Read about the recent changes in the Area School Teachers' Collective Agreement.
The Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement 2023-2025 (ASTCA or 'the agreement') was ratified by NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA Te Wehengarua members on 18 August 2023.
The term of the agreement is effective from 3 July 2023 through to 2 June 2025.
Area school teachers who are NZEI Te Riu Roa or PPTA Te Wehengarua members are automatically bound by the new collective agreement.
Short-term relief teachers who received a lump sum / additional payment as part of the 2023 collective agreement have had their payments recalculated.
When these payments were first made, they were calculated on the number of short-term relief hours teachers had worked in the eligible period. The Ministry of Education and unions have since agreed that the pro-rated payments for short-term relievers should be based on all hours worked in the relevant period, whether as a short-term relief, part-time or full-time teacher. If the recalculation means a short-term relief teacher is due some extra payment, this was paid in pay period 5 on 28 May 2024.
The payment will not appear on SUE reports as the changes are centrally funded, at no cost to the school. Teachers will see it as ‘0049 MOE payment’ on their payslips. Note: Not all short-term relievers will have an extra payment.
More updates will be provided as future changes come into effect.
The Secretary of Education published a new IEA on 25 September 2023 that offers the terms and conditions set out in the Collective Agreement.
Non-union teachers should be offered the new IEA so they can access the updated terms and conditions.
Both the teacher and employer need to sign the new IEA for it to be valid. The effective date of a teacher’s IEA is the date it is signed by both parties. Pay rate increases are effective from that date. The IEA change must also be made in EdPay to receive the increased benefits.
For more detailed information see 'Timeline of changes' below.
All full-time teachers employed as at 18 August 2023 who are union members received a one-off gross payment of $5,000. This payment was pro-rated for short-term relievers and part-time teachers.
Note: the payment for some short-term relievers has been recalculated, see 'What you need to know now' at the top of page.
Short-term relievers needed to have worked at least one day of short-term relief in Term 1 or Term 2 2023 to be eligible for this lump sum payment. Their payment was pro-rated based on the total number of days worked between the start of Term 4, 2022 and 18 August 2023. The minimum payment for any eligible teacher, regardless of full-time teaching equivalent (FTTE), will be $500.
For non-union teachers to be eligible for the $5,000 lump sum payment, schools must ensure that both the employee and employer have signed the new IEA by 14 November 2023.
Schools are also responsible for ensuring that the payroll system reflects the IEA change, enabling teachers to receive the payment. Depending on when paperwork is submitted to Education Payroll the lump sum may be paid later than 13 December 2023.
In recognition of the benefits arising out of the parties’ ongoing and productive relationship, including the role of PPTA Te Wehengarua in negotiating terms and conditions for area school teachers, each teacher who was a union member as at 31 July 2023 and was employed as at 18 August 2023, received 2 additional payments in pay period 12 on 5 September 2023.
These payments were as follows:
Area school teachers who were on approved unpaid leave as at 18 August 2023 are entitled to receive the applicable payments on return to their position. This is providing they return on or before the end of Term 1 2024, or on or before 3 July 2025 for those on parental leave. The amount payable will be based on the teacher’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave. The principal or another authorised signatory can apply on their behalf using the EP31 form.
Where a teacher is employed from a school’s bulk grant or operating funding, the school board is responsible for the payment of any associated costs, including any collective agreement entitlements that arise. This is in accordance with section 580(b) of the Education and Training Act 2020. Please refer to our website for further information:
All lump-sum payments to union members were made in pay period 12 on 5 September 2023, and were paid from the funding code that applied on 18 August 2023 (date of ratification).
If a teacher has received, or is entitled to receive, a lump-sum payment under another education service employment agreement, that lump-sum payment will be deducted from the entitlement.
The Area School Teachers Collective Agreement 2022-2025 now expressly recognises learning support coordinators.
The functions of the role are set out in the coordinator role description drafted by the Ministry of Education along with any distinct responsibilities and/or activities that are defined by the employing school, in consultation with other schools in the Kāhui Ako or cluster, where applicable. Each coordinator will be fully released from timetabled duties.
Where a coordinator is allocated additional leadership, management or other responsibilities for learning support, consideration should be given to whether a unit should be allocated in line with the school’s unit allocation policy. The employer must consider the balance of the allocated responsibilities to allow the coordinator to fulfil their role effectively.
Short-term relief teachers are fixed-term employees who are temporarily employed on a casual basis to relieve in a teaching position for a period not exceeding 3 weeks.
A trained teacher employed as short-term reliever is currently paid a daily relieving rate of 1/190 or an hourly rate of 1/950 of the appropriate maximum annual salary step on the base salary scale (BSS). These rates include holiday pay.
