PAGE UNDER MAINTENANCE Area School Teachers' Collective Agreement (ASTCA)

This part of the agreement covers entitlement to removal (relocation) expenses if you are shifting schools.

 Ministry of Education website - if you are shifing schools

7.1 Removals to and from Area Schools

(a) Full removal expenses provisions shall be paid to teachers on taking up permanent positions in an area school subject to the completion of two years’ continuous service in a permanent position in an area school, and on moving out of an area school to another permanent position in the education service.

(b) Where a teacher is entitled to removal expense provisions to or from an area school and also promotion or first permanent appointment, removal expenses are paid under the area school provisions and the other entitlements are absorbed.

(c) Where a teacher is entitled to removal expense provisions both to and from an area school in the course of one move, only one entitlement under the Area School provisions may be claimed and any other entitlement is absorbed.

(d) Where a teacher requires the transfer of effects and transit insurance, the teacher must use the provider contracted by the Ministry of Education.

7.2 Eligibility

7.2.1 A teacher who holds a permanent position is eligible for removal expenses in the following circumstances. Teachers appointed to long term relieving positions of one year or more can apply to the Ministry of Education for consideration of their case for removal expenses. Where a teacher requires the transfer of effects and transit insurance the teacher must use the provider contracted by the Ministry of Education.

(a) Appointment on promotion

Promotion is defined as an appointment to a position carrying a higher maximum salary or more permanent units or a position which carries more status and responsibility but is equal or lower in salary.

(b) Appointment to a permanent position in or shifting from a staffing incentive school provided that:

(i) a teacher must have completed three years continuous service in a staffing incentive school or continuous service in more than one (1) staffing incentive school totalling three (3) years;

(ii) if the school loses its staffing incentive status during the period of the teacher’s employment the entitlement to removal expenses on appointment out of the school is still valid as long as the teacher fulfils the three years service requirement.

(c) Protected country service

Those teachers who held an entitlement to removal from a country service school when the former country service provisions were replaced by the staffing incentive package, preserve that entitlement and retain it for their next position in the education service.

(d) First permanent appointment non-staffing incentive school

Where the first permanent appointment of a teacher involves a shift to another housing district and the teacher is resident in New Zealand at the time of appointment:

(i) The cost of surface fares for the teacher and family/dependants, or if public transport is not available, half the appropriate motor vehicle allowance rate to the nearest point of public transport;

(ii) The cost of removal of furniture and effects;

(iii) When a teacher sells a house and buys another within one year of first appointment, actual legal expenses of up to $1000.

(e) Teachers returning from sponsored schemes overseas

A teacher returning to a New Zealand appointment following service overseas as part of a government to government contract is eligible for removal expenses incurred within New Zealand.

(f) Trainees on long-term specialist courses of at least one academic year’s duration:

(i) A teacher who has been granted leave by his/her board of trustees and has to move to attend an approved long-term specialist course;

(ii) A teacher moving to her/his first permanent appointment after the course is completed.

(g) Miscellaneous

(i) Where, as a result of an earthquake, fire, flood or other natural disaster, the Minister of Education directs the closure of a school, any teacher appointed to another school or position may be paid actual and reasonable transfer expenses to the new position. A teacher who is obliged to live away from home while holding a temporary position may be paid actual and reasonable expenses.

7.3 Entitlement

7.3.1 Teachers eligible for removal expenses under clause 7.1 of this part are entitled to the following expenses, grants and allowances as appropriate as specified in Appendix 2:

(a) Travel expenses;
(b) Accommodation expenses;
(c) Rent subsidy;
(d) Furniture removal;
(e) Legal fees and land agent’s commission;
(f) Penalty mortgage repayment charges;
(g) Transfer grant;
(h) Leave and expenses for a teacher separated from her/his usual family/dependants to visit them, including to assist with their transfer to the new location;
(i) Expenses for an employee with a family/dependants to inspect prospective accommodation in the new location;
(j) Telephone reconnection charges.

7.3.2 The Ministry of Education provides a lump sum payment to cover the travel expenses, accommodation expenses, transfer grant and telephone reconnection charges outlined above. However, this does not prevent a teacher from choosing (as an alternative to the lump sum payment) to claim entitlements as specified and based on itemised receipts.

Note: These provisions shall be applied in accordance with any administrative conditions that were in effect at the commencement of this agreement. Nothing in these provisions shall be read as extending any entitlement beyond that which existed at the commencement of this agreement except as may be expressly agreed to by the Secretary for Education after consultation with the Union.