School Caretakers', Cleaners', Canteen and Ground Staff Collective Agreement

The parties to this Agreement shall be the Secretary for Education, acting under delegation from the State Services Commissioner made pursuant to Clause 6 of Schedule 3 of the Public Service Act 2020(external link) and acting in accordance with Section 586 (5) of the Education and Training Act 2020(external link), and E tū.

1.2.1 This Agreement is binding on each school board, or commissioner as appropriate, of every state or state-integrated primary, secondary, area or composite school, or attached community learning centre.

1.2.2 The Agreement is also binding on each school caretaker, cleaner, ground staff or canteen staff who is employed by an employer listed in 1.2.1 above and who is, or becomes and notifies their employer of this, a member of E tū.

1.2.3 This Agreement is not applicable to an employee responsible for property maintenance administration as described in the current Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement.

The term of this Agreement shall be from 14 November 2022 until 13 November 2024.

1.4.1 National - The parties agree that the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement may be varied at any time by agreement between E tū and the Secretary for Education, acting under delegation from the Public Services Commissioner made pursuant to Clause 6 of Schedule 3 of the Public Service Act 2020(external link).

1.4.2 School level - Nothing shall prevent agreement being reached in writing between a worker, their employer and a representative of the union to pay a remuneration package which incorporates allowances and/or overtime and/or call back. Such an agreement will be in writing and signed by the worker, the employer and the union representative and will clearly specify the individual elements of the remuneration package. This provision is intended to provide a mechanism to simplify the administration and operation of this Collective Agreement for schools and not to disadvantage the worker in terms of their broad entitlements under this Agreement.

Where any worker had previously entered into a salary arrangement which incorporated various allowances into their salary package, the salary arrangements shall be put in writing, clearly specifying the individual elements of the remuneration and signed by the worker, their employer and a representative of the union. Where various allowances have been incorporated into the salary package it is not the intention of the parties that the worker shall be paid in addition any allowances which have been already incorporated into the salary package. Any worker bound by this Agreement shall have the benefit of all other minimum provisions in the Agreement.

Unless otherwise specifically provided for, the following definitions shall apply:

1.6.1 "Employer" shall mean the School Board or Commissioner.

1.6.2 "Union" shall mean E tū.

1.6.3 A "Cleaner" is a worker who is employed for the sole purpose of doing cleaning of any kind.

1.6.4 A "Canteen Staff" member is a worker employed in the school canteen or tuck shop or as a teaperson in the school staffroom.

1.6.5 A "Caretaker" shall mean a caretaker, assistant caretaker or part-time caretaker as provided for under Part 3 of this Agreement.

1.6.6 A "Ground Staff" is an employee who predominantly does work associated with the care, maintenance, and upkeep of school grounds, including sports fields, gardens, and other outdoor facilities at an Area, Secondary or Year 7-13 School.

1.6.7 "Spouse" means the husband or wife of the worker.

1.6.8 "Husband" includes a man with whom a person has entered into a relationship in the nature of marriage although not legally married to him.

1.6.9 "Wife" has a corresponding meaning to husband.

1.6.10 "NZQF" means the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.

1.6.10 "Agreement" means the School Caretakers', Cleaners', Canteen and Ground Staff Collective Agreement 2022-2024.

The following shall apply in relation to “service” unless otherwise specified.

1.7.1 Continuous service - Refers to service within the State Education Service.

1.7.2 Unbroken service - Service is not considered to be broken if the worker takes up a position as a caretaker, cleaner, canteen or ground staff within one month of having lost a position in the state education service.

1.7.3 Crediting of service for salary purposes - The credited service must be for employment as a caretaker, cleaner, canteen or ground staff. It must also be unbroken service as defined above.

1.7.4 Breaks in service - Previous service may be credited towards present leave entitlements. The previous service must have been continuous for at least 12 months in the state education service. The period since previous employment in the state education service must be no more than five years ago.

1.7.5 Minimum period of continuous employment which can be credited:

1. For crediting for sick leave, long service leave and service holidays, the worker must have had at least six months' previous continuous service.
2. For long service leave and service holidays the breaks between each period of credited employment cannot exceed three months.

1.7.6 Service which ended with redundancy - No service which ended with the worker accepting a redundancy or severance payment shall be counted as service for the purposes of this Agreement.

1.7.7 Debited leave - Any sick or long service leave taken during the credited previous employment periods is to be debited against current entitlements.

1.7.8 Part-time employment - Previous part-time employment can qualify on the same basis as full-time employment provided the other criteria are met, i.e. it is not reduced to full-time equivalence.

1.8.1 The parties agree that all new employees who are employed to perform work falling within the coverage clause shall be advised of this collective agreement, be given a copy of it and be advised that they may join E tū.

Partnership with Union
 
1.9.1 The parties to this Agreement recognise the value in their ongoing and productive relationship. Collective bargaining is a key part of those joint efforts.   
   
1.9.2 In recognition of the value of this collective agreement and of the benefits arising out of the parties’ ongoing relationship, each full-time employee who is a member of E tū and is bound by this Agreement as at 1 December 2022 will be paid a one-off gross payment of $750.   
 
The payment will be pro-rated for:

1. part-time employees based on their full-time equivalent (FTE) as at 1 December 2022.
2. casual employees who have worked a minimum of 8 hours over the period 1 July to 30 November 2022, based on the of the total number of hours worked in proportion to 1.0 FTE during that period. Casual employees who worked less than 8 hours during that period are not entitled to the payment.

An employee may be eligible to have the payment calculated under more than one of the above categories. The minimum payment for any employee, regardless of FTE, will be $75, and no employee shall receive more than gross $750 in total. 
 
Employees who are members of E tū and are bound by this agreement as at 1 December 2022 and on that day were on approved unpaid leave under Part 5 of this agreement, are entitled to receive the one-off gross payment of $750 when they resume working, providing that they return on or before the end of Term 2, 2023 or on or before the end of Term 4, 2023 for those on parental leave. The payment will be based on the calculation for the position that would have been applicable on 1 December 2022 had they not been on approved leave 
 
Lump Sum Payment

1.9.3 A one-off gross lump sum of $500 will be paid to all full-time employees who are employed as at 1 December 2023.   
 
The payment will be pro-rated for:

1. part-time employees based on their full-time equivalent (FTE) as at 1 December 2023.
2. casual employees who have worked a minimum of 8 hours over the period 1 July to 30 November 2023, based on the of the total number of hours worked in proportion to 1.0 FTE during that period. Casual employees who worked less than 8 hours during that period are not entitled to the payment.

Employees on approved unpaid leave under Part 5 of this agreement on 1 December 2023 are entitled to receive the one-off gross payment of $500 when they resume working, providing that they return on or before the end of Term 2, 2024 or before the end of 13 November 2024 for those on parental leave. The payment will be based on the calculation for the position that would have been applicable on 1 December 2023 had they not been on approved leave 
 
An employee may be eligible to have the payment calculated under more than one of the above categories. However, no eligible employee will receive a total gross payment that is less than $50 or more than $500 in total. 
 
Note: Clause 1.9 will be removed in subsequent collective agreements.