PART ONE: GENERAL
1.1 PARTIES TO THE AGREEMENT
The parties to this agreement shall be the Secretary for Education acting under delegation from the State Services Commissioner made pursuant to section 23 of the State Sector Act 1988 and acting in accordance with section 74(5) of the State Sector Act 1988 (herein known as "the Ministry" or "the Secretary "); and
New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (herein known as "the Union" or "NZEI Te Riu Roa").
1.2 APPLICATION OF THE AGREEMENT
This agreement shall be binding on the parties to it and:
Each teacher as defined in the coverage clause (herein known as "the employee"), who is employed by a Kindergarten Association and who is a member or becomes a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa;
Each Kindergarten Association that controls a free kindergarten within the meaning of section 120 of the Education Act 1989 that employs a teacher who is bound or entitled to be bound by this agreement (herein known as the "employer" or "Association").
1.3 COVERAGE
The parties agree that the terms and conditions of this collective agreement cover kindergarten base scale teachers, head teachers and senior teachers (as those terms are defined in this agreement) who are employed by free kindergarten associations as per section 120 of the Education Act 1989.
New employees of associations bound by this agreement whose work is within the coverage clause of this agreement, shall, in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000, be advised of the existence of this collective agreement and be offered the opportunity to join NZEI Te Riu Roa and become bound by this collective agreement.
1.4 TERM OF AGREEMENT
This agreement shall come into force on 1 March 2009 and shall expire on 28 February 2011, except as provided for under section 53 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
1.5 VARIATIONS
The parties agree that the terms and conditions of this agreement may be varied by written agreement between NZEI Te Riu Roa on behalf of its members, and the Secretary for Education, acting under delegation from the State Services Commissioner made pursuant to section 23 of the State Sector Act 1988, in consultation with the employers bound by the agreement.
1.6 DEFINITIONS
In this agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Teacher means a trained teacher registered by the New Zealand Teachers Council Te Pouherenga Kaiako o Aotearoa and holding a Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood Education), the New Zealand Free Kindergarten Union Diploma or another early childhood teaching qualification recognised by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) as being equivalent and who is employed on teaching duties in a recognised free kindergarten.
(b) Base Scale Teacher means a teacher who is not a head teacher or a senior teacher.
(c) Head Teacher means a teacher who is not a base scale teacher and who is in charge of a kindergarten, and who is not a senior teacher.
(d) Senior Teacher means a teacher who is employed as a senior teacher to carry out professional support and guidance, administrative and management roles under delegation from their employer. Such delegations shall be determined by the employer in agreement with the employee(s) and in accordance with the employee(s) job description.
(e) Full-time Employee means a teacher who is appointed to a position for which the total hours of work should, as far as practicable, not exceed 40 hours per week, worked from Monday to Friday inclusive.
(f) Part-time Employee means a teacher who is appointed to a position for which the total hours of work are less than 40 hours per week, worked between Monday and Friday.
(g) Hours of Work means the total hours required for employees to properly fulfil the duties and responsibilities connected with their employment, inclusive of child-contact time and professional time as per clause 2.6.
(h) Long-term Reliever means a teacher who is a fixed term employee who relieves in a position for which the tenure at the time of appointment is known to be more than 6 weeks.
(i) Short-term Reliever means a teacher who is a fixed term employee who relieves in a position for which the tenure at the time of appointment is known to be not more than 6 weeks and includes relievers employed on a day-to-day basis.
(j) Kindergarten means a recognised kindergarten and includes mobile kindergartens within the meaning of section 120 of the Education Act 1989.
(k) Kindergarten Session: a kindergarten that operates sessionally and holds a sessional licence; or operates two separate periods in a day separated by a break with no children; and/or has one period in a day operating to the teacher:child ratio of a sessional licence three or more days a week.
(l) Kindergarten Day: a kindergarten that holds an all day licence, operating to the teacher:child ratio of an all-day licence and does not operate sessionally as defined under kindergarten session.
(m) Child Contact Time: is time spent directly engaged with a child or group of children (including pedagogical observation) when the kindergarten is open for instruction.
(n) Professional Time: is time spent undertaking responsibilities other than child contact within a teacher’s normal hours of work.
(o) Head Teacher Professional Time: is time when the head teacher is released from normal child-contact duties, when the kindergarten is open for instruction, in order for them to undertake responsibilities related to the head teacher’s role as professional leader. The head teacher will use this time to develop strong professional leadership skills, to support the teaching team and improve the quality of teaching and learning.
1.7 DECLARATION PURSUANT TO THE STATE SECTOR ACT
1.7.1 Pursuant to section 75(1) of the State Sector Act 1988 the Secretary for Education acting pursuant to the delegated authority of the State Services Commissioner has declared that all of the conditions contained in this collective agreement are actual conditions of employment.
1.7.2 Provided that the Secretary for Education may from time to time give approval to the terms and conditions being treated as minimum rates where there is agreement to this between the employer and employee and where such terms are not inconsistent with the terms and conditions of this collective agreement.
1.8 SENIOR TEACHERS
(a) The provisions in this agreement apply in their entirety except where senior teachers who were members of NZEI Te Riu Roa at 24 November 2000 and who had benefits not otherwise provided for under the provisions of this agreement, including the personal use of an association’s vehicle, shall retain these benefits. The parties agree that such arrangements were made between the employer and employee in good faith and may be changed in accordance with association policy.
(b) The following provisions shall not apply to senior teachers:
2.6: Hours of Work
3.1: Salary Scales
3.3: Operation of the Salary Scales
4.2: Annual Leave
5.1: Expenses incurred in the Use of Private Vehicles
5.2: Meal Allowance
5.3 Relieving Allowance
Alternative provisions applicable to senior teachers are found in Part 8.