The pay equity process takes a few steps: first research, then negotiation.

Check out our pay equity process.

This claim is for:

• Visiting teachers in home-based early childhood education services.
• All qualified, in-training, and unqualified teachers/kaiako working in teacher-led early childhood education services and kindergartens. This includes all leadership positions such as Head Teacher and Senior Teacher.

Anyone can sign up to support the claim, whether you're a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa or not. Any settlement we achieve would be for all teachers working in the roles covered.

NZEI Te Riu Roa is committed to 100% qualified teachers for teacher-led ECE. We are including unqualified teachers in the claim to reflect the makeup of the workforce until we reach 100% qualified teachers. We expect any pay equity rates to reflect the qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience required for all different roles.

Teachers in all licenced teacher-led ECE services are covered.

Kohanga reo are not yet covered by this claim. The Miro Māori team of NZEI Te Riu Roa will work with Te Kohanga Reo members on the kaupapa, and determine the shape of a claim that best reflects their work.

Our claim includes people working in "unqualified teaching" roles in teacher-led ECE services and Kindergartens.

There may be more elements of cleaning/set up in these roles then qualified roles however a key part of the role will be the expectation to work with children as a ‘teacher’ in the teaching and learning environment.

People in these roles are usually (but not always) considered part of the teaching team, attend teaching team meetings and are counted in the staffing ratio for some or all of their work.

Educators in home-based services are not covered.

These roles are contractors and the pay equity framework only covers employees. We will however be advocating for better pay and conditions for home-based educators in the government review of home-based ECE.

ECE support staff are not covered by this claim.

The framework for pay equity claims is for positions that are same or similar. Administrators, cooks, cleaners and teacher aides will need separate claims.

We are a good way through our teacher aide claim in schools and have started our administrator work, and this will help future work for support staff in ECE.

Employers will need to be part of this process. However, the government will need to fund any pay equity settlement.

Pay equity deals with the undervaluing of work ‘traditionally’ done by women. Pay equity means women get paid the same as men for doing the same or substantially similar work, and for doing work that is different but of equal value (hence the importance of the establishingcomparators from male dominated jobs).

Pay parity is getting the same pay for the same job. It is the argument that ‘a teacher is a teacher is a teacher’.

Pay equity legislation means that we can claim for all teachers (not just NZEI members) and brings the government in as funder.  Kristine Bartlett’s win in the aged care sector provides a precedent that we can follow in ECE.

Pay parity is still a goal that NZEI members pursue through collective bargaining.