Untrained teachers are paid a daily relieving rate of 1/190 or an hourly rate of 1/950 on the base scale for untrained teachers.
Currently the maximum annual salary step for a trained teacher employed as a short-term reliever is capped at step 5 (new step as at 3 July 2023) on the BSS. From 28 January 2024, the maximum salary cap will be raised to step 6 on the BSS.
Effective from 3 July 2023, the daily pay rates for a short-term reliever on step 5 increased to $367.24. From 28 January 2024, the daily rate for a teacher who is eligible to move to step 6 of the BSS, will increase to $390.75
2 further increases to step 6 of the BSS, 1 on 3 April 2024 and the other on 2 December 2024 will increase the capped daily relieving rate for area school teachers to $406.38 and $422.23 respectively marking an overall increase of 21.9% over the term of the agreement.
Area school teachers are entitled to time each week when they are not required to teach in front of their class. This is timetabled non-contact, or non-teaching time. It is typically used for administration tasks such as planning and assessment, and dealing with pastoral needs of students.
How non-contact time may be used is described in clause 4.1 (external link) of the collective agreement. A school must have a policy, designed with teachers, describing maximum timetabled teaching time.
Full-time teachers who predominantly teach Years 1–6 (for 80% or more of their teaching time) currently have an average of 24 hours maximum timetabled teaching time per week.
Over the term of the agreement this maximum average teaching time will be reduced by 1.5 hours a week.
Part-time teachers employed for 0.80 FTTE per week or more and who are timetabled to teach 80% or more of their teaching time teaching Year 1 to 6 classes currently have an average maximum timetabled classroom teaching time equivalent to 0.96 of the hours for which they are employed.
For an understanding of how non-contact time is meant to be used please refer to n on-teaching time for teachers:
From 28 January 2024, overall sick leave entitlements will improve.
Sick leave entitlements will be based on a teacher’s as a teacher or a principal in any state or state-integrated school. This includes all full-time and part-time employment and any short-term relieving. It also includes any previous employment covered under clause 5.2.2 (external link) in the Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement.
Under the new sick leave entitlement, area school teachers will be given an initial allocation of 20 days of sick leave upon their first appointment to a state or state-integrated school. For every 6 months of continuous employment (up to 30 months) teachers will receive another 10 days. After that, they will receive 10 days for every 12 months of employment.
Teachers employed before 28 January 2024 will also receive the same entitlement, which will replace previous allocations for sick leave. A teacher’s new sick leave balance will be the new translated entitlement, minus any sick days previously taken. Unused sick leave is carried over.
When transitioning to the new sick leave entitlement, no teacher will be disadvantaged. No teacher will have a sick leave balance of less than 10 days or less than the balance they had as at 27 January 2024.
More information about the new sick leave provision and examples of how translation to the new sick leave entitlement will be calculated can be found in the collective agreement.
Sick leave taken will only be deducted from a teacher's entitlement for days that the school is open for instruction .
Any sick leave deducted from entitlements since 3 July 2023 over weekends will be reinstated before the start of the 2024 school year.
If a teacher exhausts their sick leave balance before the correction is made, the board may consider using anticipated sick leave. Anticipated sick leave can be applied for using EdPay or via an EP12 form. Any anticipated sick leave will be taken into account when corrections are made.
More information on anticipated sick leave and how to apply for it can be found on the Education Payroll website.
The purpose of the Māori immersion teaching allowance (MITA) is to recognise te reo Māori as a taonga to be actively protected under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to recognise the skills and knowledge kaiako must have to teach the curriculum in te reo Māori.
Teachers are eligible for the MITA if they meet the following requirements:
From 17 July 2023, the MITA will increase for Levels 1 and 2. Rates will increase up to a maximum of $12,000 per annum for immersion Level 1 and up to a maximum of $8,000 per annum for immersion Level 2. Rates for Level 3 are unchanged.
A teacher can only receive an allowance for 1 level at any 1 time.
The increase from the base to the maximum rates will depend on years of service at that level. Years of service teaching at a level shall remain continuous, unaffected by any periods of unpaid leave, breaks in teaching service and/or teaching service in classes other than Māori immersion Level 1.
Schools were previously required to attest the eligibility of teachers for these allowances yearly. Instead, they will only need to advise in situations where there are changes, by sending an instruction to Education Payroll Limited.
From 3 July 2023, H3+ criteria will include recognition of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) Level 5 and 6 trade or vocational qualifications if the teacher has at least 6,000 hours of applicable trade or vocational work experience.
