Welcome back to Term 2 2026. We hope you have all managed to get some down time over the Easter and school holiday break.
Now that the Collective Agreements for most teachers and other staff have settled, it is time to turn your minds to any follow up actions that need to be taken to implement key changes and ensure compliance across your employment practices.
While principals remain accountable for employment relations/HR aspects of running a school, we acknowledge the day-to-day actions are often part of another staff members role. We ask that you share information with your school business managers, administrators and SLT/Team Leaders so the necessary actions are completed at the right times. Your board should be looking for assurances or reports from you that confirm employer obligations have been met.
We will be working with MoE to provide Collective Agreement implementation Circulars, GovHub Sector Updates, Resource Centre articles and guidance on the implementation for each Collective Agreement as required, so keep an eye out for further updates.
We also recommend you read our Board Matters Bulletin and Checklist which support cohesive board communications.
Ngā mihi nui,
The GovHub team
Your mahi for Term 2 2026
Download our Principal Task Checklist which covers the tasks you’ll need to undertake this term.
There are two key topics this term – employment and student achievement – supporting boards to improve outcomes for students.
Please encourage your board to attend, ideally as a whole board. The more members involved, the stronger the shared understanding.
Being a Good Employer – The Board’s Role (Webinar)
This session covers what it means to be a good employer, the board’s employment responsibilities, and the board-principal relationship.
Student Achievement – What We’re All Here For (Workshops or Webinar)
This session focuses on student achievement, how to interpret achievement information, ask effective questions, and keep student outcomes at the centre of board decision-making.
This settlement provides those already employed on the SSSCA and KRCA with an increase to all printed rates of 4.55% over the 27-month term of the collective agreement. This is comprised of a 2.5% increase from 24 March 2026 and a 2.0% increase from 23 March 2027.
Guidance counsellors will translate to the SSSCA on their current pay rates and will receive a 2% increase on 23 March 2027.
Education Payroll Limited will pay these rates to employees covered by the collective agreement no later than pay period 06, on 23 June 2026.
Rates will be paid back to the effective date of 24 March 2026 for employees who are NZEI members, or from the membership join date if they joined later than 24 March 2026.
Full rates tables are available in Annex 1, below.
2. Motor Vehicle Allowance increase:
The Motor Vehicle Allowance will increase to $0.83 per kilometre from 24 March 2026 under both the KRCA and SSSCA.
3. Professional Learning and Development Fund
The Ministry will establish and administer a Professional Learning and Development (PLD) fund of up to $8 million available to staff whose work falls within coverage of the SSSCA and KRCA and who work directly with neurodiverse students to support students’ participation and progress.
This fund will open in Term 1 2027 and will provide PLD through Ministry approved providers until the earlier of the end of 2028 or when the funds are exhausted.
4. Updated Performance and Conduct Provisions
The provisions have been updated to clarify what good processes look like for both conduct and performance matters.
If you have specific questions, you can contact us in the first instance on 0800 782 435 or email: eradvice@tewhakaroputanga.org.nz.
5. Medical Certificates change from 3 to 5 days
If medical evidence is requested within five consecutive calendar days, the board will agree to meet the employee’s reasonable expenses in obtaining the proof. Expenses obtaining medical evidence after five days will be at the employee’s cost.
6. Workplace delegates communications channels
Schools will provide a communication channel (notice board or online), on request, to enable sharing of union notices and information. The agreement, following the introduction of a 40-hour week, will grand-parent work arrangements for employees employed full-time at 37.5 hours per week, while they remain in their current role under the SSSCA.
7. Therapist Team leader Allowance under the KRCA
Where a school board employs four or more therapists, they may allocate at their discretion an allowance of $4,000 per annum to the therapist(s) who are designated to lead a team.
Prior to the date this collective agreement came into force, some employees may have already received additional remuneration for performing team leader duties. In these circumstances, the board and employee may agree that some or all of that remuneration will be replaced by the team leader allowance, provided that the employee’s total remuneration must not decrease and their salary must not be reduced below the applicable minimum rate.
For more details, please refer to clause 5.8 of the Kaiārahi i te Reo and Therapists' Collective Agreement 2026-2028.
8. Expanded coverage for non-teaching guidance counsellors under the SSSCA
Non-teaching guidance counsellors will now fall under the coverage of the SSSCA 2026-2028.
