Variations to the Support Staff in Schools' and Kaiārahi i te Reo and Therapists' collective agreements

Variations to the Support Staff in Schools' Collective Agreement (SSSCA) and the Kaiārahi i te Reo and Therapists' Collective Agreement (KRTCA) were agreed on 27 July 2023 as a result of a public sector pay adjustment.

• What is a public sector pay adjustment?
• Impact on pay rates
• Lump-sum payments
• New employees up to 1 December 2023
• Information for former or exiting employees
• Information for non-union employees
• Extending the term of the collective agreements
• Where to get support
• More information

What is the public sector pay adjustment?

The public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) applies to staff within a range of workforces, including education, health and other frontline services. The PSPA delivers an increase that balances the current economic environment and cost-of-living pressures to education staff covered by these collective agreements.

Schools and kura will receive additional funding ahead of payment to employees for the increased costs associated with the variations to these collective agreements.

The information provided here about the PSPA variation relates to new or existing employees. Information relating to former employees who have left employment since 27 July 2023 will be provided at a later date.

Impact on pay rates

These are:

• pay rate increases effective from 1 December 2022 and 1 December 2023
• higher PSPA rates will replace the previously agreed pay equity rates for administration staff, kaiārahi i te reo, librarians and science technicians
• PSPA rate increases are higher than a 1.5% increase that had been agreed effective 2 June 2023, so they replace this prior agreement (with the exception of Therapists at Step 1).

Information on pay scales for all steps and roles is available in Circular 2023/08:

Circular 2023/08: Variation to the support staff and kaiārahi i te reo and therapists’ collective agreements

The pay dates for rate increases are:

• the pay rates effective 1 December 2023 will be paid from 12 December (pay period 19)
• backpay of the first pay rate increase (1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023) will be paid 5 March 2024 (pay period 25)
• termination and holiday pay adjustments will be paid in the following two pay periods on 18 March 2024 (pay period 26) and 1 April 2024 (pay period 1 of the new financial year).

Merging of pay steps

Merging of these steps had previously been implemented effective from 2 June 2023. The PSPA increases mean that the merging of steps now occur from 1 December 2023 and any previous changes have been reversed.

From 1 December 2023, the following pay steps are merged:

• Teacher aides: Steps 1 and 2 merge into A–1
• Other support staff: Steps 1 and 2 merge into step 1
• Therapists: Steps 1 and 2 merge into step 1.

The merging of these steps came into effect in pay period 19 on pay date 12 December 2023.

Impact on pay rates - case studies

1. A librarian who has been on grade B, step 2 since their role began on 8 February 2021

Lump sum payments are not included in case study.

*The pay rate increases to $30.86 (1 December 2022) and $31.76 (8 February 2023) will be included in the back pay paid on 5 March 2024.

2. A teacher aide who started in their role on 24 April 2023 on grade A, step 2

They started with a pay rate of $23.21 and will be paid this rate until the PSPA variation pay rates are implemented from 1 December 2023.

Lump sum payments are not included in this case study.

*The pay rate increase from $23.21 to 24.22 for the period 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023 will be included in the back pay paid on 5 March 2024.

Lump sum payments

The PSPA variation provides for lump sum payments to employees, namely:

1. a one-off lump sum of up to $750, for all NZEI Te Riu Roa and E Tū members employed as at 1 December 2022. This will be pro-rated for part-time and casual staff. A minimum amount of $75 will be paid. This lump sum will be paid on 31 October 2023 (pay period 16). To be eligible for this lump-sum payment, you also need to have been employed as at 27 July 2023 (date the variation was ratified). 
2. a one-off lump sum of up to $500, for all employees employed as at 1 December 2023. This will be pro-rated for part-time and casual staff. A minimum amount of $50 will be paid.  It will also be passed on to employees on individual employment agreements. This lump sum will be paid on 12 December 2023 (pay period 19).

New employees up to 1 December 2023

Schools should appoint new employees to the appropriate grade and step using the relevant work matrix as set out in the collective agreement.

New employees who start between 27 July 2023 and 1 December 2023 will initially be paid at the rate that applied to their position as of 1 December 2022 (as set out in the collective agreement) until the implementation of the 1 December 2023 pay increase. Impacted employees will automatically receive a backdated payment (effective from their start date) to cover this period on 5 March 2024 (pay period 25).

The New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) Resource Centre has a supplementary letter that can be provided with a letter of offer which explains that their pay will initially be at pre-December 2022 levels until 1 December 2023:

Learning and resources – NZSTA Resource Centre(external link)

Letter: Recent KRTCA variation implications on your payslip(external link)

Letter: Recent SSSCA variation implications on your payslip(external link)

Schools do not need to do anything to move their employees to the new rates. Schools who do not use Education Payroll will need to make these changes in their systems.

New employees who start employment after 1 December 2023, are appointed at the 1 December 2023 pay rate and the supplementary letter will not need to be provided from this date.

Information for former or exiting employees

If you were employed as at 27 July 2023 and your role ended or is ending between 27 July 2023 and 5 March 2024, you are eligible to receive the increased pay rates that came into effect on 1 December 2022.

The Ministry will be contacting affected employees to let them know that this increase will be paid on 5 March 2024 into the last bank account on record.

It is important for employees to let us know if their bank account details have changed.

If your account information has changed, email Ohumahi Support Ohumahi.Support@education.govt.nz or phone 0800 114 117 with the new details.

If schools have employees who are exiting and potentially eligible for the 1 December 2022 pay rate increase, we ask them to share this information with the employees before they leave.

Eligible former employees will receive payment for backdated rates for all hours worked from 1 December 2022 to 30 November 2023. Payment will be made on 5 March 2024 (pay period 25). SUE reports for this pay period will reflect both former and current employees. Schools will receive funding to cover these backdated rate increases for former and current employees.

Information for non-union employees

Existing non-union employees do not need to sign a new individual employment agreement (IEA) if they have already signed a support staff IEA dated 4 July 2022 or 6 March 2023, or the kaiārahi i te reo and therapists IEA dated 4 July 2022. Those employees automatically receive the benefits of the PSPA variation.

This advice has been included in a revision to the PSPA variation circular 2023/08.

Circular 2023/08: Variation to the support staff and kaiārahi i te reo and therapists’ collective agreements

New employees who are not members of NZEI Te Riu Roa or E Tū can be offered the latest IEA available on our website:

Individual employment agreements

Extending the term of the collective agreements

The PSPA variation also extends the term for both collective agreements from 20 June 2022 to 19 December 2024.

This gives the Ministry and NZEI Te Riu Roa additional time to consider proposed professional learning and development frameworks for employees covered by these collective agreements.

Where to get support

Contact the Ohumahi Support team

Email: ohumahi.support@education.govt.nz

Freephone (NZ only): 0800 114 117

Log an enquiry on your Taku portal at education.govt.nz/taku.

NZSTA

For schools and kura:

Email: eradvice@nzsta.org.nz

Freephone (NZ only): 0800782435 (option 2)

Last reviewed: 13 February 2024 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback