Resignation, dismissal and retirement
Teaching and non-teaching staff may need to leave their job through resignation, retirement, dismissal or redundancy. Their employment agreement sets out their entitlements for each of these situations.
Level of compliance | Main audience | Other |
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Required |
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- Legislation
- Voluntary resignation of teachers and principals
- Voluntary resignation of other staff
- Forced resignation
- Dismissal of teachers and principals
- Dismissal of other staff
- Retirement
Legislation
When your employment as a teacher or principal ends, both you and your employer must comply with the provisions of your employment agreement and the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Employment Relations Act 2000 – NZ Legislation(external link)
Voluntary resignation of teachers and principals
You may resign at any time provided you give the required notice. For all teachers and principals this is 2 months. The employment relationship continues until that date.
If you provide 2 months’ notice, your employer must pay you to the end of that notice period, unless you are justifiably dismissed during the notice period.
Voluntary resignation provisions are set out in the collective agreements as follows:
Clause 2.9 – Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Clause 10.2 – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Clause 10.2 – Primary Principals' (PPCBU) Collective Agreement(external link)
Clause 3.11.1 – Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Clause 9.1 – Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreement
Clause 2.8 – Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Clause 9.1 – Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement
Voluntary resignation of other staff
You must give 1 months’ notice when you resign if you are covered by either the:
- support staff in schools employment agreements
- kaiarahi i te reo and therapists’ employment agreements.
This requirement is set out in the collective agreements as follows:
Clause 9.1 – Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement
Clause 9.1 – Kaiarahi i te Reo and Therapists’ Collective Agreement
You must give 2 weeks’ notice when you resign if you are covered by the School Caretakers’, Cleaners’, Canteen and Ground Staff Collective Agreement.
Clause 6.11 – School Caretakers’, Cleaners’, Canteen and Ground Staff Collective Agreement
Forced resignation
If you feel pressured to resign or feel that your work situation is intolerable and feel forced to resign, this may be called a 'forced resignation' or 'constructive dismissal'. The normal notice period applies.
However, it may also lead to a personal grievance or other employment dispute that requires mediation.
Employment relationship problem resolution
Forced resignation provisions are set out in the collective agreements.
Primary teachers
Clause 10.8 – Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Part 11 – Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Primary principals
Clauses 8.8 – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Clause 10.1 – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Appendix 3 – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Secondary teachers and principals
Clause 11.1 – Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Clause 11.1 – Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreement
Area school teachers and principals
Part 8 – Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Part 10 – Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement
Non-teaching staff
Part 9 – Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement
Part 8 – Kaiarahi i te Reo and Therapists’ Collective Agreement
Part 7 – School Caretakers’ and Cleaners’, Canteen and Ground Staff Collective Agreement
Dismissal of teachers and principals
There must be a good reason for a dismissal and the dismissal must be carried out fairly. If this doesn’t happen, you may have grounds for a personal grievance claim.
What is fair depends on the circumstances. Your employer must follow the dismissal provisions in your employment agreement. All teachers and principals, must be given at least 2 months’ notice of dismissal.
Dismissal provisions, including notice periods, are set out in the collective agreements.
Primary teachers
Clause 2.9.2 – Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Part 10 – Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Primary principals
Clause 10.2 – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Part 8 – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
Secondary teachers
Clause 3.11 – Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Clause 3.4 – Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Secondary principals
Clause 6.5 – Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreement
Part 6 – Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreement
Area school teachers
Clause 2.8 – Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Clause 2.4 – Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement
Area school principals
Clause 6.2 – Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement
Part 6 – Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement
Dismissal of other staff
There must be a good reason for a dismissal and the dismissal must be carried out fairly. If this doesn’t happen, you may have grounds for a personal grievance claim.
What is fair depends on the circumstances. Your employer must follow the dismissal provisions in your employment agreement.
Support staff, kaiarahi i te reo and therapists
Your employer must give 1 months' notice of dismissal if you’re covered by either the:
- support staff in schools employment agreements
- kaiarahi i te reo and therapists' employment agreements.
Dismissal provisions, including notice periods, are set out in the collective agreements.
Part 9 – Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement
Part 8 – Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement
Part 9 – Kaiarahi i te Reo and Therapists’ Collective Agreement
Part 8 – Kaiarahi i te Reo and Therapists’ Collective Agreement
Caretakers, cleaners, canteen and ground staff
Your employer must give 2 weeks’ notice of dismissal if your employment is covered by the School Caretakers’, Cleaners’, Canteen and Ground Staff Collective Agreement.
Dismissal provisions, including notice periods, are set out in the collective agreement.
Clause 6.11 – School Caretakers’ and Cleaners’ and Canteen Staff Collective Agreement
Clause 6.8 – School Caretakers’ and Cleaners’ and Canteen Staff Collective Agreement
Retirement
There is no set age that you must retire from work. Your employer can not require you to retire because of your age.
The notice you must give for intending retirement is the same as for resignation.
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