Primary Principals' (NZEI) Collective Agreement

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Primary Principals' (NZEI Te Riu Roa) Collective Agreement [PDF, 778 KB]

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Email: employment.relations@education.govt.nz

Changes to the agreement

Read about the recent changes in the Primary Principals' (NZEI) Collective Agreement.

Changes to the Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement 2023-25

Part 10: General

Primary Principals' (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Effective: 3 July 2023 to 2 July 2025

  • 10.1 Dispute of Rights/Personal Grievance
    • 10.1.1 Where appropriate, the principal and the employer agree to use every effort to resolve any dispute or personal grievance arising out of or in relation to this Agreement as quickly and as close to the source of the matter as possible. To give effect to this intention the parties agree that the primary method of dispute resolution shall be by direct negotiation of the dispute or personal grievance.

      10.1.2 If the dispute or grievance cannot be resolved by direct negotiation then the procedures attached as Appendix 3 shall apply.

  • 10.2 Termination of Employment
    • 10.2.1 Employment may be terminated at any time by the principal giving not less than two calendar months' notice unless a shorter period is mutually agreed. Except in cases of serious misconduct, where an employer dismisses a principal pursuant to Part 8 of this Agreement the employer shall give the principal two calendar months' notice.

      10.2.2 The notice requirements in clause 10.2.1 do not apply where the Secretary gives concurrence to medical retirement.

      10.2.3 The requirement to provide two months written notice continues to apply when a principal is seconded to a Specified Education Sector Agency.

  • 10.4 Medical Retirement
    • 10.4.1

        1. The purpose of this provision is to:
            1. Provide the opportunity for principals currently in service, who are declared medically unfit or who have a terminal or serious illness, to retire from teaching with dignity;
            2. Give the ability for boards to recruit a new principal to the vacant permanent position without delay.
        2. ‘Currently in service’ means the principal is employed in a permanent position at the time the application for medical retirement is made and when concurrence is given by the Secretary. Medical Retirement cannot be granted retrospectively.
        3. A permanently appointed principal, currently in service, may be granted medical retirement under this clause in circumstances where the principal has either a terminal or serious illness which causes them to be incapable of continuing to work or returning to work in the foreseeable future, subject to the provisions of Appendix 5.
        4. An application for medical retirement may be initiated by either the principal or the employer. The processes to be followed by the principal and the employer are specified in Appendix 5.
        5. In such circumstances, the principal shall provide to the employer evidence of their illness from the principal’s registered medical specialist with a prognosis attesting to the incapacity to work both currently and in the future. Their employer may request a further medical opinion from a registered medical practitioner nominated by the employer and will reimburse the cost where this is requested.
        6. Where the majority of medical evidence supports the application for medical retirement, as per the guidelines outlined in Appendix 5, the employer shall seek the concurrence of the Secretary to medically retire the principal.
        7. Where the majority of medical evidence does not support a claim for medical retirement under this provision the application will be declined.
        8. If the application is approved the Teaching Council must be notified by the Board that the principal has been medically retired.

      Note 1: In the event that a principal deceases in service without activating or uplifting the medical retirement provisions outlined in medical retirement terminal illness or medical retirement serious illness, the estate of the principal shall have no claim on the medical retirement provision.

      Note 2: An employer cannot retrospectively grant any application for medical retirement (when a principal has ceased to be a permanent employee of the board, the board may no longer approve medical retirement).