Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement (STCA)

These provisions are specific to PPTA members employed in Te Kura / the Correspondence School.

11.1 General
11.2 Hours of Work
11.3 Procedures for Determining Surplus Staffing
11.4 Off-Site Allowance
11.5 Management Allowances 

11.1 General

11.1.1 Except as is expressly provided otherwise in this Part the terms and conditions of employment of secondary teachers in Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura) are those set out in this agreement.

11.2 Hours of Work

11.2.1 In order to carry out their duties in terms of this agreement it may be necessary for teachers to work for more than 40 hours per week.  The normal hours of work for teachers however should, as far as practicable, not exceed 40 hours per week Monday to Friday.

11.2.2 Teachers are normally required to be present on the site for at least 35 of their working hours per week.  These hours may be worked between 7.00am and 6.00pm daily from Monday to Friday inclusive, with a required core attendance time of 9.00am to 3.00pm.  A lunch break of one hour is to be taken generally between the hours of 12.00noon and 2.00pm (unless agreed otherwise) provided that the timing of the lunch break does not interfere with operational activities. 

11.2.3  Where, with the agreement of the employer, a teacher works flexible hours the teacher may be required to keep a record of attendance.

(a) Without limiting any of the other provisions of this agreement, the school may request the services of a teacher during a vacation period for a total of up to five days in any 12 month period.

(b) The employer will provide the teacher with reasonable notice of a request under clause 11.2.3(a) and wherever possible will take the needs of the individual teacher into account.

11.2.4 The parties recognise the need for kaiako to have sufficient time to engage with whānau and ākonga in order to deliver high-quality, future-focused, teaching and learning and that Student: Teacher ratios are a crucial part of that. The employer, following consultation with kaiako, will annually review:

• Ākonga: Subject kaiako ratios;
• circumstances where individual teachers have a ākonga: subject kaiako ratio consistently above allocations;
• Ākonga: Kaimanaaki ratios; and
• any other relevant matters.

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11.3 Procedures for Determining Surplus Staffing

11.3.1 The provisions below replace Clauses 3.9-3.9.9 of this agreement. These provisions apply only to an employee appointed as a permanent secondary teacher at Te Kura.

Note: Trained beginning teachers in their first year have absolute protection and their positions cannot be considered for disestablishment.

11.3.2 Analysis of Staffing Requirements

(a) Analysis of staffing requirements must be initiated when one or more of the following events indicates to the employer that it may need to reduce or restructure its teaching staff

(i) Reorganisation, sale, transfer, change of class, merger or closure of the School, and/or

(ii) Change in funding allocated to the school board, and/or

(iii) Change in student roll numbers as identified through trends and estimates, and/or

(iv) Change in secondary staffing functions, including:

(a) Staffing required to provide teaching and student support services

(b) Staffing required for cross school distance education functions

(b) In the event an analysis is initiated, the employer shall prepare a consultation document outlining the analysis and potential staffing impacts and provide it to employees, including middle management, and the union for their feedback allowing a period of at least three school weeks.

(c) The employer shall attempt to meet any staffing reduction required through the non-replacement of employees who die, retire, resign, transfer or are promoted.  The employer will adopt a policy of reviewing vacancies when staff surpluses are expected to arise whereupon a partial or complete freeze will be placed on recruiting new permanent employees and/or promotions.

(d) During the consultation process the following voluntary options, as defined in clause 11.3.5, will be made available to all employees on written advice from the employer.  The employer shall not be bound to agree to any voluntary offer:

(i) Supernumerary employment

(ii) Agreed retraining programme

(iii) Severance payment

The employer’s decision shall be final.  In the case of employees who are job sharing this clause will only apply where both employees volunteer for the options.

(e) Following consideration of employee input and the effect of attrition and uptake of voluntary options the employer shall provide a second consultation document which shall include a more detailed analysis that identifies any need to reduce staffing or alter the status of positions. It will also identify the number of permanent full-time teaching equivalent positions which may be disestablished and/ or the permanent teaching positions allocated permanent units that may have their units reduced.  Employees shall be given a minimum of an additional three school weeks in which to consider and respond to the detailed consultation document.  Should the parties agree, the second period of consultation may be shortened or omitted.

(f) At the conclusion of the consultation period, the employer shall consider employee feedback and the effect of further attrition and uptake of voluntary options and make adjustments to the analysis where appropriate.  An analysis of staff feedback will be published to all employees of Te Kura covered by the Agreement, and to the Association.

(g) Proposed changes shall not be put into effect until a minimum of 14 school weeks have elapsed from the publishing of the analysis referred to in (e) above.

11.3.3 Identification of Affected Employees

The employer after consultation with a nominee of the national executive of the PPTA will identify the teaching positions to be disestablished.

