Two-hour minimum entitlement for short-term relief teachers
We are working to resolve a historic error that has led to some school employees not receiving the correct 2-hour entitlement per day of day relief or paid leave at school.
- Overview
- Payments
- Tax implications
- More information
- Contact us
- Keeping yourself safe from phishing scams
Overview
Primary, secondary and area school teachers’ collective agreements state that short-term relief teachers will be paid for no less than 2 hours per day of day relief or paid leave at a school, but this has not always happened.
An improved process was put in place from 10 August 2022 to fix this. We are now making payments to correct errors made between 17 April 2012 and 9 August 2022.
Payments
School employees receiving a payment
| Payment date | Leave type/s and employee group/s covered | Time period covered | Number of current employees paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 June 2024 | Top-up to short-term relief teachers when they were paid for less than the two-hour minimum entitlement for each day at each school. | 17 April 2012 to 9 August 2022 | 11,900 |
If you are a current employee due a payment, it was included in your normal pay on 25 June 2024.
If your payslip is usually emailed to you, we contacted you on the payment date with more details.
You can contact Inland Revenue or the Ministry of Social Development for advice about whether this payment affects any benefits, tax credits or other support payments you receive or make:
Contact us – Inland Revenue(external link)
Getting in touch – Ministry of Social Development(external link)
Current school employees not receiving a payment
Most school employees did not receive a payment in this round. If you are a current short-term relief teacher and you didn’t receive a payment, you have already been paid in line with the 2-hour minimum entitlement and no remediation is due.
Former employees
We expect to start contacting affected former employees later this year.
If you are a former employee and you are due a payment, we will try to reach you using your last known contact details. If your details have changed since you left the school sector, you can update your contact information on the Schools Payroll Remediation Portal.
Schools Payroll Remediation Portal(external link)
Tax implications
Income tax and ACC contributions were deducted using the tax code Education Payroll Limited holds for you.
If you are a member of a superannuation scheme, employee and employer contributions were calculated as part of the payment process. Student loan repayments were also deducted as required by law.
More information
Schools payroll remediation programme
Contact us
If you have questions about schools payroll remediation, the best way to get in touch is via our:
You can also contact the team by:
- emailing remediation.query@education.govt.nz
- calling 0800 439 333 (8am - 5pm, Monday – Friday).
Keeping yourself safe from phishing scams
Phishing is when someone uses an email, text or phone call to try to get access to sensitive information (like bank account numbers and passwords).
For schools payroll remediation payments, we will never ask you for your bank account login and password. The information you receive from us will direct you to the Ministry of Education’s website.
Phishing scammers will claim to be from a legitimate organisation, and often have email addresses or websites that look very real. They'll often ask you to claim a prize, check your details, or tell you that your account is expiring or needs to be checked.
Email phishing scams – Netsafe(external link)
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