Secondary and Area School Groundstaff Collective Agreement

4.1.1 Except as provided elsewhere in this clause, ordinary hours of work shall not exceed 40 per week or 8 per day to be worked between 7.30am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday inclusive. However, an employee may be given one half day off during the week and work on Saturday morning as part of the ordinary 40 hour week.

4.1.2 Where, immediately prior to an employee becoming bound by this agreement, his/her contract or agreement allowed the employer to change the employee’s regular hours of work once in any 12 month period after one month’s written notice, this provision shall remain in force.

4.1.3 The hours set out in 4.1.1 above may be varied by written agreement between the employer and the union.

4.1.4 By agreement between the employer and the employee, he/she may work Monday to Friday inclusive up to two additional hours per day at ordinary pay, in substitution for any other ordinary day, or part thereof, provided adjustment is made in the same pay week.

4.1.5 No employee shall be continuously employed for more than five hours without an interval of at least half an hour for a meal.

4.1.6 An employee shall be granted a rest period of ten minutes in each period of four hours’ work.

4.1.7 Tea, sugar and milk shall be supplied at all meal intervals and rest periods.

4.2.1 Except as provided in 4.1.4, hours required to be worked in excess of 8 per day shall be paid at the rate of time and one half.

4.2.2 Except as provided in 4.1.1 in relation to Saturday morning work, hours worked on Saturday or Sunday shall be paid at the rate of time and one half. Such work shall attract a minimum payment as for two hours worked.

4.3.1 Wages shall be paid fortnightly by direct credit to the employee’s nominated bank account.

4.4.1 Attention is drawn to Part VIIA of the State Sector Act 1988(external link) which requires each Board to operate a personnel policy that complies with the principle of being a good employer. A ‘good employer’ operates a personnel policy containing provisions generally accepted as necessary for the fair and proper treatment of employees in all aspects of their employment.

4.5.1 An employee required to work outside in wet weather shall be provided with a suitable raincoat and leggings or other suitable weather protective clothing such as a woollen jacket, which shall remain the property of the employer.

4.5.2 An employee required to work in water or muddy conditions shall be provided with gumboots which shall remain the property of the employer.

4.5.3 The employer shall provide one pair of steel toe capped safety boots on commencement of duties and provide a replacement pair on a fair wear and tear basis provided this is not less than 12 months after the previous replacement. An employee whose employment terminates before the completion of 12 months following the supply of boots shall either return the boots or refund to the employer one-twelfth of the cost for each month not served.

4.5.4 An employee operating or working near noisy motorised equipment shall be provided with effective ear protectors.

4.5.5 Gloves shall be provided to an employee working amongst trees and shrubs of a prickly nature.

4.5.6 The provisions of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992(external link) and subsequent amendments will apply.

4.6.1 The following principles are to be followed when dealing with disciplinary matters:

1. the employee must be advised of the right to request representation at any stage;
2. the employee must be advised in writing of the specific matter(s) causing concern and be given a reasonable opportunity to provide an explanation. Before making a final decision the employer may need to make further inquiries in order to be satisfied as to the facts of the specific matter(s) causing concern;
3. the employee must be advised of any corrective action required to amend his/her conduct and given a reasonable opportunity to do so;
4. if the offence is sufficiently serious an employee is to be placed on suspension with or without pay pending further inquiry under (b);
5. the process and any disciplinary action are to be recorded, sighted and signed by the employee, and placed on his/her personal file;
6. the provisions in Part 7 explain the processes available under the Employment Relations Act 2000(external link) to any employee aggrieved by any action of their employer taken under these provisions.

4.6.2 Nothing in 4.6.1 prevents instant dismissal without notice in the case of serious misconduct.

4.7.1 Unless otherwise agreed between the employer and the employee, termination of employment shall be by two week’s notice by either the employer or employee to the other or two week’s wages shall be paid or forfeited as the case may be. This shall not prevent the summary termination of employment for misconduct.

4.7.2 Where an employee is absent from work for a continuous period exceeding five working days without the consent of the employer and without notification to the employer, the employee shall be deemed to have terminated their employment.

4.8.1 The following provisions including Appendices A and C shall not apply to any fixed term employee. The provisions in relation to staff affected by a merger of two or more schools are set out under Appendix C and any provisions in 4.8 will only apply where they are specifically provided for in that Appendix.

4.8.2 Except as specifically provided, neither part 4.8 nor Appendix C shall apply to a groundstaff employee employed under the provisions of the NZ Education Services Grounds Keeping Staff Award as at 30 April 1992 and who has continued to retain the redundancy provisions as set out in Appendix A of this agreement. Where such as employee is involved in a merger as per Appendix C, the entitlements as set out under Appendix A subclauses 8-11 shall apply superseding the entitlements under 4.8.11 below, but otherwise (including partial redundancy) Appendix C shall apply.

4.8.3 A redundancy situation may arise when the work undertaken by the employee ceases to exist. This may be the result of the restructuring of the whole or any part of the employer’s operations because of, for example:

• the reorganisation or review of work;
• a change in plant (or like cause) relevant to the individual employee’s employment;
• change of status or closure of the school; or
• contracting out of the employee’s work (see 4.9 below).

4.8.4 The employer shall, at least six weeks prior to issuing notice of termination, advise any affected employee(s) and their union, where an affected employee(s) is a member of the union, of the possibility of a redundancy situation within the school.

4.8.5 The period of notice is to allow time for discussion between the employer and the employee(s) of the reasons for the possible redundancy situation and to determine whether this surplus can be absorbed by attrition. The employer shall consider whether or not it is able to offer an alternative position within the school with terms and conditions that are no less favourable, which may also entail on the job retraining.

4.8.6 If the required number of positions cannot be achieved through attrition (refer 4.8.5 above) and a redundancy situation still exists the employee(s) who is identified as redundant shall be given a minimum of one month’s written notice of termination of employment.

4.8.7 During the notice of termination period both the employer and the employee shall make reasonable efforts to locate alternative employment for the employee. The employer will provide reasonable paid time to attend interviews, where prior approval will not be unreasonably withheld.

4.8.8 In the event that a reasonable offer of employment is made the employer’s responsibilities under these provisions shall be fulfilled. A reasonable offer of employment shall constitute an offer of employment that:

• is in the same location, or in another state or integrated school within reasonable commuting distance providing that school is the employer; and
• has comparable duties and responsibilities; and
• has terms and conditions that are no less favourable

providing the employment being offered is available to be taken up by the employee prior to or at the conclusion of the notice of termination period.

4.8.9 If the offer of employment referred to in 4.8.8 above is not a reasonable offer by reason that it is not available to be taken up by the employee before or at the conclusion of the notice period, the employer may extend the notice period until such time as the position is available to be taken up by the employee. Under these circumstances the offer shall be deemed to be reasonable.

4.8.10 In the event of a school closure, the employee may be made an offer of employment prior to the disestablishment of the position at another state or integrated school. This offer may be to a lower graded position to that previously held (as described under Appendix C 8.6) or to a position with reduced hours (as described under Appendix C 8.7) and may incorporate either the equalisation allowance or the partial redundancy provision as provided for in Appendix C. Where the employee accepts such an offer the employer of the closing school’s responsibilities under 4.8.11 below shall be fulfilled. Where the employee does not accept such an offer, the provisions of 4.8.11 shall apply.

4.8.11 Except as provided in 4.8.10 above where a reasonable offer of employment is not made before the expiry of the notice of termination period the employee will be entitled to redundancy pay calculated as follows:

1. Six weeks pay for the first year of service and two weeks pay for each subsequent year or part thereof to a maximum of 30 weeks in total.
   Note 1 – this is calculated on current gross weekly earnings as at the last day of service or on average gross weekly earnings over the previous 12 months service, whichever is the greater.
   Note 2 – for the purposes of the redundancy calculation ‘service’ means the aggregate of the employee’s employment with any state or integrated school, provided that no period of service that ended with the employee receiving a redundancy or severance payment shall be counted as service.
   Note 3 – an employee with less than one years’ service shall receive a pro-rata payment.

2. All holiday pay and wages owing.

4.8.12 A work reference or record of service shall be provided on the employee’s request.

4.9.1 Except in the case of mergers where Appendix C will apply, where work undertaken by an employee covered by this agreement will, or is likely to be undertaken by a new employer (including an employer other than as defined in 1.2.1) the existing employer will:

1. provide the new employer with details of the work currently performed by the employees concerned together with details of the terms and conditions of their employment; and
2. seek a proposal for the employment of the affected employees by the new employer, including the terms and conditions upon which those employees would be offered employment by the new employer; and
3. arrange to meet with the new employer for the purpose of negotiating on the proposal; and
4. notify a representative of the Amalgamated Workers’ Union where any member may be affected; and
5. note that the notice provisions of the relevant surplus staffing provisions shall apply as described in 4.8 above.

4.9.2 The following shall be matters for negotiation with the new employer in relation to employees affected by the restructuring and again should be read in conjunction with 4.8 above:

1. the number and type of positions that may be offered by the new employer to employees affected by the restructuring;
2. the terms and conditions of employment to be offered to those employees (including whether the employees will transfer to the new employer on the same terms and conditions of employment);
3. the arrangements, if required, for the transfer of any accrued benefits and entitlements in relation to those employees;
4. the arrangements, if required, for when and how offers of employment are to be made to the affected employees and the mode of acceptance.

4.9.3 The process to be followed at the time of the restructuring to determine what entitlements, if any, are available for employees who do not transfer to the new employer are set out in 4.8 above. This clause as a whole shall be read in conjunction with those provisions.