Changes to the Area School Principals' Collective Agreement 2023–25

• Principals will receive 3 increases to the school roll-based salary (U-grade) component of their remuneration over the term of the agreement – 1 increase in 2023 and 2 increases in 2024. The first increase will take effect from 3 July 2023 and will be paid in pay period 14 on 3 October 2023.
• A one-off gross payment of $710 will be paid to each principal who is a union member and was employed as at 27 July 2023.
• A one-off gross payment of $2,000 will be paid to each principal who is a union member and was employed as at 27 July 2023. This will be pro-rated for part-time principals based on their FTTE hours as at 27 July 2023.
• A one-off gross payment of $1,000 will be paid to each principal who is a union member and who is bound by this Collective Agreement as at 1 December 2023. This will be pro-rated for part-time principals based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) hours as at 1 December 2023.
• A one-off gross payment of $1,500 will be paid to each principal who is a union member and employed as at 3 July 2023. The payment will be pro-rated for part-time principals based on their FTTE hours as at 3 July 2023.
• The one-off gross payment of $1,500 will be paid to non-union principals who have signed the new Individual Employment Agreement (IEA) published on 28 July 2023. The new IEA must be signed by 22 September 2023 to receive the payment.
• In both 2023 and 2024, area school principals can access an entitlement of up to $6,000 per annum for professional coaching and wellbeing support for their leadership role.

All full-time area school principals employed as at 3 July 2023 who are union members will receive a one-off gross payment of $1,500. This payment will be pro-rated for part-time principals based on their full-time teaching equivalent (FTTE) hours as at 3 July 2023. Principals who are union members will receive this payment in pay period 14 on 3 October 2023.

For non-union principals to be eligible for this lump sum payment, schools must ensure that both the principal and the employer have signed the new IEA by 22 September 2023.

Schools are responsible for ensuring that the payroll system reflects the IEA change, enabling principals who are not union members to receive the payment. Depending on when paperwork is submitted to EdPay, the earliest date for the lump sum to be paid is pay period 17 on 14 November 2023.

Principals are entitled to receive this payment only once. If a principal is or was entitled to receive a lump sum under another collective agreement that has come into force since 30 November 2022, any payment already received will be deducted from this lump sum.

Principals who were on approved unpaid leave as at 3 July 2023 are entitled to receive the $1,500 payment 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 amount payable will be based on the principal’s FTTE hours as at their last working day before going on leave. 

Application should be made using the EP31 form.

EP31 form – Education Payroll(external link)

The parties to this collective 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. Collective bargaining is a key part of those joint efforts.

In recognition of the benefits arising out of the parties’ relationship, including the role of NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA Te Wehengarua in negotiating terms and conditions for area school principals, each principal who is a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa or PPTA Te Wehengarua as at 27 July 2023 will receive 2 additional payments in pay period 14 on 3 October 2023. A third additional payment will be paid to principals who are members of NZEI Te Riu Roa or PPTA Te Wehengarua as at 1 December 2023.

These payments are as follows:

• $710 payable to each union member bound by this Collective Agreement as at 27 July 2023. The payment is not pro-rated; it will be paid in full to all eligible principals. The payment has been calculated to provide a net amount broadly equivalent to the cost of renewing a teaching practising certificate. 
• $2,000 payable to each union member bound by this Collective Agreement as at 27 July 2023. The payment is pro-rated for part-time principals based on their FTTE hours as at 27 July 2023.
• An additional payment of $1,000 is payable to each union member bound by this Collective Agreement as at 1 December 2023. The payment is pro-rated for part-time principals based on their FFTE hours as at 1 December 2023. 

Principals are entitled to receive the above payments only once. If a principal is or was entitled to receive a lump sum under another collective agreement that has come into force since 30 November 2022, any payment already received will be deducted from this lump sum.

Principals who were on approved unpaid leave as at 27 July 2023 or 1 December 2023 are entitled, on 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 amount payable will be based on the principal’s FTTE hours as at their last working day before going on leave.

From 1 January 2023, the school decile-rating system, previously used to allocate equity funding to schools that would benefit from additional resources, was replaced with the Equity Index (EQI).

