Changes to the Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement 2022-25

All full-time secondary teachers employed as at 9 August 2023 who are union members will receive a one-off gross payment of $5,000. This payment will be pro-rated for short-term relievers and part-time teachers. Secondary teacher union members will receive this payment in pay period 12 on 5 September 2023.  

Details on how the pro-rated amount will be calculated is included in the Collective Agreement. 

Secondary Teachers Collective Agreement clause 1.9.3 additional payments(external link) 

For non-union secondary teachers to be eligible for this lump-sum payment, schools must ensure that both the employee and employer have signed the new IEA by 8 October 2023. 

Schools are also responsible for ensuring that the payroll system reflects the IEA change, enabling secondary teachers to receive the payment. Depending on when paperwork is submitted to EPL, the lump sum may be paid later than 15 November 2023. 

Secondary teachers who were on approved unpaid leave as at 9 August 2023 are entitled, on application, to receive the applicable payments on their return to their position, providing that they return either on or before the end of Term 1 2024, or on or before 3 July 2025 for those on parental leave. The payment(s) will be based on the teacher’s FTTE hours as at their last working day before going on leave. 

Additional payments for union members 

In recognition of the benefits arising out of the parties’ ongoing and productive relationship, including the role of PPTA Te Wehengarua in negotiating terms and conditions for secondary teachers, each teacher who was a union member as at 31 July 2023 and was employed as at 9 August 2023, will receive two additional payments. 

These payments are as follows: 

• A one-time gross payment of $1,500 which will be pro-rated for part-time and short-term relievers. 
• A one-time gross payment of $710 (the Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa fees payment). Short-term relievers will receive this payment if they worked at least one day of short-term relief teaching in Term 1 or 2 2023. The Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa fees payment is not pro-rated but each teacher is only entitled to be paid it once, even if a teacher holds other teaching roles. This means that if a teacher is entitled to be paid this payment under another employment agreement, they won’t be paid it again. 

Lump-sum payments to union members will be made in pay period 12 on 5 September 2023 from the funding code that applied on 9 August 2023 (date of ratification). 

Where a teacher is employed from a school’s bulk grant or operating funding, the school board is responsible for the payment of any associated costs, including any collective agreement entitlements that arise. This is in accordance with section 580(b) of the Education and Training Act 2020. Please refer to our website for further information:  

Employing teachers from operational funding – Education in New Zealand(external link) 

The Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement 2022-2025 now expressly recognises Learning Support Coordinators. 

The functions of the role are set out in the coordinator role description drafted by the Ministry of Education along with any distinct responsibilities and/or activities that are defined by the employing school, in consultation with other schools in the Kāhui Ako or cluster, where applicable. Each coordinator will be fully released from timetabled duties. 

Where a coordinator is allocated additional leadership, management or other responsibilities for learning support, consideration should be given to whether a unit should be allocated in line with the school’s unit allocation policy. The employer must consider the balance of the allocated responsibilities to allow the coordinator to fulfil their role effectively.

The purpose of this allowance is to give practical recognition to te reo Māori as a taonga to be actively protected under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to recognise the special and valued skills and knowledge kaiako must have to teach the curriculum in te reo Māori.  

Secondary teachers are eligible for the MITA if they meet the following requirements:  

1. They need to meet the minimum teaching time requirements for the specific level of immersion (at least 6 timetabled hours per week at Level 1, 2 or 3 (or for part-time teachers, the equivalent of 30% of their timetabled hours). 
2. 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 17 July 2023, MITA will increase for Levels 1 and 2. Rates will increase to a maximum of $12,000 per annum for immersion Level 1 and a maximum of $8,000 per annum for immersion Level 2. The rate increase from the base to the maximum rate relates to the highest language level that they are teaching and their years of service at that level. Rates for Level 3 are unchanged.  

A teacher can only receive a Level 1, 2 or 3 allowance at any one time. 

Schools were previously required to attest the eligibility of teachers for these allowances yearly. Instead, they will only need to advise of changes. There are no changes to the eligibility criteria.

From 3 July 2023, eligible beginning secondary teachers who progress from provisional certification to a full practising certificate during the rest of the duration of the collective agreement will have the applicable Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa fee paid by the Ministry of Education.  

The Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa is currently working with the Ministry to prioritise changes to its online registration system, Hapori Matatū, to ensure eligible teachers can access this benefit as quickly and as easily as possible. If an eligible teacher has already paid for the registration from 3 July 2023, the Ministry will reimburse the fee. 

Where teachers want to clarify whether they are eligible for this benefit, please contact the Ministry of Education at TeacherRegistrationPayments@education.govt.nz   

Teachers who already hold full practising certificates should apply online in Hapori Matatū in the normal way to ensure they renew their practising certificates before the expiry date.

The wording of several clauses has been updated to improve the clarity and readability around entitlements.  

These clauses relate to Removals Expenses, Parental Grant, Disregarded Sick Leave, acting in a Higher Position other than the Principal, Service Qualification Increment, Regional Health Schools Teachers, Salary Qualification Groups, job-share apportioning and Surplus Staffing in school-initiated restructuring.  

No substantive changes have been made to these provisions.

From 9 August 2023, G3+ criteria will include recognition of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 5 and 6 trade or vocational qualifications if the teacher has at least 6,000 hours of applicable trade or vocational work experience.  

Teachers who think they meet these criteria can apply for a reassessment by completing a NOVO17t(external link). 

The Collective Agreement now expressly provides for a closedown at the end of Term 4 during which teachers take their annual leave. The provisions retain the current discretion and flexibility that teachers have over when and how they work during the remainder of their term breaks and other times when students are not required to be at school. The agreed collective agreement wording:  

• Confirms teachers cannot be asked to work or attend school during the closedown. 
• Affirms that full-time teachers should be expected to work an average of 40 hours a week over the year unless the teacher has agreed to take on duties beyond those of a standard classroom teacher. Due to the variable flow of work during the school year, this is likely to mean that teachers may work more than 40 hours a week during term time, and fewer during the school holidays. 
• Affirms that, except where they’ve been called back under clause 5.6, teachers should have discretion over how and where they work when schools are closed for instruction, as they do now, including during term breaks.  

Further information and guidance explaining how a closedown works will be published soon. 

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

Trial of Community Liaison roles – effective 28 January 2024 

Pacific Bilingual Immersion Teaching allowance – effective 28 January 2024 

Kāhui Ako responsibility allowance – effective 28 January 2024 

Improved sick-leave entitlements – effective 28 January 2024 

Non-contact time for part-time teachers and removal of the 11% salary loading – effective from 28 January 2025 

Pastoral Care Time allowance – effective 28 January 2025