Do you know your rights at work?
All of us working in early childhood education have minimum legal entitlements at work - regardless of whether our employment contracts are union collective agreements or individual employment agreements (IEAs). The following outlines your leave entitlements so that you know your rights!
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Know Your Rights
Leave Entitlements
First Aid Qualifications
First aid qualifications are a licencing requirement for early childhood education (ECE) centres and kōhanga reo. You do not need to have a first aid qualification to be a registered teacher. Just like paying for the hot water, your centre needs to pay for both the cost and time that a teacher attends first aid training. You are entitled to be paid for your time, not receive TOIL, if you are asked to do the training on a weekend.
Learn more about the first aid licensing criteria for centres on the Ministry of Education website.
If you are concerned about the cost of first aid training being passed on to you, NZEI Te Riu Roa’s advice for members is to:
Check the conditions of your Individual Employment Agreement (IEA) and whether there any conditions that would require you to maintain a first aid certificate as part of your employment
If your manager asks you to pay for your training you could say: “No thank you, I don’t want to” or “I don’t believe I need to pay for that for my registration as a teacher” or “This is on a Saturday, I should be paid for this”
If they insist that you pay for your first aid training ask them to put the request in writing so you can seek advice
If you are a union member you can contact NZEI Te Riu Roa for further advice and support
Sick Leave
When you’re entitled to sick leave
By law, you are entitled to sick leave after you’ve worked in a job for six months. That date six months into your role becomes your ‘sick leave anniversary’.
Six months is defined as:
‘Continuous employment’ for a six month period (regardless of your hours), or
If you haven’t worked for the employer continuously, an average of 10 hours a week during hat period (and no less than 1 hour in every week during that period OR no less than 40 hours in every month during that period)
Some employers/contracts give you access to sick leave earlier - check your contract.
When can you take it?
When you’re sick or injured
When your spouse or partner is sick or injured
When a person who depends on you for care is sick or injured
How you need to ask for it
You should let your employer know as soon as possible before you’re due to start work on the day you’re calling in sick – but if that’s not doable, you need to let them know as soon as you can after that.
Your employer might have a policy about how you should notify them that you’re calling in sick.
You don’t have to tell your employer what you’re sick with if you don’t want to – it's private. If they keep asking, you can tell them you’re “not fit for work”.
What proof can your employer ask for?
A doctor’s certificate for you / the person who is sick or injured (if you’re saying you/they’ve been sick or injured for three or more consecutive calendar days – even if you haven’t worked all of those days), but only:
If they tell you as early as possible that they will need this proof, and
If they will meet “reasonable expenses in obtaining the proof”.
What the new changes to sick leave means
On 24 July 2021, sick leave entitlements increased from 5 days per year to 10 days per year.
Unless your employer makes it available to you sooner, you will get the new 10 days per year (up from 5) after your next sick leave anniversary OR, if you haven’t yet worked for your employer for six months, you’ll get it once you’ve hit that six month mark.
What if you work part time?
Even if you work part time, you will get 10 days
If your contract hasn’t been updated since 24 July 2021, you could speak with your employer about varying the sick leave clause to update it (but even if you don’t, the new law will still apply over and above what is in your contract)
Bereavement Leave
When you’re entitled to bereavement leave
By law, you are entitled to bereavement leave after you’ve worked in a job for six months – that’s defined the same way as it is for sick leave.
Some employers / contracts give you access to bereavement leave earlier – check your contract.
When can you take it?
Your employer must let you take a minimum of three days’ paid bereavement leave when your spouse or partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild, or your spouse or partner’s parent passes away, or
If you or your partner (or former partner, if you are the biological parent), or the partner of a child for whom you were going to be the primary carer, has a miscarriage or stillbirth.
They must also let you take a minimum of one day’s paid bereavement leave on the death of someone else, if your employer accepts that you have suffered a bereavement. When they decide this, they have to consider things like how close you were to that person, whether you have had to take on responsibilities relating to a funeral or other arrangements, and any cultural responsibilities you have to pay your respects to that person.
You don’t have to take the days off consecutively.
How you need to ask for it
Like for sick leave, you should let your employer know as soon as possible before you’re due to start work on the day/s you’re asking for bereavement leave – but if that’s not doable, you need to let them know as soon as you can after that.
Bereavement Leave is a separate leave entitlement. It does not come off your sick leave. There is no limit to the number of times you can take bereavement leave in a year.
Annual Leave
Annual Leave is the leave you use to take holiday time off work. It is in addition to public holidays.
When you’re entitled to annual leave
Once you’ve worked for your employer for 12 months, you’re entitled to a minimum of four weeks’ annual leave every year.
This ‘four weeks’ is based on what a regular working week genuinely looks like for you in your role. If you have worked additional hours during the year, it should be more than four weeks of your standard contracted hours.
Some contracts offer more than four weeks – for instance a higher entitlement, or an ability to take annual leave sooner or in advance.
When can you take it?
You apply to your employer for the days you want to take leave – your employer cannot ‘unreasonably withhold consent’ to you taking annual leave.
If you want to, your employer must let you take at least two weeks of your annual leave continuously (that is, they can’t make you take all your leave in small chunks).
Your employer can require you to use some of your annual leave during a closedown period – for instance if your centre is closed during the Christmas and New Year period. If they require you to take leave because of a closedown, they must give you 14 days’ notice. You can only be asked to take leave for a closedown once per year.
How you need to ask for it
Every workplace will have a different system for requesting leave.
In most cases, you will make the request directly to your line manager – this might be via email, or using a centralised system.
It’s always best to have a record of any leave requests and their outcome in writing!
What if I end up being sick or experiencing a bereavement when I’d planned to take annual leave?
If you are sick or suffer a bereavement while you were meant to be on annual leave, you should notify your employer – they need to let you take those days as sick leave or bereavement leave, and take your annual leave entitlement another time.
How to talk to your employer about your concerns
ECE teachers in NZEI Te Riu Roa work together to win fair pay and conditions that help recognise the true value of teaching. Whether you’re on an individual agreement or are covered by a collective agreement, joining with your colleagues and your union to get what you deserve is always more powerful than going it alone.
It often feels awkward to talk about pay and conditions. NZEI Te Riu Roa encourages you to talk with your colleagues either informally or at staff meetings and raise it together with your employer - there is power in coming together!
Click the button below to check out our tips on how to talk to your employer about issues at work: