Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement

This document sets out the agreed components of the settlement of the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement 2019-2022. This agreement has been settled between the Secretary for Education and the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers Association Te Wehengarua (NZPPTA) and shall be subject to ratification by NZPPTA members pursuant to section 51 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.

The terms outlined in this document are valid for ratification by NZPPTA members, provided ratification is confirmed and the new collective agreement is signed no later than 3pm on 1 July 2019.

1. Term

The term of the new collective agreement will be 36 months from 1 July 2019 up to and including 30 June 2022.

A joint pre-bargaining process with NZEI Te Riu Roa and NZPPTA will begin four months before the expiry of the first collective agreement, of the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement (PTCA), the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement (STCA) and the Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement (ASTCA), to discuss the Unified Base Salary Scale (UBSS) and any other matter relating to bargaining.

2. Remuneration (clause 4.1)

• Increase to the Trained Teachers’ Base Salary Scale

The parties agree that the increases to base salary will take effect from 1 July 2019, 1 July 2020 and 1 July 2021 respectively.

Below is a table outlining the changes to the trained base salary scales from 1 July 2019:

Unified Base Salary Scale for Trained Teachers:

• Qualification Maxima for G3+, G4 and G5

The parties also agree that from 1 July 2020 a new step will be added to the base scale, increasing the G3+, G4 and G5 maximum steps one step accordingly from step 10 to step 11.

Teachers who, as at 1 July 2020 have been on their qualification maximum step (G3+, G4 or G5) for at least 12 months will receive a salary increment of one step on that date.

• Qualification Maxima for G1, G2 and G3

The parties also agree that from 1 July 2020 the G1 maximum step will move from step 6 to step 10, the G2 maximum step will move from step 7 to step 10 and G3 maximum step move from step 9 to step 10. Thereby from 1 July 2020 the qualification maxima for G1, G2 and G3 will be step 10.

Teachers, who as at 1 July 2020 have been on their qualification maximum step for at least 12 months will receive a salary increment of one step on that date. This date will become the teacher’s anniversary date for pay progression purposes and a teacher will be entitled to progress to the next step as per clause 4.9, and subject to their applicable qualification maximum step provided in clause 4.1.

• Changes to the Untrained Teachers base salary scale

The parties agree to three increases of 3% per annum to the untrained base scale, the first effective from 1 July 2019, the second from 1 July 2020 and the third from 1 July 2021. The parties also agree to merge steps 1-4 of the untrained base salary scale from 1 July 2019.

Below is the table outlining the changes to the untrained base salary scales from 1 July 2019:

Base Scale for Untrained Teachers:

From 1 July 2019 untrained teachers who lack a subject/specialist qualification will commence on step one on the untrained scale and can progress after completing one year on step one to step two.

From 1 July 2019 for untrained teachers who hold a subject/specialist qualification, the Qualification Group Notations entry points (E) and base scale maximum points (M) listed on the base salary scale for untrained teachers for each qualification group listed below, will apply:

1. G1 for teachers who hold a level 5 qualification on the NZQF or equivalent overseas qualifications recognised by the NZQA
2. G2 for teachers who hold a level 6 qualification on the NZQF or equivalent overseas qualifications recognised by the NZQA
3. G3 for teachers who hold a level 7 qualification on the NZQF or equivalent overseas qualifications recognised by the NZQA
4. G4 for teachers who hold a level 8 qualification or two level 7 qualifications on the NZQF or equivalent overseas qualifications recognised by the NZQA
5. G5 for teachers who hold a level 9 or higher qualification on the NZQF or equivalent overseas qualifications recognised by the NZQA

3. Units (clause 4.3.2)

The parties agree to increase the rate of units from $4,000 to $5,000 per unit from 28 January 2020.

The parties agree that unit formula in the staffing order for secondary schools will be adjusted to provide an additional 1,000 units from the commencement of 2020 school year.

4. Middle Management Allowances (MMAs) and Senior Management Allowances (SMAs) (clauses 4.3A and 4.3B)

The parties agree to increase the rate of MMAs and SMAs from $1,000 to $2,000 per annum from 28 January 2020.