The SSSCA will provide the minimum rates for non-teaching guidance counsellors which will be Grade D step 6 of the Other Support Staff scale.
This is provided that the employee holds a relevant qualification for a guidance counsellor recognised at Level 7 or above on the NZQF or is a registered psychologist.
For non-teaching guidance counsellors who hold a relevant qualification for a guidance counsellor recognised at Level 7 or above on the NZQF or is a registered psychologist.
For non-teaching guidance counsellors who do not hold a relevant qualification for a guidance counsellor recognised at Level 7 or above on the NZQF or is not a registered psychologist will be assessed in accordance with clause 3E.3.4 of the SSSCA. However, their hourly rate (as determined in clause 3) must not be lower than their rate immediately before transfer.
Guidance will be provided to schools about implementation tasks for guidance counsellor translation well ahead of the June implementation of the SSSCA. The translation rules can be found in Appendix 1 of the Support Staff in Schools' Collective Agreement 2026-2028.pdf.
9. Communications on Fixed-Term Agreements
The Ministry will communicate directly to schools where data identifies that employees under coverage of the KRCA or SSSCA have been employed on fixed-term agreements for longer than two years at the end of September 2026 and September 2027.
The communication will encourage schools to consider a review of employment documentation with the assistance of the New Zealand School Board’s Association, if required, to make sure that any fixed-term agreements are for genuine reasons based on reasonable grounds (as specified in the Employment Relations Act 2000).
10. Recognition of service for transferred employees
For service for leave purposes, the Ministry will recognise the service for employees transferred to converted (charter) schools who return to state and state-integrated schools. If this occurs, contact NZSBA for advice.
11. Surplus staffing technical review
The Ministry and NZEI Te Riu Roa will meet over the course of the term to discuss amendments to improve clarity around process and readability of Part 10: Employment Protection and Surplus Staffing Provisions under the SSSCA.
Additional guidance will follow shortly that includes - what this means for board funding, what does this means for the current IEAs and VTEs.
Principal Development Map | Education Workforce
The Principal Development Map (PDM) is an interactive tool for aspiring and current principals. It contains professional learning, development opportunities and resources to support your career growth: Principal Development Map | Education Workforce
Workforce Initiative Searcher for Principals (WISP)
The Workforce Initiative Searcher for Principals (WISP) is an interactive tool that allows schools to explore a range of workforce supports, programmes, and initiatives that can help with recruiting and retaining staff.
As part of Budget 25, the Government funded new Aspiring and Beginning Principal Programmes to provide greater support to school leaders across the country. A key feature, identified through national and international research, is the involvement of experienced, in-service principals as mentors — ensuring that new leaders are well-prepared, confident, and capable of delivering on the Government’s education priorities.
Applications to become a mentor for an aspiring or beginning principal are open all year round.
Together with Immigration NZ, NZQA, and the Teaching Council, the Ministry will soon be hosting webinars for overseas teachers where they can learn more coming to New Zealand to teach. They will advertise these in due course.
EdPay designation codes for Learning Support Coordinators
Initial monitoring and reporting of LSC appointments shows there is a significant number of schools not using the correct designation code for their LSC when submitting payroll information. Correct designation codes are essential for accurate payroll processing and compliance.
The correct designation code for an LSC is S13.
Schools need to ensure the EdPay details for their new LSC accurately reflect their role.
If your LSC has more than one job at your school, these must be added as separate jobs in the payroll. For example, if a person has two jobs - one as a classroom teacher and one as an LSC - there needs to be two jobs and two designation codes loaded for that person.
You must use the designation code S13 on your LSC’s job in the payroll to accurately reflect your school’s LSC FTTE usage.
If payroll does not reflect your school’s appointment of an LSC, the Ministry will want to understand the reasons around not filling the role and we will support your school through any challenges you may be facing.
Correct designation codes are important from a resourcing perspective. If your LSC FTTE remains unused, there is a risk to your school that the Ministry may recover all or some of your FTTE allocation in the future.
Correct designation codes play a crucial role in ensuring your school receives the resourcing it is entitled to and demonstrate that the funding you’ve been allocated is being used as intended. When the wrong code is used, it can affect the resourcing you receive.
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