Sick leave

Under your Collective Agreement, teachers accrue sick leave from their first ever day of teaching: A beginning teacher will start their career with a balance of 20 days of sick leave. You will then accrue ten days of sick leave every 6 months until you have been employed for an aggregate of 30 months (having accrued 70 days of sick leave in total over this time). From that point onwards, sick leave accrual slows to ten days per year. Whether you are employed in a full-time or part-time position is immaterial for the purpose of sick leave accrual. All aggregate employment as a teacher in a state or state integrated school counts as service for the purpose of sick leave accrual.

Short-term relieving is also recognised for the purposes of sick leave accrual. However, sick leave accrual for short-term relievers is dependent based on the hours of short-term relief worked: 950 hours of day relief (or 190 days) are the equivalent of 1 year of service for sick leave accrual purposes.

The way sick leave accrual works under the STCA is illustrated as follows in clause 6.2.1 (see also ASTCA cl 5.1, SPCA cl 5.2.1 and ASPCA cl 5.2): 

In addition to teaching service in state or state integrated schools, some other service is also recognised for the purpose of sick leave accrual. This includes service in a New Zealand kindergarten, university, polytechnic, as a transferred employee in a charter school and service in some overseas’ schools. You will need to provide evidence of any recognised teaching service outside of state and state integrated New Zealand schools (and the sick leave you used in the previous positions) in order for this to be recognised. 

Using sick leave works largely as you would expect: If you have sick leave available, you can use this if you, your spouse/partner or someone who depends on you for care is sick or injured. Short-term relievers who have a positive sick leave balance and who are booked to relieve in a school can also use sick leave for the same reasons.

Any sick leave days you use will be docked from your accumulated entitlement (the sick leave you have accrued so far in your career based on your service). So, if you have taught for 25 months so far in your teaching career and you have used 10 days of sick leave over this time, your remaining sick leave balance will be 50 days: You would have accumulated 60 days in total and from this accumulated entitlement you deduct the 10 days of sick leave you have taken to work out your new sick leave balance (50 days).

For full-time teachers sick leave is deducted in full or half days. For part-time teachers, part-day deductions are also possible. However, note that a “day” will be whatever hours you were scheduled to work on that day. So, if you were only ever scheduled to work 2 hours on a Tuesday and you are then away from work on that Tuesday because of an illness, you will lose a whole day of sick leave for this absence. 

You do not lose any sick leave for weekends or other days when the school is closed for instruction (i.e. term breaks). Sick leave is also not deducted for absences less than two hours for full-time teachers or absences that are less than 25% of the hours normally worked on that day for part-time teachers.

If you run out of sick leave but you are still unwell, it is a good idea to talk to your employer about options (i.e. anticipated sick leave or discretionary paid leave). If paid leave is not an option, it is important that you are placed on sick leave without pay specifically- not a different kind of leave without pay. This is important, because you can be on sick leave without pay for 90 days without your holiday pay being affected whereas on other types of LWOP a holiday pay deduction would occur after the 6th day of absence. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your PPTA Te Wehengarua field officer to seek advice on these issues. 

The STCA’s medical retirement clauses 3.12 and Appendix B were introduced in 2006 and have been valuable tools in helping teachers retire when ill.

The key criterion is the evidence from a specialist that the teacher can no longer perform their job currently or in the foreseeable future. Once this test is met, the Ministry of Education usually grants concurrence. When that happens, the teacher is retired. From date of medical retirement, the school can advertise the vacant position while the teacher can opt for a number of options including using up sick leave entitlements or taking a lump sum. Stress as such is not a criterion for this option; it has to be a diagnosed medical condition such as clinical depression or PTSD. 

There is also a terminal illness clause (STCA cl 3.12.1, ASTCA cl 2.9.1) to support members suffering that particular tragedy.  You might have some warning of impending death and may be able to manage the situation for the benefit of your family.

The following advice is an excerpt from "Resignation, death and medical retirement' published in PPTA News February 2013:

Alice had many health problems, obesity, sleep apnoea, diabetes and so on. In mid-December one year her GP sent her to a specialist who diagnosed cancer and that the cancer could advance rapidly. Her field officer suggested that she seriously consider medical retirement under the terms of the STCA but Alice delayed any decision as she didn’t believe that the cancer could advance rapidly. She died in mid-January. Whilst there was an entitlement to the compassionate grant at the full rate because she had over 20 years’ service, there was now no entitlement to her estate of the medical retirement because you can't retire when you are dead.

