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Who is covered by the collective agreement#
Kindergarten teachers covered by the agreement are:
- employed by kindergarten associations
- members of the kindergarten teachers’ union, the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI Te Riu Roa).
Go to the Kindergarten Teachers, Head Teachers and Senior Teachers' Collective Agreement (KTCA).
Variation to the collective agreement#
A variation to the KTCA 2023-2026 has been agreed.
The changes include some additional technical corrections to the agreement that were agreed in December 2024. These have not been incorporated in all published versions of the document.
The changes that have been agreed
The technical corrections were:
- Clause 2.17.2(a) correcting the maximum number of Employment Relation Education Leave (EREL) days for 6-50 teachers from 55 to 5 days
- Clause 3.3.1(d) correcting the minimum salary on appointment for P4 and P5 teachers
- Appendix A updated s103 to s110 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Some teachers with P4 or P5 qualifications may have been appointed on a higher step than those in clause 3.3.1(d) of the 2023–2026 KTCA. Their employer might have used a KTCA version without the corrected entry steps. These teachers should not have their rates retrospectively changed.
The variation for the salary rates effective 2 April 2026 agreed 1 May 2026 can be seen in:
- Clause 3.1.1(a) – base scale teachers added rates, effective 2 April 2026
- Clause 3.1.1(b) – head teachers added rates, effective 2 April 2026
- Clause 8.3.2 (a) and (b) – senior teachers added rates, effective 2 April 2026.
Who is covered by an individual employment agreement#
Individual employment agreements (IEAs) are developed and published by us. The terms and conditions are similar to the collective agreement.
You need to sign an IEA if:
- your work is covered by the KTCA, but
- you are not a member of the NZEI Te Riu Roa.
See each type of IEA for kindergarten teachers:
