Payroll Update 12 October 2023
Kia ora koutou
- Parental leave – quick tips for codes, forms and legal requirements
- Secondary teachers’ employment agreement changes
- Additional payments for non-union primary teachers
- IEA change screen in EdPay
- Salary assessment application portal
1. Parental leave – quick tips for codes, forms and legal requirements
When an employee goes on parental leave, make sure they are given the correct parental leave code in EdPay so they are eligible to receive any remediation payments, allowances, or other benefits they could be due, while they are on leave.
A school employee could miss out on remediation payments if their job is terminated, instead of their employment status being changed to on parental leave.
All unpaid parental leave needs to be coded as PARWO in EdPay. This code applies to all types of employees, and all different types of contract. No reason code is needed.
If using an EP12 form (rather than EdPay) the code is a combined MLWOP/PARWO and no reason code is needed. If you have any questions, please ask your payroll advisor.
For more on handling all types of parental leave through EdPay, go to EdPay | Tools to help you | A-Z | P | Parental leave (EdPay.govt.nz)
For guidance on collective contracts and legislation, see the Ministry of Education website Parental leave – Education in New Zealand
Support for parents from other government agencies
Paid Parental Leave can be applied for through Inland Revenue. Employees will still need to be assigned the unpaid parental leave code in EdPay if they are receiving paid parental leave from Inland Revenue.
Employees will need to fill out an IR880, go to Apply for paid parental leave (ird.govt.nz)
Parents may also be eligible for Working for Families payments. For more information, go to Working for Families (ird.govt.nz).
Parental leave is granted by the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987. For more about employers’ obligations, see Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment guidance Employer's response » Employment New Zealand (employment.govt.nz)
2. Secondary teachers' employment agreement changes
Teachers covered by the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement will be paid at the new rates from pay period 15 (pay day 17 October). These rates will be backdated to 3 July 2023.
For teachers who have signed the new Secondary Teachers’ Individual Employment Agreement (IEA), and the change has been made in the IEA change screen in EdPay, the new pay rates will also be applied from 17 October. These rates will be backdated to the date the new IEA is signed by both the teacher and the employer.
For more information about the changes in this collective agreement go to:
Changes to the Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement 2022-25 – Education in New Zealand
3. Additional payments for non-union primary teachers
Under the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement (PTCA), teachers employed as at 12 June 2023 and were on an IEA, will receive a lump sum payment of $3,000 (pro-rated for part-time teachers and short term relievers).
This lump sum will be paid in pay period 15 (pay day 17 October), provided that both the teacher and the employer have signed the new IEA, and the change made on the IEA change screen in EdPay by 8 October 2023.
Lump sum payments for union members were paid on 25 July 2023.
For more information about the IEA and changes to the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement go to the Ministry of Education’s website:
Individual employment agreements – Education in New Zealand
Changes to the Primary Teachers' Collective Agreement 2023-25 – Education in New Zealand
Lump sum payments for primary teachers on the new IEA will be made from the funding code that applied on 12 June 2023 (date of ratification).
Where a teacher is employed from a school’s bulk grant or operating funding, the school board is responsible for the payment of any associated costs, including any collective agreement entitlements that arise. This is in accordance with section 580(b) of the Education and Training Act 2020.
For more information go to Employing teachers from operational funding – Education in New Zealand
4. IEA change screen in EdPay
Use the IEA change screen to tell EPL when employees have signed a new IEA. For a refresher on how to use the IEA change screen, go to EdPay training | IEA change screen (edpay.govt.nz)
5. Salary assessment application portal
The new salary assessment application portal has been live for just over a month and there’s been a steady flow of teacher applications. An advantage of using the portal is that everything is online. To be clear about your role as a principal or payroll administrator within the portal, we suggest you:
1. Watch these videos
Principal: certifying and verifying the information (Opens in Vimeo.com, 6mins)
You’ll see an application going through the principal verification step.
School administrator optional review (Opens in Vimeo.com, 3mins)
You’ll see an application being checked by a school payroll administrator.
2. Set up principal and administrator user access
In addition to an Education Sector Login (ESL), principals and payroll administrators need Taku Authorised Payroll User access to use the portal. Principals can set up this access for themselves and their payroll administrators:
How to set up portal access as Taku Authorised Payroll Users (PDF, 295KB)
If you have questions about your ESL, phone the Ministry of Education Service Desk: Ph 0800 422 599.
3. Read the updated support material the website
The salary assessment guidance has been updated and has all you need to know, go to Salary assessment (edpay.govt.nz)
Our EPL Salary Assessment Team is available to answer questions about using the portal. Ph 0508 6686729 option 3. But please make sure you have Taku Authorised Payroll User access before contacting the team.
Ngā mihi
Education Payroll