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Pay Equity for School Administrators | Mana Taurite

Pay Equity for School Administrators

The pay equity settlement for school administrators has been approved and implementation began in term three of 2022. We’ve waited a long time for this – NZEI Te Riu Roa members raised this pay equity claim with the Ministry in 2018. We’re proud to have reached this moment.

The Issues

The 'arguability' of the admin pay equity claim came down to three key points. These were deemed sufficient to indicate that the role of administrative staff in schools has been undervalued on the basis of gender. These points were:

  1. The consistently female dominated workforce, as measured from 1998 to 2019
  2. The characterisation of clerical and administrative work as women's work
  3. The feminisation of clerical work which has limited advancement of career and salary, regardless of time spent in the role

The Ask

In order to rectify the imbalance that is present in the administrator role, any settlement needed to address three key areas.

  1. Recognition of the present value of the skills and duties of school administrative staff (in the form of a pay rise).
  2. Back pay to reflect the historic undervaluing of this work.
  3. Establishing frameworks or pathways to learning, development and career advancement for these kaimahi.

Useful documents

The roadmap

Proposed Variation to Clauses March 2023

The settlement

The Pay Equity Claim Settlement Agreement

Work Matrix Guide

Translation rules guide: support staff

Translation rules guide: specialist residential schools

Funding guide

Translation Scale

Pay Equity Matrix

School Administrator working at her desk.

Implementation

The implementation began in term three of 2022 and will continue as schools work through regrading staff and ensuring they are on the correct rates. 

NZEI Te Riu Roa members can access personalised implementation support. Join now or get in touch with the member support centre to find out more. 

The Wins

The settlement reached between NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education went a long way to addressing past and present undervaluing of administrative staff. The settlement included:

  1. An average pay increase of 22% across the range of administrator roles and grades
  2. A one-off lump-sum back payment to recognise historic undervaluation
  3. A commitment to improving professional learning and development and systems of funding school administrators

Other past campaigns

Check out more of the progress that NZEI Te Riu Roa members have achieved together.

Campaigns

Pay Equity for Teacher Aides | Mana Taurite

  • Support Staff
  • Mana Taurite
2018–2020

In September 2016, NZEI Te Riu Roa lodged a pay equity claim on behalf of all teacher aides. In 2019 a settlement was reached and teacher aides received pay increases and other benefits. As part of the terms of settlement, there must regular reviews to make sure that pay equity is maintained. This review is currently underway and will be complete by the end of 2024 in time to inform the bargaining of the Support Staff in Schools’ Collective Agreement.

Learn more
See all past campaigns