Principals of schools with a decile rating of 1, 2, 3 or 4 will continue to receive a decile-based component in their remuneration, for the period up to 27 January 2024.

From the start of the 2024 school year, all decile payments cease and principals in schools with an EQI between 478 to 569 will receive an Equity Index payment in addition to their base salary.

The EQI payment for each principal is determined by multiplying their school’s EQI number by nine.

The EQI number for each school and kura will be calculated annually, using the updates to the Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI).

A principal’s salary will be protected for 24 months even if there is a change in their eligibility for an EQI payment. A principal’s remuneration could be reduced because of:

1. The translation from the decile-based payment to the new EQI payment, or
2. The annual EQI review results in their school EQI falling below 478 (478 is the lowest EQI level which entitles a principal to an EQI payment).

For each of the 2023 and 2024 school years, area school principals will have access to funding of up to $6,000 per annum for professional coaching and support for their leadership role. This is intended to support ongoing coaching, professional learning and development that assist with principals’ leadership capability.

The additional funding will be tagged in schools’ operational funding grants for the purposes of professional coaching and support for principals.

More information and guidance on how the allowance can be used is now available.

Professional coaching and wellbeing support funding access(external link)

Effective from January 28, 2024, overall sick leave entitlements improve.

Sick leave entitlements will be based on a principal's employment history, as a teacher or a principal in any state or state-integrated school. This includes all full-time and part-time employment and any short-term relieving. It also includes employment covered under clause 5.2.1 in the Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement.

5.2.1 Recognition of additional employment for sick leave purposes

Under the new sick leave entitlement, principals will be granted an initial allocation of 20 days of sick leave upon first appointment to a teaching or principal position (whichever is first) in a state or state-integrated school. For every 6 months of continuous employment (up to 30 months) they will receive another 10 days. After that, there will be an allocation of 10 days sick leave entitlement for every 12 months of employment.

A principal employed prior to 28 January 2024 will also receive the same entitlement, which will replace previous allocations of sick leave. A principal’s new sick leave balance will be the new translated entitlement, minus any sick days previously taken. Unused sick leave is carried over.

When transitioning to the new sick-leave entitlement, no principal will be disadvantaged. A principal will not have a sick-leave balance of less than 10 days or less than the balance they had as at 27 January 2024.

Sick-leave deductions

Sick leave will only be deducted from a principal's entitlement for days that the school is open for instruction and on which the principal would have normally worked.

Any sick leave deducted from entitlements since 3 July 2023 over weekends will be reinstated before the start of the 2024 school year.

If a principal exhausts their sick leave balance before the correction is made, the board may consider granting anticipated sick leave. Anticipated sick leave can be applied for using EdPay or via an EP12 form. Any anticipated sick leave will be taken into account when corrections are made.

More information on anticipated sick leave and how to apply for it can be found on the Education payroll website.

Sick leave for teachers and principals – Education Payroll(external link)

The purpose of the Māori immersion teaching allowance (MITA) is to recognise te reo Māori as a taonga to be actively protected under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to recognise the skills and knowledge kaiako and tumuaki must have to teach the curriculum in te reo Māori.

Principals are eligible for the MITA if they meet the following requirements: 

1. they must teach te reo Māori immersion classes at Levels 1, 2 or 3 for at least 6 timetabled hours per week
2. they need to meet the minimum teaching time requirements for the specific level of immersion
3. they must have the language proficiency necessary to effectively teach the curriculum in te reo Māori for the period required by the language immersion level in which they are teaching.

From 27 July 2023, the MITA will increase for Levels 1 and 2. Rates will increase up to a maximum of $12,000 per annum for immersion Level 1 and up to a maximum of $8,000 per annum for immersion Level 2. The rates' increase from the base to the maximum will depend on years of service at that level.

The allowance will also be introduced for tumuaki teaching te reo Māori immersion classes at Level 3 from 27 July 2023.

A principal can only receive an allowance for 1 level at any 1 time. Each allowance will be pro-rated for part-time principals based on the total hours taught in te reo Māori by the part-time principal.

The purpose of the Pacific bilingual immersion teaching allowance (PBITA) is to recognise the additional skills needed to deliver teaching and learning through a Pacific language in a Pacific bilingual or immersion context in a school or kura.