Contrast this with Jonathan who was also diagnosed with cancer and it was expected to progress rapidly and would be terminal. Jonathan and his family did contact a PPTA field officer in early January when death was imminent. With the assistance of Jonathan’s principal, the appropriate forms were completed and sent to the Ministry of Education along with a medical certificate to say that his condition was terminal.

Jonathan died a few days later but medical retirement had been completed so there was an entitlement to 23 weeks pay under clause 1.8 (a) of the STCA, because he had exhausted his sick leave and had 30 years service. There was also an entitlement to the compassionate grant because Jonathan’s death occurred within one year of his medical retirement.

While Jonathan may not have enjoyed any of the benefits of these entitlements his partner and children were grateful for what they received 

Where are my sick leave records kept and how are they recorded? 

The records are held by your school’s payroll provider. Prior to 2002 they were recorded on cards. In 2002 they were transferred to an electronic format. Your record of sick leave service to date is transferred to electronic pay advice notices.  Your actual balance of sick leave available is shown on your payslip. This information is also communicated to schools in the Staffing Usage and Expenditure (SUE) report and can be accessed from your school. If you think your sick leave balance is incorrect you should discuss this with one of your school payroll “authorised users” in the first instance. 

What happens to my sick leave if I take a break from teaching? 

It remains frozen awaiting your return. If you were allocated a new Ministry number after a significant gap in teaching, this may not happen automatically, so it is good to keep an eye on your payslips in this respect and follow up any issues.

What happens if I never return to teaching? 

It’s still there frozen in case you ever do.

Can I cash in my sick leave? 

No — with one exception. If you medically retire, with the concurrence of the Ministry of Education, you may choose to cash up your remaining sick leave- but you cannot do so otherwise. Your sick leave disappears if you take a payout option under surplus staffing

How does an accident at work affect my sick leave? 

It does not. You remain on full pay and no sick leave is deducted.

And what about if the accident is not at work? 

This does affect sick leave. The first week is deducted as a charge against sick leave and after that one day in five is a charge against sick leave (0.2 sick leave days per day of absence). This tops up your ACC payments from 80% to 100%.

If I have been sick and want to return gradually to teaching and my doctor recommends this, can I do so? 

You can return on reduced hours but you need the agreement of your employer as there may be staffing and/or timetabling difficulties. This would not normally be for a period of more than six weeks. Where this happens it is possible to aggregate the hours that you are not working within the return-to-work period and use sick leave for these hours. This is provided for in clause 6.2.5 of the STCA and cl 5.2.6. Please talk to your Field Officer where this applies. Contact details can be found here.

If I am on parental leave, can I use my sick leave? 

No. You can use sick leave while you are pregnant and working, but once you have started your parental leave you cannot use sick leave because you are already on leave without pay. The same applies in all other leave without pay situations.

Can I use sick leave if my child is sick and needs to be cared for? 

Yes. You can use sick leave to care for a person in your care. 

What should I do if I need to go to a short medical appointment? 

If you need to go to a short medical or dental appointment during the teaching day for you must notify the school in good time. No sick leave deduction will be made if you are away for less than two hours (unless you are part time and don’t teach a substantial part of your classes for that day).  

Can I use sick leave if my partner is dying and I am stressed by the situation? 

Yes, you can also use your own sick leave to care for a dependent who is unwell. This is provided for under STCA cl 6.5.3 (ASTCA cl 5.5.3). 

However, your Collective Agreement also provides for special leave with pay for a close relative’s serious illness or accident under STCA cl 6.5.2 (ASTCA 5.7.2).

Can I donate some of my sick leave to a colleague who has exhausted their sick leave? 

No. It is your sick leave and it can’t be transferred to anyone else.

I am really unwell and have little prospect of returning to teaching. What should I do? 

Use your sick leave. Even when it is exhausted you can still be paid for a holiday if you have not had more than 90 days sick leave without pay in that school year. You can also consider medical retirement. Sick leave has a considerable value and can enhance things such as the GSF superannuation. 

Do not resign in a hurry. Talk to your PPTA field officer.