Where the number of permanent teaching positions required, are less than the number of teacher(s) currently holding those designated position(s), the teacher(s) will be identified as surplus in accordance with the following guidelines in the order stated:

(i)      Staffing function as described in 11.3.2(a)(iv) above.

(ii)     The tenure of the position(s) being considered; and

(iii)     The duration of service in Te Kura of teachers holding any positions being considered.

Note:  A judgement of whether the teacher is competent to teach is not one of the criteria for selection and should not be a consideration for disestablishment.  Matters of competence shall be dealt with in terms of clause 3.3 of the agreement. The problem resolution provisions in Part Nine of this agreement are available to an employee who is aggrieved by any action of their employer taken under these provisions.

11.3.4 Notice of Disestablishment

The employee shall receive, in writing, 12 school weeks’ notice of disestablishment of their position.  The teacher will be entitled to take all that time to make a decision on which option or options (as set out below) to take. If the teacher decides prior to the expiry of the 12 school week notice period to take the severance payment option, payment in lieu for the 12 school week notice period or part thereof may be made at the employer’s discretion.

The employee will be entitled to choose an option from the following list of options, or may consult with the employer over any combination of the options:

(i) Supernumerary employment

(ii) Redeployment to a suitable alternative position which may involve a reduction in hours

(iii) Agreed retraining programme

(iv) Severance payment

11.3.5 Provisions Covering Surplus Staffing Options

The details on the options are as follows:

(1) Supernumerary Employment

Supernumerary employment is employment for a period of up to thirty (30) school weeks.  An employee whose position is disestablished as a result of voluntary election or otherwise who has either elected to be employed as a supernumerary teacher, or who has not taken up any of the other options set out in clause 11.3.4 before the date of disestablishment, shall be entitled to supernumerary employment in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) The employee will continue to be employed at their existing salary for a period of thirty (30) school weeks from the effective date of the disestablishment of the position (normally at the beginning of term one of the following year);

(b) The employee may elect to take up their supernumerary employment at  Te Kura  or at any other school at the request of the employee and with the approval of both  Te Kura and the board at the other school;

(c) The employee will apply for suitable permanent vacancies at other schools;

(d) The employer will encourage the employee to find a suitable alternative permanent teaching position and will meet the actual and reasonable expenses of attending interviews at other schools where prior approval is given;

(e) If during the supernumerary period the employee applies for a permanent position of equal or lower status for which s/he is suitable at Te Kura, s/he shall be appointed to that position;

(f) The employee’s supernumerary employment shall cease upon the employee being appointed to a new teaching position or upon the employee choosing to resign or at the expiration of thirty (30) school weeks from the effective date of the disestablishment of the position, whichever is the earlier;

(g) Where a supernumerary teacher is appointed to a new permanent teaching position and a transfer of location is involved, that employee shall be entitled to normal removal expense provisions provided that this entitlement shall be exercised once only for each supernumerary period;

(h) Where a supernumerary teacher declines an offer of suitable appointment at the same salary from Te Kura, or applies for and declines an offer of appointment from another board, the employee’s supernumerary status shall cease forthwith;

(i) During any period of supernumerary employment an employee is entitled to any salary increments due;

(j) During any period of supernumerary employment, the supernumerary teacher will continue to undertake appropriate teaching duties.

(2) Agreed Retraining Programme

Where an employee’s position is disestablished as the result of voluntary election or otherwise the employee may elect to take an approved course of study that will enhance or upgrade the employee’s skills in secondary teaching, student support services work, and/or in distance education functions, provided that:

(a) The employee will continue to be employed at their existing salary for a maximum period of forty (40) school weeks from the effective date of the disestablishment of the position (normally at the beginning of term one of the following year);

(b) The employee is employed as a supernumerary teacher during this period and has the rights and obligations of a supernumerary teacher except as specifically provided in this clause;

(c) There is no requirement on the employer to meet any costs and expenses of training, including course fees;

(d) The employee will provide evidence of attendance at the approved course of study where requested by the employer.  The employer may make enquiries during the retraining period to establish that the employee is undertaking the approved course of study.

(e) Where the approved course of study is for a shorter period than forty (40) school weeks, or where the course of study commences later than the effective date of disestablishment, the employee is required to attend the school as a supernumerary employee in periods when the school is open for instruction, except in special circumstances approved by the employer;

(f) Where the employee ceases to attend the course before its completion, further employment shall cease, except where the employer agrees that there was just cause for cessation of attendance and the employee shall return to the school as a supernumerary for the remainder of the retraining period.

(3) Severance Payment

The teacher may elect severance payment.  In that case the teacher will receive a severance payment according to the table below:

(a) The employee will be deemed to have supernumerary status for the period after disestablishment until severance payment is paid.  During this period, the rights and obligations of a supernumerary teacher will apply.

