under more than one category or more than one education service collective agreement. The minimum payment for any teacher, regardless of FTTE, will be $500, and no teacher shall receive more than $5,000 gross in total across all education service employment agreements that bind them. If a teacher has received, or is entitled to receive, a lump sum payment under another education service employment agreement, that lump sum payment will be deducted from the $5,000.

1.10.4 Employees who are bound by this Agreement as at 18 August 2023 and on that day were on approved unpaid leave under Part 5 of this collective agreement are entitled, upon application, to receive the $5,000 payment on their return to their position providing that they return on or before the end of Term 1, 2024 or on or before 3 July 2025 for those on parental leave. The amount payable will be based on the teacher’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave.

Note: This clause will be removed in subsequent collective agreements