Terms of settlement for Support Staff in Schools and Kaiārahi i Te Reo collective agreements.
After meeting with the Ministry on 29 November, members of the Support Staff in Schools and Kaiārahi i Te Reo collective agreements received their first offer. Members voted to accept their collective agreement offer on 10 December 2019.
Read below for a breakdown of our collective agreement claims and what is included in the settlement and frequently asked questions.
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What's in the settlement for support staff?
Living Wage
The Living Wage Rate of $21.15 will be made the base rate for all support staff and KRCA members currently earning less than this rate.
For those currently on the lowest rates, the settlement means pay increases of up to 19.5%. The Living Wage rate also effectively amalgamates the lowest eight steps into one bottom step.
Pay rates
All other members earning at or above $21.15 per hour receive an increase of 3% on printed rates. The increases will be effective from 29 November 2019.
This means that all members will receive an increase of at least 3% immediately, and a further 3% increase on printed rates in 12 months' time.
The new rates will be funded from new money to be provided to boards of trustees through the operations grant. The rates will be implemented in March 2020 because of the complex changes to the payroll that will be required. The settlement is for a term of 26 months.
See the table below outlining the printed rates for Grades A, B, C and D including merging the steps 1 through to 1 into the new step 1.
Professional learning and development
The Ministry has also included a professional learning and development fund of $500,000 a year from 1 July 2020 to fund a pilot teacher aide learning and development fund.
Pay equity
The settlement also includes a commitment to immediate work on the administration and kaiārahi pay equity claims, but no deadline for its completion.
Other claims
The settlement also responds to several of our other claims. This includes funding for cultural leave for support staff participating in Te Matatini, an increase in the motor vehicle allowance to align with the rate payable to teachers and principals, revision of the overnight allowance to ensure members receive their correct entitlements, and renaming the dirty work allowance the "tiaki" allowance.
How does the settlement fit with our pay equity claims?
| Issue | What we asked for | What's in the settlement | Pay equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remuneration | Remove Grade A Increase all steps by $1.20 Review executive management minimum entry rate Delete steps 1-8 of the Kaiārahi scale | An increase to the minimum rate for all support staff to $21.15 (the Living Wage) and a 3% increase to all those above the Living Wage. A further 3% increase for all steps in November 2020. By November 2020 this results in the following increase to the top step of each grade: • a $4.08 per hour increase for step 4 Grade A • a $ 1.26 per hour increase for step 9 Grade B • a $ 1.50 per hour increase for step 14 Grade C • a $ 2.05 per hour increase for step 15 Grade D Remove steps 1 – 8 of the SSCA salary scale and provide a new minimum rate of $21.15 (the Living Wage) Increase the Executive Management Group entry point by 3 % in 2019 and 3 % in 2020 Delete steps 1 – 8 of the Kaiārahi scale and provide a new minimum rate of $21.15 (the Living Wage) | Remuneration that addresses the historic undervaluation of the various support staff roles by considering the experience, skills, efforts, responsibilities and demands of the work. The teacher aide pay equity process will agree a new grading system with new steps reflecting the actual work of teacher aides. Negotiate a mechanism to ensure there is confidence that remuneration increases in each pay equity settlement will reach support staff; as a step towards an ultimate central funding model. |
| Union Recognition | No pass-on for 12 months A member-only lump sum | Members’ new rates apply from 29 November, non-members’ apply from 13th December. No “member-only” lump sum offered | The efforts of NZEI Te Riu Roa members to resolve their pay equity claims should be recognised. |
| Pay Equity | Include terms of reference for kaiārahi, admin, librarians and science technicians | Commitment to signing terms of reference for kaiārahi and administration pay equity processes included in offer. | We will be entering negotiations for teacher aide pay equity in the week of 16 December. We are in the final stages of agreeing the terms of reference for administration staff. Terms of reference for kaiārahi i te reo is waiting on Ministry of Education feedback. Our aim is to move to librarians and science techs next. |
| Job Security | Funding to be delivered in a way that supports permanent employment. Job security measures to be negotiated for teacher aides, such as minimum hours and compliance with legal obligations for fixed term employment. Job security issues will be assessed for other support staff groups. |
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| Professional Conditions | Match mileage to PTCA rate Introduce Parental Grant Rename and increase Dirty Work allowance Update Overnight allowance | Mileage claim met i.e increase of mileage to the same rate as teacher included in offer No parental grant offered Dirty work allowance name change offered but no increase (being discussed as part of pay equity) Claim to update overnight allowance met by an update clause ensuring members paid at least the minimum wage for all hours spent on camp, including overnight | Allowances will form part of the remuneration negotiations for the teacher aide claim and we will be investigating allowance issues for other groups. Grading systems that better reflects the actual work support staff do. |
| Wellbeing | Fund to access EAP Ensure H&S representation, training and resources are available to support staff | No offer made to fund EAP access Additional health and safety wording offered to ensure health and safety participation and support wellbeing | |
| Term | 1 Year | A term of 26 months offered |
Getting to a pay equity settlement for teacher aides
NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education have agreed that pay equity negotiations for teacher aides will begin on the 18th December. We've also agreed on what issues we'll be progressing in the negotiations.
We’ve summarised these below. You can read our full framework for pay equity negotiations here.
1. Achieving a pay equity rate
- Remuneration that addresses the historic undervaluation of teacher aides by considering the level of experience, skills, efforts, responsibilities and demands.
- There will be a new grading system that better reflects the actual work teacher aides do.
- As well as looking at the base scale for teacher aides we will also be negotiating allowances
- There will be an appeals process for any grading changes as a result of the settlement.
2. Funding – ensuring the pay equity rate is applied
NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry are firmly committed to ensuring pay equity funding reaches teacher aides and we will be discussing in bargaining what funding options are available to “provide confidence that payments made to Boards will be used to deliver the agreed increases to pay”.
3. Job Security
- We will be negotiating measures to immediately boost job security such as minimum hours for teacher aides and compliance with legal obligations relating to fixed-term employment.
- Further work will be done under the education accord to look at changes to the funding model for teacher aides, such as central funding of a staffing entitlement model, with a specific focus on security of work.
- This further work will also cover career pathways, paid professional development, qualification acquisition and recognition, training opportunities and career progression for teacher aides.