Kaiārahi i te reo pay equity claim

Learn more about the Kaiārahi i te reo pay equity claim settled in July 2022.

Level of compliance	Main audience	Other
Required	Principals and tumuaki Kaiārahi i te reo	School boards

Level of compliance

Main audience

Other

Required

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Principals and tumuaki
Kaiārahi i te reo

School boards

Settlement of the claim

On 4 July 2022, we settled the pay equity claim for kaiārahi i te reo with NZEI Te Riu Roa.

Following endorsement by the employees covered by the claim, the settlement will now see more than 80 kaiārahi i te reo, mostly wāhine Māori, being fairly valued and paid for the work they do.

The role of kaiārahi i te reo

The role of kaiārahi i te reo is to support the development and preservation of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori within schools and kura.

They are recognised for their involvement within the community and their knowledge and experience of te ao Māori. They also contribute to creating inclusive and safe spaces by growing the cultural capability of ākonga and kaimahi in schools and kura.

Parental payment guide published

A parental payment equivalent to 6 weeks’ pay was introduced as part of the settlement.

A guide explaining the parental payment and the process for applying was published on 20 March 2023.

Parental payment guide [PDF, 547 KB]

Payment to employees

Kaiārahi i te reo received their first payment at the new pay equity rates (including payment for the period from 20 August 2021 to 30 September 2022) on Tuesday 18 October. This includes payment to people who finished on or after 1 September 2022.

Former employees

Former employees who were covered by the claim can request their pay equity payment by completing the form through the link below.

Details on completing the form, as well as common questions about the payment to former employees, are also available through the link.

Schools and kura will not be required to pay covered former employees who finished employment on or prior to 31 August 2022. We will pay them directly once they have completed the form below.

Pay equity for former employees(external link)

People who finished employment on or after 1 September 2022 were paid as part of the 18 October payment.

Non-Education Payroll schools

Employees who worked in schools or kura who did not use Education Payroll will need to contact their school or kura. Schools and kura will be provided funding to cover these employees.

Funding

Covered employees in state and state-integrated schools and kura, including those who may have finished their job on or after 20 August 2021 and started another position at another school, or left the workforce entirely, are included in the settlements.

We provide the additional pay equity funding required by translating covered employees from the old pay scale to the new pay equity pay scale. This is a point-to-point translation following the translation rules of the settlements.

Point-to-point means that covered employees will be transferred from their point on the previous position elements table to the equivalent point on the new pay equity work matrix.

Funding calculation

Settlement funding is provided to cover the difference between the old pay scale rate and the new pay equity pay scale rate.

This funding is calculated for all hours worked by covered employees from the effective date of the kaiārahi i te reo pay equity settlement:

Pay equity settlement funding equation

For more information, the settlement funding page:

Administration support staff and kaiārahi i te reo pay equity settlement funding

Guidance on implementing the settlements

Guidance is available (see documents in the table below) to help you understand and implement the changes resulting from the settlement.

The guidance documents include information on the ongoing pay equity funding from the Ministry, guidance on how to use the new work matrix, information on employees translating from the old pay rates to the new pay rates, guidance on pay equity regrading, and guidance on the parental payment.

A roadmap is also available which provides an overview of the key implementation activities of both the administration support staff and kaiārahi i te reo pay equity settlements, planned for 2022 and 2023.

Webinars and hui

To support you in implementing the settlement, we hosted webinars and a series of kanohi ki te kanohi hui with NZSTA and NZEI Te Riu Roa.

These outlined the changes resulting from the settlement and provided additional support in understanding the settlement.

You can view a recording of one of the webinars through the link below.

Pay equity webinar – Vimeo(external link)

Timeline of the settlement

September 2018: Claims raised by NZEI Te Riu Roa on behalf of school kaiārahi i te reo.
18 June 2020: Terms of reference agreed between the Ministry, NZSTA and NZEI Te Riu Roa.
July 2020 to November 2021: Investigation and assessment of school administration support staff role and comparator roles.
20 August 2021: Sex-based discrimination confirmed.
21 June 2022: Proposed settlement agreement reached.
June 2022: Mandating process for affected employees
July 2022 onward: Implementing the settlement.

Settlement documents

To see a summary of our research that identified sex-based undervaluation for this workforce, download and read the evidence report.

You can also view a copy of the notification letter and fact sheet that was sent to employees at the beginning of the claim.

Last reviewed: 19 July 2024 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback