Relief teacher agreement

Last updated: May 01, 2024

Position: Casual Employment Contract

The employee is being employed as an Early Childhood Education (ECE) Teacher on a casual basis.

Duties

The employee’s general duties and responsibilities are set out in the job description attached to this agreement. Their duties include carrying out all instructions the employer gives them (as long as the instructions are lawful and reasonable).

Minor changes can be made by agreement or by the employer, after a discussion in good faith. However, if major changes to the job are proposed, this must be done through a restructuring process.

Type of employment agreement

Aroha Consulting endeavors to provide the employee flexible working arrangement. If the offer to work is accepted, the Employee must endeavor to complete it. There is no set time or day that the Employee is expected to work as the employment agreement is casual relieving.

The employee will work on a casual “as required” basis with no expectation of ongoing employment. The employer will give reasonable notice when asking the employee to work and the employee may choose whether to accept or decline the work. If the offer of work is accepted and the Centre has confirmed the Employee, the employee must commit and setout out to complete it.

Each time the employee accepts an offer of work it is considered a new period of employment. The terms of this agreement will apply to each new period of employment unless the employer and employee agree to any changes.

The employee must have a legal right to work in New Zealand. This employment is conditional on the employee being granted residency or holding a visa issued by Immigration New Zealand to allow work for the employer. If, after following a fair process, the employer decides this condition is not met, the employee’s job will automatically end without notice or pay instead of notice. The employee must tell the employer about any changes to, or information that may change, their right to work legally for the employer. The employee must not work if they do not hold a valid visa allowing them to do so.

Terms

Place of work

The employer’s premises are located at 68 Castlebane Drive, Faltbish, Auckland-2019. However, the employee will work at multiple locations within the Auckland region, as required by the employer.

The Employer may ask the Employee to travel outside the area stated above for work from time to time, but they don’t have to agree.

Hours of work

The employee is employed on a casual “as required” basis and may agree to work if the employer asks them to. The employer may offer work during its usual hours of business of Monday to Friday, between the core hours of 7.30 am – 6pm. There is no obligation on the Employer to offer work or the Employee to accept offered work.

The employer will offer minimum number of 2 hours for each work session.

Timesheet is to be completed through the designated accounting app. Aroha Consulting will be sending you a link to submit the timesheet. Please fill out the start time, end time and break duration as soon as the job is complete otherwise there may be a delay in you receiving your pay.

The Centre you work in may also have their own processes regarding their timesheets so you may need to fill out Centre’s timesheet.

Shift cancellation

The Centre where the employer has sent you will be able to shorten the booking. But if you have arrived at the centre for work, the employer will pay you and charge the centre until at least 3 hours from the beginning of the agreed booking.

There are two exceptions:

If the work is shortened because the employee is unwell or to meet your needs, then we would pay and charge for the time you work only.
If the centre does not need you, but there is alternative work at another centre which you are happy to go on to, then payment and charge for work at the first centre would extend only for the time you were working there.

Breaks

The employee is entitled to paid rest breaks and unpaid lunch breaks.

Paid rest breaks up to 15 minutes can be taken after four hours of continuous work. This may vary depending on the Centre’s policy. Breaks will be of suitable length to give the employee time out, e.g. for food, drink, rest or personal errands.

Some Centres may opt for relievers to have lunch break only. Please note that lunch break is unpaid.

Rules, policies & procedures

The employer has policies and procedures that relate to the employee’s job.

The employer will make the employee aware of the policies and procedures, and will make sure they are available to the employee. The employee must be familiar with these rules and follow them at all times.

The employer may introduce new policies or procedures, or change or cancel existing ones, but must give reasonable notice of any changes.

Employee is sick and cannot go to a confirmed job, they will be asked to produce a Medical Certificate If the. The Employee takes confirmed job commitments seriously and disciplinary action may be taken if a Medical Certificate is not produced within a reasonable time frame.

If in an emergency, the Employee cannot commit to a confirmed job, The Employee must contact both the Centre and Aroha Consulting and it is the employee’s responsibility to ensure both the Centre and Aroha Consulting is aware of this.

If the employee doesn’t follow the policies and procedures, the employer might take disciplinary action.

Police Vetting

Your employment is conditional upon receipt of a full clean police clearance to which all employees must consent to,as required under The Education Act 1989 and Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

If the results of your police vetting reveal one or more convictions, confirmation or continuation of your employment will be at the sole discretion of the Employer and will be determined on a case by-case basis.

Remuneration and Benefits

Payment of wages

The employee will be paid $$ an hour. All hourly rates are Gross, meaning it includes holiday pay (8%) and sick pay (2%).

The payment will be deposited into the employee’s nominated NZ bank account on a weekly basis, for example, the payment for this week will be made by Thursday next week.

The employer may change how often the employee is paid, and will give notice in writing or by mutual agreement.

Leave

You are entitled to holidays in accordance with the provisions of the Holidays Act 2003. As a casual employee, not all of the entitlements in the Holidays Act may apply to you. Your specific entitlements are as follows:

Annual Leave

The Employee will get holiday pay at the same time as their regular pay instead of being paid during the holidays. It is paid at a rate of 8% and is included in the Employee’s gross earnings. This is known as pay-as-you-go leave pay and the 8% payments accounts for the financial obligation required for the provision of annual holiday leave under the Holidays Act 2003.

Public Holidays

Centres are closed on Public Holidays so you will not be required or expected to work during a Public Holiday.

This Employment Agreement is for casual relieving, allowing you the flexibility to choose the days you wish to work. As such, the employer cannot determine the Employees’ normal working day. A Public Holiday is not considered an otherwise normal working day. As such, the Employee will not be paid for Public Holidays.

In rare or special circumstances the Employee may be requested to work on a Public Holiday. Provided the Employee agrees and has worked the required hours, the Employee will be paid for their hourly rate plus half that amount (time and a half) for the hours worked.

Sick leave

As the work is on “as required” basis, the Employee will get sick leave paid at the same time as their regular pay instead of taking their sick days. This is known as pay-as-you-go and will be paid at a rate of 2% included in Employee’s gross earnings.

General Provisions

Indemnity

The employer will, as much as legally required, cover the employee for costs or other liabilities they face because of legal action being taken against them by a third party arising from the reasonable performance of the employee duties, so long as they were doing their job properly and with reasonable skill and care at the time.

This does not include costs or other liabilities such as those faced by the employee because of:

their own negligence
breach of duty
an unlawful act or omission

Health & safety

The employer and employee will meet their obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The employer’s duties include:

providing and maintaining a safe working environment for employees and others in the workplace
providing and maintaining facilities for the welfare of the employee while at work
providing all necessary training and instructions to employees
making sure machinery and equipment is safe
making sure working arrangements are not hazardous
providing procedures to deal with work emergencies
making sure health and safety employee engagement and participation processes are in place
cooperating with other businesses operating in the same workplace(s) to keep everyone safe and healthy.

The employee will follow the employer’s health and safety rules and procedures. The employee will take reasonable care to look after their own health and safety at work, their fitness for work, and the health and safety of others.

Examples of how the employee can take reasonable care include:

following all reasonable health and safety rules and instructions
participating in health and safety discussions
exercising their right to refuse to do unsafe work
taking reasonable care that their actions (or inactions) do not cause harm, or risk of harm, to themselves or others
not reporting for duty under the influence of alcohol or drugs that impair their performance or fitness for work
wearing all necessary personal protective equipment and clothing.

The employee must report any potential risks, incidents and near misses so the employer can investigate, and eliminate or minimize harm or risk of harm.

Failure to follow reasonable health and safety rules may be considered serious misconduct.

Drug & alcohol testing

To make sure the work environment is safe and healthy; the employer may carry out drug and alcohol testing in the following situations:

If the employer believes a reasonable cause exists, e.g. if an employee’s actions, appearance or behavior suggest they may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs
A reliable external agency will carry out the testing.
The employee agrees to:
not be impaired or potentially impaired by drugs or alcohol when at work, traveling for work or representing the employer
be tested for drugs or alcohol if asked
follow the testing procedures and not tamper with, or try to tamper with, the test or its results
agree to the results being given to the employer.

If the employee does not meet any of these requirements, this might be considered serious misconduct.

Changes to this agreement

The employer and employee can agree to change the terms of this agreement at any time. Any changes must be in writing and agreed to by both employer and employee.

Confidentiality

The employee agrees to keep confidential information private. Except as part of the proper performance of their job, the employee will not directly or indirectly use, copy, share, or permit the use or copying of any confidential information owned by the employer unless they get written permission.

Confidential information means all information owned by the employer that is not in the public domain, and which the employer reasonably regards as private. It includes, but is not limited, to:

commercial agreements
trade secrets
information about financial affairs
business methods and systems
information and records about clients, potential clients, suppliers and employees
business strategies, including merchandising, budgeting, market analysis, pricing, advertising, products and services
computer software and data
other information not known to the public.

The requirement for confidentiality applies at all times while the employee works for this employer, and after the employment has ended.

Restraint of Trade

The Employer has developed the working environment of the location within which you work. Employee details, including staff lists, and client base are considered to be the Goodwill and Intellectual property of the Employer. It is understood and accepted that your relationship with other staff and customers is largely as a result of your employment by the Employer.

Consequently, you agree to a restraint of trade whereby you will not solicit childcare related business or employees from known customers or employees of the Employer both during your employment and for a period of six months after your employment.

Note, this clause does not prevent you from working at an existing competing centre to the Employer upon termination of your employment, provided that you do not solicit childcare related business or staff from known customers and employees of the employer.

Medical examination

The employer may ask the employee to be examined by a registered medical practitioner, at the employer’s cost.

This will only happen if the employer has reasonable grounds to ask for further medical information to help them understand one or more of these points:

If the employee is safe and healthy enough to return to work.
The likelihood of the employee being able to return to work within a reasonable timeframe.
The employee’s ability to perform their duties safely and effectively.

The employee may refuse to have the medical examination or allow the relevant results to be shared. If this happens, the employer may act on their concerns based on the information available to them.

Severability

If any clause no longer applies, e.g. if a court rules it invalid, the rest of the agreement will remain in place. The employment agreement will continue as if that clause had not existed.

If the Employment Relations Authority or the Employment Court changes a clause, their version of the clause will be used in the employment agreement.

Disputes

Resolving employment relationship problems

A problem between the employer and employee might be a personal grievance, dispute or other issue.

If the employee has any concerns about their employment, or how they are treated at work, they should tell the employer as soon as possible so these can be resolved. The first step is for the employee and employer to talk about the problem and try to find possible solutions.

If the problem cannot be resolved, the employee or the employer can seek help from an external party, e.g. one or more of the following:

Employment Mediation Services, which offers free information and mediation to help employers and employees work together to resolve problems
a union or an advocate
a lawyer.

If it cannot be resolved at mediation, the employee or employer might want to go to the Employment Relations Authority.

If it is a personal grievance, the employee has 90 days from the time the problem occurred, or became known by the employee, to raise the grievance with the employer.

Some of these steps may come at a cost.

The employee can invite a support person or representative to attend all steps in the process.

Entire agreement

The terms and conditions set out in this agreement are the entire employment agreement between the employer and the employee, and replace any previous written and verbal agreements.

Termination

Employee protection provision

Employees are entitled to certain protections in restructuring situations set out in the Employment Relations Act.

Vulnerable workers

Some employees, who do certain jobs, as set out in the Employment Relations Act Schedule 1A, can have their jobs transferred to the new employer. This happens if their work is to be performed by the new employer, unless the new employer is exempt.

Their rights and entitlements are set out in Subpart 1 of Part 6A of the Act.

All other employees

This clause applies in the event that the employer proposes to restructure (as defined in section 69OI of the Employment Relations Act 2000), and the work the employee performs may or will be performed for or by a new employer.