5. High Priority Teacher Supply Allowance (clause 4.13)

The parties agree to pay the High Priority Teacher Supply Allowance (HPTSA) at the rate of $2,500 for all teachers who hold a current practising certificate from 1 July 2019 at schools who are identified as receiving the allowance.

6. Parental Provisions (clause 6.3)

The parties agree to amend the Parental Provisions to reflect gender neutral language from 1 July 2019. The intention of the amendment to the Parental Grant payment is that any teacher (regardless of gender) who is the primary carer receives the grant.

7. Māori Immersion Teacher Allowance (clause 4.18)

The parties agree to introduce an additional allowance of $2,000 per annum for teachers with three continuous years’ teaching service in level 1 immersion settings, increasing to $4,000 for teachers with six continuous years’ teaching experience in those settings from 1 July 2019.

8. Careers Adviser Allowance (clause 4.10)

The parties agree to increase the value of the Careers Adviser Allowance to from $1,500 to $2,250 from 1 July 2019.

9. Surplus Staffing (clause 3.9)

The parties agree to amend the surplus staffing provisions to improve the flow and language.

10. Additional Payment

The parties agree that all full-time teachers who are members of the NZPPTA and are covered by the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement as at 13 June 2019 are entitled to receive a one-off gross payment of $1,500. The payment will be pro-rated for part-time teachers based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) as at 13 June 2019.

Teachers who are members of the NZPPTA and were covered by the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement as at 13 June 2019 and on that day were on approved leave under Part 6 of this collective agreement are entitled, upon application on their return, to receive the one-off gross payment of $1,500, or pro-rated payment, on the return to their position providing that they return on or before 28 January 2020.

Short-term relievers, as defined in clause 3.2.5, who are members of the NZPPTA and covered by the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement as at 3pm on the 1 July 2019 shall be entitled to receive the one-off gross payment of $1,500 pro-rata based both on their employment status and on the proportion of the total number of school days (140) between 19 October 2018 and 30 June 2019 inclusive, for which they have been employed.

A teacher may not receive more than $1,500 gross in total.

11. Professional Development Fund for secondary school teachers

From the commencement of the 2020 school year there will be a Fund of $5 million per annum for the purposes of secondary school teachers’ professional development. A Memorandum of Understanding will be developed and agreed between the parties that describes the purpose, application criteria and process to access the Fund.

12. Letter to Boards about member only provisions

The Secretary agrees to write to all Boards of Trustees that employ secondary teachers employed on a promulgated individual employment agreement to remind each Board that it has no legal authority to pay the Additional Payment to any non NZPPTA members and that Boards must not do so.

13. Accord between the Ministry of Education, PPTA and NZEI Te Riu Roa

The parties agree to enter into an accord, alongside settlement of the collective agreement with the purpose of transparently giving effect to building a high trust environment where the teaching profession is highly regarded, sustainable, and is fit for now and the future of learning.

14. Technical changes

The parties agree to make any technical changes that are mutually agreed prior to 1 July 2019.

The parties on signing this document acknowledge, subject to any subsequent agreed editorial and technical changes, that this reflects the agreements reached in the settlement of the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement 2019-2022.

Signed in Wellington on 13 June 2019:

Doug Clark
Advocate
NZPPTA

Mark Williamson
Advocate
for the Secretary for Education

Witnessed:

Patrick Ikiua
for NZSTA

6.1 No change

6.2 Sick leave

6.2.1 Eligibility

Except where otherwise specifically stated the following conditions apply to all teachers.

6.2.2 Entitlement

1. A teacher who is granted leave due to sickness or injury not arising out of or in the course of the teacher’s employment shall be entitled to sick leave on pay for a period or periods not exceeding the amounts set out in the table below.
   

   Length of service	Aggregated sick leave entitlement
   Up to 3 months	7 days
   Over 3 months and up to 6 months	14 days
   Over 6 months and up to 9 months	31 days
   Over 9 months and up to 5 years	46 days
   Over 5 years and up to 10 years	92 days
   Over 10 years and up to 20 years	154 days
   Over 20 years and up to 30 years	229 days
   Over 30 years	306 days

2. The amount of sick leave available shall be the teacher’s aggregated sick leave entitlement set out in the table above, less the total amount of sick leave with pay the teacher has taken during their teaching service to date.
3. Notwithstanding clause 6.2.2(a) above, a short-term relieving teacher has a sick leave entitlement based on the aggregate of the service completed since their last date of permanent employment, where every 190 days or 950 hours of short-term relief service equals one year of sick leave service.
4. Where a teacher has exhausted their current entitlement set out in the table in clause 6.2.2(a):
1. in each subsequent year the employer will allow the teacher to anticipate up to five days’ paid sick leave.
2. in exceptional circumstances the employer may grant further anticipated sick leave with pay in excess of the entitlement set out in clause 6.2.2(a), provided that no extension is granted beyond the 306 days. 
3. any anticipated sick leave taken under (i) or (ii) above will be deducted from the teacher’s next entitlement under 6.2.2(a) when that entitlement becomes due.
5. Where a teacher has exhausted their entitlement set out in the table in clause 6.2.2(a) and has no future entitlement under 6.2.2(a), the teacher shall be granted sick leave in accordance with the Holidays Act 2003.

6.2.3 Service for sick leave purposes

1. The total period of the “length of service”  which determines the teacher’s sick leave entitlement outlined in 6.2.2(a) shall be the aggregate of employment as a teacher in:
1. a New Zealand state or state integrated school;
2. a New Zealand free kindergarten association, university, or polytechnic;
3. Fiji, Cook lslands, Tonga, Western Samoa or Niue
2. The following teaching service is counted as full-time:
1. fulltime service;
2. permanent part-time service;
3. non permanent part-time service that consists of employment for 20 hours or more per week.
3. Non-permanent part-time teaching service of less than 20 hours per week is assessed on the basis that 80 hours equals one month’s service or 1000 hours equals one year’s service.
4. Service in the New Zealand Public Service and/or Armed Forces may be converted to teaching sick leave entitlement on such terms as the Secretary for Education may agree. Deductions for sick leave taken from transferred New Zealand Public Service and/or Armed Forces service shall be converted to deductions from the teaching sick leave entitlement using the formula T/P*S=E where:
• T = Teachers’ sick leave entitlement on years of service;
• P = Public Servants’ sick leave entitlement on years of service;
• S = Sick Leave taken as a Public Servant;
• E = Equivalent number of days of sick leave as if taken as a teacher.

Note 1: For the calculation of a teacher’s sick leave entitlement, the total period of a teacher’s “length of service” will continue to include employment as a teacher by a former education board, a secondary school board, a private school which has become integrated, a community college, a technical institute, a teacher’s college, the former Department of Education or an agricultural college.
Note 2: Service for sick leave purposes does not include:

• study time while a teacher is not employed in the education service, or when on leave without pay of more than 90 calendar days,
• teaching in private schools (except for teachers in private schools which become integrated,
• teaching overseas except in the Pacific countries listed in subclause 6.2.3(a)iii above,
• trade service, or
• service as a member of the armed forces of another country.

6.2.4 Granting sick leave

1. The employer shall grant sick leave on pay with the following conditions:
1. While a medical certificate will not normally be required for leave of up to five days, where it is considered warranted, an employer may require a teacher to produce a medical certificate or other evidence satisfactory to the employer.
2. For sick leave within three consecutive calendar days (whether or not the days would otherwise be working days for the teacher) the employer may inform the teacher that proof of sickness or injury is required and, if so, the employer will agree to meet the employee’s reasonable expenses in obtaining the proof.
3. When a period of sick leave exceeds five school days a medical certificate from a registered medical or dental practitioner must be provided to the employer. If the teacher cannot obtain a medical or dental certificate other evidence satisfactory to the employer may be provided.
4. When a period of sick leave exceeds 14 days an employer may require the teacher to provide a medical certificate from a registered medical or dental practitioner stating the expected date the teacher will be able to return to work. The employer may require the teacher to provide further medical certificates should the sick leave continue beyond the expected date of return stated in this or subsequent medical certificates.
5. When a period of sick leave exceeds 14 days the employer may require the teacher to obtain a second medical opinion from an independent registered medical or dental practitioner nominated by the employer and agreed to by the teacher provided that such agreement shall not be unreasonably withheld. The cost of a second medical opinion will be met by the employer.

6.2.5 Deduction from sick leave entitlement

1. Full-time teachers will have sick leave deducted from the entitlement set out in clause 6.2.2(a) above as follows:
1. where the period of absence does not exceed five consecutive school days the days of absence are deducted i.e. intervening Saturday or Sunday do not count as leave.
2. where the period of absence exceeds five consecutive school days the continuous days are deducted i.e. all intervening weekends count as leave.
3. public holidays and school vacations that fall during a period of paid sick leave do not count as leave.
2. Part-time teachers shall have each day of absence deducted as a full day from the entitlement in clause 6.2.2(a) above. The days to be deducted shall be only those days which would normally have been worked and shall not include any intervening free days except where the part-time teacher works on five days of the week when, as with full-time teachers, the intervening weekend days will be counted as sick leave.

6.2.6 Teachers temporarily working reduced hours on account of sickness

1. The employer may allow at its discretion a teacher who has been on sick leave to return to duty on a reduced hours basis if the teacher’s doctor so recommends and provides a medical clearance, and there would be no staffing or timetabling problems for the school. This arrangement should not, however, normally be allowed to continue for more than six weeks. The provisions (b) to (e) below will apply.
2. The daily hours not worked are to be aggregated and debited against sick leave on the basis of a five-hour day. For example, where a full time teacher is present for:
1. 20 timetabled hours in one week = 5 hours absent = 1 day sick leave debited
2. 17.5 timetabled hours in one week = 7.5 hours absent = 1.5 days sick leave debited
3. Whole days or half-days of absence are to be debited as whole or half-days.
4. When the absence is on account of injury by accident and earnings related compensation is payable to the teacher, normal pay is to continue and the Secretary for Education is to obtain reimbursement of earnings related compensation from the Accident Compensation Corporation in accordance with the usual procedures.
5. If the accident was work related there is no debit against sick leave entitlement. However, if the accident was non-work related, the sick leave entitlement is debited to the extent to which the salary payable for time actually worked plus the earnings related compensation is made up to give normal full salary (provided the teacher has a sick leave entitlement available).

6.2.7 Disregarded sick leave

1. Disregarded sick leave not exceeding an overall aggregate of two years shall be granted by the Secretary for Education where in the opinion of the Secretary one of the following conditions has been met:
1. The sickness can be traced directly to the conditions or circumstances under which the teacher is working; or
2. The injury occurred in the discharge of the teacher’s duties through no fault of the teacher and where no payment has been made by the Accident Compensation Corporation; or
3. The teacher has contracted a notifiable disease which requires the teacher to be excluded from school for a period prescribed under Schedule 2 of the Health (Infectious and Notifiable Diseases) Regulations 1966 or for a period determined by a Medical Health Officer; or
4. The teacher has contracted  hepatitis or tuberculosis, where the period of disregarded sick leave is the time that the teacher’s treating registered medical practitioner decides is necessary for the teacher to remain away from school; or
5. The absence was due to war injury or service.
2. Where sick leave has been deducted for any period granted as disregarded sick leave under 6.2.7(a)(i) to 6.2.7(a)(v) above, the sick leave will be reinstated.
3. Disregarded sick leave is additional to any period of absence on account of sickness or injury to which the teacher is entitled with full salary in accordance with the scale set out in clause 6.2.2 above.
4. Fixed term or relieving teachers shall only be granted disregarded sick leave, as provided for in 6.2.7(a) above, where they have been in continuous employment before the date of application.

6.2.8 Holiday pay deductions

1. Holiday pay is not reduced for periods of sick leave with pay
2. When teachers have used their current sick leave entitlement holiday pay may be reduced for periods of sick leave without pay on the following conditions:
1. No deduction is to be made from the holiday pay of teachers for periods of sick leave without pay for periods not exceeding 90 calendar days in any one school year.
2. Where the total amount of sick/accident leave without pay is in excess of 90 calendar days the deduction is based on the period subsequent to the initial 90 calendar days. The initial 90 calendar days are unaffected.
3. Teachers with a current sick leave entitlement who apply to receive sick leave without pay will have holiday pay reduced in proportion to the unpaid leave taken (as per clause 4.8.3) and should be advised of this when notified of the approval of sick leave without pay.
4. Clause 6.2.8b above will apply to all fixed term or relieving teachers who have completed at least 90 calendar days continuous service.