A principal is eligible for the PBITA allowance if they meet the minimum teaching time criteria and possess the necessary proficiency in the Pacific language to teach the curriculum for the required period in a Pacific bilingual or immersion programme.

From 28 January 2024, all eligible principals who teach in a Pacific language within a Pacific bilingual or immersion unit, programme, or class (as defined by the Ministry in the school roll return guidelines) at Level 1 or Level 2, will receive the allowance. The allowance they receive will depend on the highest language level they are teaching and their years of service teaching in a bilingual or immersion setting.

To be eligible for Level 1, the principal will teach the curriculum in a Pacific language for between 81 - 100% of the time. For Level 2, the curriculum will be taught in a Pacific language between 51 - 80% of class time.

Hours considered for Level 2 can include hours taught at Level 1 immersion, but no Level 2 hours taught can be considered for the Level 1 allowance.

A principal can only receive the allowance for one level at a time.

The starting allowance for both Level 1 and Level 2 is $4,000. For Level 1, the allowance increases to $6,000 after 3 years of teaching in a Pacific language and then to $8,000 after 6 years. Level 2 will increase to $5,000 after 3 years and then to $6,000 after 6 years.

Schools can apply for this allowance using EdPay form EP37P.

EdPay forms(external link)

More information

See detailed information about the PBITA across all collective agreements:

Pacific bilingual immersion teaching allowance

See our guide on how to establish a Pacific bilingual or immersion unit in a school:

How to establish a Pacific bilingual or immersion unit in a school

From 28 January 2024, tumuaki/principals of kura or schools offering Level 1 or Level 2 te reo Māori or Pacific language immersion programmes will be entitled to a cultural leadership allowance of $5,000 per annum.

The Ministry of Education’s school roll return guidelines define Levels 1 and 2 Māori and Pacific Language immersion and bilingual programmes as:

• Māori medium programmes delivering the curriculum is in te reo Māori at either Level 1 or Level 2:
  • At Level 1, the curriculum is taught in te reo Māori between 81 - 100% of the time. All students in the programme are expected to interact freely in te reo Māori.
  • At Level 2, the curriculum is taught in te reo Māori between 51 - 80% of class time.

• Pacific bilingual or immersion education is where a Pacific language is the language of instruction for over 50% of the time:
  • At Level 1, the curriculum is taught in a Pacific language between 81 - 100% of the time.
  • At Level 2, the curriculum is delivered in a Pacific language between 51 - 80% of class time.

The purpose of sabbatical leave is to provide a paid period of leave during a principal's career, to engage in a balance of professional learning, reflection and rejuvenation.

The number of paid sabbaticals awarded annually for area school principals will increase to 18 from the start of the 2024 school year.

The collective agreement parties are working to simplify the application form, including the programme outline requirements, time commitments and reporting. This work will be completed and implemented ahead of the 2024 application round opening.

The wording of the collective agreement has been updated to reflect the introduction of the professional growth cycle (PGC) by the Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa and the removal of mandatory performance agreements and annual appraisals.

Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement Part 4: Professional Leadership and Growth(external link)

The PGC is a growth-focused process promoting engagement in professional learning networks and supporting school leaders to successfully undertake the unique complexity of their role.

More information on the PGC and the benefits for school leaders can be found on the Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa website:

Professional growth cycle – Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand(external link)

Effective from 3 July 2023, up to 7 days' leave with or without pay may be granted to an area school principal who is:

1. required or directed not to attend school because of a Public Health Order, and is not eligible for disregarded sick leave and cannot work remotely, or
2. unable to attend school because of a natural disaster and cannot work remotely.

Service while on secondment to a specified education sector agency will be recognised as a principal’s service within the Education Service, unless stated otherwise.

Before starting a secondment, the principal, the employing board and the education sector agency where the principal will be seconded will agree a secondment agreement to detail the conditions of the secondment.

More detailed guidance for the following provisions will be provided closer to the effective dates:

• Second increase to school roll - based salary component (U-grade), effective 3 July 2024.
• Third and final increase to school roll-based salary component (U-grade), effective 2 December 2024.
• Steps 1, 2 and 3 of the school roll-based salary component (U-grade) are merged with a new minimum rate of $118,003, effective 2 December 2024.