A teacher will also be eligible to be placed in the H3+ qualification group even without a Level 7 (or higher) subject or specialist qualification on the New Zealand Qualification Framework (NZQF), as long as they have 6,000 hours of work experience in their applicable trade and hold one of the following qualifications or equivalent:
The Pacific bilingual immersion teaching allowance (PBITA) recognises the additional skills needed to deliver teaching and learning through a Pacific language in a Pacific bilingual or immersion context in a school or kura.
Area school teachers are eligible for the PBITA allowance if they meet the minimum teaching time criteria and have the necessary proficiency in the Pacific language required to teach the curriculum in a Pacific bilingual or language immersion programme.
From 28 January 2024, all eligible teachers who teach in a Pacific language within a Pacific bilingual or immersion unit, programme or class (as defined by the Ministry in the school roll return guidelines) will receive the allowance.
The allowance they get will depend on the highest language level they are teaching and their years of service teaching the Pacific language in a bilingual or immersion setting.
Each allowance will be pro-rated for eligible part-time teachers based on the total hours they teach in a Pacific language.
Hours considered for Level 2 can include hours taught at Level 1, but no Level 2 hours taught can be considered for the Level 1 allowance.
The starting allowance (for employees with less than 3 years’ teaching in any Level) is $4,000.
A teacher can only receive the allowance for 1 level at a time. Schools can apply for this allowance using EdPay form EP37P.
See detailed information about the PBITA across all collective agreements:
See our guide on how to establish a Pacific bilingual or immersion unit in a school:
From 28 January 2024, 145 cultural leadership allowances will be introduced based on an allowance of 1 per area school.
The purpose of these allowances is to build staff capability and cultural leadership in schools and kura. For example, a holder of the allowance might coach their peers through engagement with whānau and iwi or Pacific communities, and/or the incorporation of mātauranga Māori into their practice.
Each allowance will be $5,000 annually and will be provided at the substantive rate, for both part-time and full-time teachers. It is possible for the allowance and its responsibilities to be equally shared between 2 teachers if the employer agrees.
All area schools will receive an email from the Ministry of Education in February 2024. advising them of the process to allocate this allowance.
Detailed information about the allowance, including eligibility criteria and best practice guidance for employers can be found on
Cultural leadership allowance.
Changes to the Kāhui Ako within school teacher (WST) allowances provide greater flexibility in the allocation of the allowance.
From 28 January 2024, the board of an area school with 2 or more school-allocated WSTs may allocate up to half of the staffing entitlement for WST roles to Kāhui Ako responsibility allowances.
These allowances can be allocated to those not holding the within school role, but who are:
The employing board will determine whether the allocation of the responsibility allowance will be permanent or for a fixed term of up to 1 year. A teacher allocated a Kāhui Ako responsibility allowance will be entitled to a payment of $2,000 per for the school. A teacher may hold more than 1 responsibility allowance at a time. Unlike the WST, where a teacher must maintain a minimum of a 0.8 FTTE classroom teaching load, there is no minimum required load for the responsibility allowance.
A board can also provide a teacher who is allocated a Kāhui Ako responsibility allowance with release time from the WST staffing entitlement. At least 50% of the WST release time entitlement must continue to be allocated to teachers appointed to a WST staffing role.
The allowance holder is subject to the terms of Clause 3.33 of the Area School Teachers' Collective Agreement.
More information and examples of how the allowance can be used is now available.
From 3 July 2023, beginning area school teachers who progress from provisional certification to a full practising certification during the term of the collective agreement will have the applicable Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa fee paid for by the Ministry of Education.
The Teaching Council Matatū Aotearoa has made changes to its online registration system, Hapori Matatū, to ensure eligible teachers are no longer charged when applying for full certification from provisional.
The Ministry of Education is contacting eligible teachers who have paid for registration after 3 July 2023. Teachers can also contact TeacherRegistration.Payments@education.govt.nz to arrange reimbursement.
The parties agree they will review the hours of work provisions prior to 28 January 2025 and that during the term of the agreement they will review the annual leave provisions to formalise a closedown under the Holidays Act 2003.
More detailed guidance for the following provisions will be provided closer to the effective dates:
Increases to Level 1 and 2 Māori immersion teaching allowance
Motor vehicle allowance increases
Union-member lump-sum payments made
New IEA can be offered to non-union teachers
EPL implements salary and allowance increases
Lump-sum payment made to eligible non-union teachers
Second increase in non-contact time (Teachers Y1-6)
Contact the Ohumahi Support team if you have any questions on the changes:
Freephone (NZ only): 0800 114 1175 (option 2)
Schools boards can contact NZSTA:
Freephone (NZ only): 0800 782 435 (option 2)
Last reviewed: 24 May 2024 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback
