Teacher aide pay equity operational guidelines for schools

Guidance for schools on the implementation of the teacher aide pay equity settlement.  

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2 Teacher aide pay equity claim settlement

Key points in this section:

  • The settlement applies to teacher aides and those doing the same or similar work, who are employed in state and state-integrated schools and kura.
  • The new pay equity rates will range from $21.20 to $34.68 per hour and are effective from 12 February 2020.
  • Teacher aides who frequently perform Tiaki duties will receive an additional $2.59 per hour on top of their hourly rate.
  • Teacher aides will start receiving the new pay equity rates in November 2020, but these will be backdated to 12 February 2020.
  • You will receive additional pay equity funding to cover the increased cost of the settlement on 28 August 2020.
  • The additional pay equity funding will be provided to you on an ongoing basis through regular Operational Grant instalments.

On 27 May 2020, the Ministry and NZEI Te Riu Roa signed the settlement. Teacher aides across the country endorsed the settlement and on 29 June 2020, NZEI Te Riu Roa members voted to accept a variation to the Support Staff in Schools' Collective Agreement (CA) that formalised the settlement outcomes.

  • 2.1 Who is covered by the settlement?

    • The settlement applies to teacher aides and anyone who does the work described in the pay equity work matrix (work matrix) – even if the role is called something different, such as "learning assistant."

      The tasks need to be student-facing and support the learning of a specific student or group of learners.

      There could be other staff in your school, for example school coordinators, teachers, or an office administrator who may complete a task found in the work matrix. This settlement does not apply to them as they are not doing the regular and ongoing role/work of a teacher aide.

      The settlement only applies to people employed in state and state-integrated schools and kura.

      Who is not covered by the settlement?

      The teacher aide settlement does not apply to:

      • private / independent schools
      • administration staff, science technicians, school coordinators, librarians, kaiārahi i te reo (as separate pay equity claims have been raised for these groups)
      • teacher aides working in kindergartens, or other early learning services.

      Education Payroll will be seeking information from you to confirm which employees are doing the work of teacher aides, as described in the settlement.

  • 2.2 Key elements of the settlement

    • New pay equity pay rates

      The new pay equity pay rates will range from $21.20 to $34.68 per hour and are effective from 12 February 2020.

      The additional pay equity funding will be provided to you on an ongoing basis through regular Operational Grant instalments, with the initial funding scheduled on 28 August 2020. It will include funding for the new pay equity rates and the revised Tiaki allowance and will be backdated to 12 February 2020.

      Teacher aides, who have signed the new pay equity individual employment agreement (IEA)* or who are NZEI Te Riu Roa members will automatically receive the pay equity rates by 4 November 2020, backdated to 12 February 2020.
      You should offer an IEA to teacher aides who are not union members so that they can be paid the new pay equity pay rates, which will also be backdated to 12 February 2020.

      Increases to Tiaki allowance

      The settlement increases the Tiaki allowance to correct the sex-based undervaluation of remuneration identified during the investigation process.

      Teacher aides who perform Tiaki duties on a frequent basis will receive an extra $2.59 per hour on top of their hourly rate. For those who perform these duties occasionally, the allowance will increase from $3.85 to $4.81 per day, for days when the work is performed. On 27 November 2020, the frequent Tiaki rate will increase to $2.67 per hour, and the occasional Tiaki rate will increase to $4.95 per day (paid to teacher aides on 3 December 2020).

      Professional learning and development opportunities

      The settlement makes professional learning and development (PLD) opportunities for teacher aides more readily available. The pilot PLD fund will be boosted by $1.5 million, to $2.29 million from July 2020 to February 2022.

      Certainty of hours

      Teacher aides will also have more certainty around the hours they work. Permanently employed teacher aides will only be able to have their hours varied by a maximum of 25% in any 12-month period. Any variations greater than 25% would require the school to apply the surplus staffing provisions. Teacher aides and their school can still agree together larger or more frequent variations if it suits them both.

      * The new pay equity IEA is available on the Ministry website(external link).

  • 2.3 Longer-term steps for the teacher aide settlement

    • The Ministry, NZEI Te Riu Roa and NZSTA recognise that for teacher aides to provide the best support they can for our learners, there are broader workforce matters that need addressing.
      We have agreed to longer-term joint work which includes:

      • a commitment to reviewing the way schools are funded for teacher aides
      • establishing a working group to explore career pathways and professional development for teacher aides.

      Additionally, NZEI Te Riu Roa and NZSTA have agreed to look at the use of fixed-term agreements in schools and develop guidance for employers on the use of fixed-term agreements.

      Payment for online hui

      Teacher aides will be automatically paid the $25 payment if they attended an online Zoom hui as part of NZEI Te Rui Roa's information campaign about the settlement. A schedule has been sent out by Education Payroll to collect information from you about attendance.