Teacher aide pay equity operational guidelines for schools

10 Variation of hours

Key points in this section:

• The settlement sets limits on the variation of hours for permanent teacher aides.
• Hours can only be varied by a maximum of 25% in any 12-month period.
• Any variation greater than 25% requires you to apply the surplus staffing provisions.
• This does not apply to fixed-term staff as their hours are fixed in their contract.

Before the settlement, permanent teacher aides could have their hours of work increased or reduced by their employer once every 12-months. There were no restrictions to the number of hours a teacher aide could have their hours varied and not be entitled to surplus staffing provisions.

Permanently employed teacher aides can now have their hours varied by a maximum of 25% in any 12-month period. Any variations greater than 25% require the employer to apply the surplus staffing provisions. This does not apply to teacher aides on fixed-term employment agreements, as their hours are fixed by the terms of their fixed-term agreement.

Teacher aides and employers can still together agree on larger or more frequent variations if mutually agreed.

You should seek advice from NZSTA before applying the variation of hour's clause or considering a surplus staffing process to make sure they are following the correct process

You can contact NZSTA by emailing eradvice@nzsta.org.nz or calling 0800 782 435 (option 2).