(b) For the purposes of calculating length of service for this clause only service as a teacher in a state or integrated school shall be counted.  Non-permanent part-time service in a school other than Te Kura shall be calculated on the basis that 80 hours equals one month’s service and 1000 hours equals one year’s service.  Where non-permanent part-time service consists of 20 or more hours per week it may be credited as full-time service.  Te Kura non-permanent part-time service shall be credited on the basis of FTTE, and where service consists of 0.8 FTTE or greater it shall be credited as full-time service.  For the purposes of this clause, service includes service credits for childcare where an employee resigned or took leave to care for their children, on the basis of one-third credit for each year of such leave up to a maximum of five years’ credit.

(c) Where an employee, having received a severance payment, commences permanent employment within a number of weeks which is less than the number of weeks of the payment received by the employee as a severance payment under this clause, the employee shall refund the difference between the number of weeks severance payment was received.  Provided that, for the purposes of this clause, employment means employment as a teacher in a state or integrated school.

(d) Any employee receiving the severance payment will be deemed to have been paid in full for service to that date for the purpose of calculating service for any future sick leave, severance or long-service payment entitlements.

(e) Pay for employees shall be defined as:

(i) Ordinary pay is defined as basic taxable salary, plus regular taxable allowances paid on a continuous basis at the effective date of disestablishment of the position.  For employees on leave without pay, ordinary pay shall be the ordinary pay at the time of taking leave;

(ii) For full-time employees, “weekly” pay shall be 7/365 of ordinary pay;

(iii) For part-time employees, “weekly” pay shall mean the employee’s average weekly earnings for the previous six/twelve months (whichever is more favourable to the employee).

11.3.6 Teachers in Positions of Responsibility

If, after the operation of clause 11.3.2, positions are to be changed in status, the employer, after consultation with a nominee of the national executive of the Association, will identify the positions to be reduced in status in accordance with the following guidelines in the order stated:

(a) The balance of the distribution of the units among all areas of responsibility and will take cognisance of the staffing requirements of the School as defined in clause 11.3.2(a)(iv);

(b) Duration of service in the School of teachers holding any positions being considered.

Any teacher who holds a position of responsibility or a position as an assistant or deputy principal and that position is about to have a reduction in status and who applies for the new reduced position as advertised at its new status shall be appointed to that position unless in the meantime the teacher has been appointed to another permanent position.  The teacher shall continue to be paid at the salary s/he was receiving immediately prior to the reduction for a period of one year so long as s/he continues to hold that position. This provision is not applicable to the holder of a fixed-term position of responsibility. During any period of salary protection an employee is entitled to any salary increments due.

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11.4 Off-Site Allowance

11.4.1 The provisions below replace Clause 7.3 of this agreement.

11.4.2 All employees on official Te Kura business where meals are provided by the employer and who are not receiving the travelling allowance set out in Clause 7.1 and Appendix D shall be paid a $15.00 per night off-site allowance for each night spent away from home.

11.4.3 When as a result of such business an employee is unable to return to home or the school (whichever is appropriate) until after 1pm on the final day, but there is no need to stay away for a further night, then the employee shall be entitled to an $8.00 off-site allowance in respect of that final day.

11.4.4 Recipients of the off-site allowance are not entitled to the incidentals allowance. 

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11.5 Management Allowances

11.5.1 For an employee appointed as secondary teacher at Te Kura, these provisions below replace clauses 4.3A.1 to 4.3A.9 of this agreement.  

11.5.2 The employer shall determine annually the allocation of Management Allowances following consultation with the secondary teaching staff.

11.5.3 Secondary teachers who have a designated curriculum or pastoral management responsibility will be eligible to receive Management Allowances.

11.5.4 At least 85% of the school’s Management Allowances must be allocated to secondary teachers with units who have designated curriculum or pastoral management responsibilities.

11.5.5 An individual secondary teacher may be allocated no more than two (2) Management Allowances. If the employer is unable to fully allocate theallowances referred to in 11.5.2 then the employer may allocate up to three (3) Management Allowances to any unit holder who meets the criteria in 11.5.3.

11.5.6 Up to 30% of the allowances may be allocated on a fixed term basis.

11.5.7 From 3 July 2023, each Management Allowance shall generate an additional salary payment of $2,000 per annum.

11.5.8 Management Allowances are not divisible and the attached salary shall be paid at the substantive rate to both full-time and part-time teachers.

11.5.9 Where a teacher appointed to a position to which Management Allowances are allocated loses that position, or has the position altered in status, because of the application of the surplus staffing provisions in part eleven of this agreement, the salary protection arrangements in clause 11.3.6 of these provisions shall apply. Provided that where the allocation has been made on a fixed-term basis the period of protection shall be for the lesser of the term agreed or for one year while the teacher continues to hold a position at the school.

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