The employer will start talks as soon as they can with the new employer about the impact of the restructuring on the employee. This will include negotiating whether the employee can transfer to the new employer, and if so, whether this will be on the same terms and conditions.

The employer will:

schedule talks with the new employer
tell the employee about the upcoming talks and the intended timeframes
tell the employee what will generally be discussed
arrange for senior representatives of the employer to engage in the talks with the new employer
subject to any statutory, commercial confidence or privacy issues, give the new employer all information about affected employees, including details of terms and conditions of employment
encourage the new employer to offer all affected employee’s jobs with generally the same or better terms and conditions
report back to the employee on the outcome of the meetings to the extent they relate to the employee.

Whether the employee is offered ongoing employment, and on what terms and conditions, will ultimately be the decision of the new employer.

If the employee does not transfer to the new employer, the employer will determine what entitlements (if any) are available to the employee by discussing with the employee:

whether there are any options available to remain in employment with the employer
their redundancy entitlements under this agreement (if any), and what this could mean for the employee, including notice arrangements
whether the employer can offer any additional support to the employee, e.g. a reference.

The employer will consider the employee’s comments and confirm in writing the outcome of these discussions to the employee.

Ending employment

The employer might end the Employee’s job with a reasonable cause or the Employee might resign.

Unless otherwise set out in this agreement, either the employer or the employee can end employment by giving 4 weeks of notice in writing.

In the event that a Centre decides they want to employ (part time or full time) the employee, should notify Aroha Consulting immediately.
You agree to the employer deducting any over – payments outstanding debts or money owed to it by you from your pay including final pay and holiday pay. This clause cannot be canceled or revoked without the written consent of both parties.
In the event of termination, your final pay will be direct credited as per the usual procedure.
The employee must immediately return any of the employer’s property and information on or before their final day of employment.

Nothing in this clause prevents the employer from ending the employee’s employment without notice, or payment instead of notice, for serious misconduct or other reason provided for in this agreement.

Ending employment: Serious misconduct

If, after following a fair process, the employer concludes that the employee has engaged in serious misconduct, the employee may be dismissed without notice.

Serious misconduct is behavior that fundamentally compromises the employer’s trust and confidence in the employee. Serious misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

Theft
sexual or other assault
harassment of a work colleague or customer
use of illegal drugs at work
repeated failure to follow a reasonable instruction
deliberate destruction of the employer’s property
actions that seriously damage the employer’s reputation
a serious breach of the employer’s policies and procedures (e.g. a misrepresentation of qualifications)

In this case you will only be paid the remuneration you are entitled to up until the date of termination.

Suspension

The employer might decide to suspend the employee on pay while investigating allegations against the employee, e.g. for serious misconduct, or if a condition, illness or injury means the employee poses an immediate risk to themselves and/or others.

If an investigation is delayed because the employee refuses to take part, or because of other reasons beyond the employer’s control, e.g. waiting for a criminal trial to end, the employer may decide any further time on suspension will be unpaid.

Force majeure

The employee understands and agrees that their job may end without notice, or payment of notice, if a natural disaster, workplace fire, flood or other similar major event beyond the employer’s control makes it impossible for employment to continue. Where practicable, the employer will consult with the employee before exercising this clause.

Warranties

The employee warranties and undertakes that:

(a) All representations, whether oral or written, made by the employee as to qualifications, competencies, experience, work permits and permanent residency status in applying for this position are true, accurate and complete.

(b) The employee has not deliberately failed to disclose any matter which may have materially influenced the employer’s decision to employ you.

(c) There are no matters which would materially interfere with the employee’s ability to discharge your obligations, other than those disclosed in writing to the employer before acceptance of this position.

(d) Information withheld and deemed relevant to parts (a) and (b) of this clause will be regarded as misrepresentation and action may be taken for serious misconduct.

General Housekeeping

Don’t take children’s photos unless you are asked to do so.
Never use your phone when you are on the floor.
Don’t leave the centre before notifying the centre’s person in-charge about your whereabouts.
Be professional in your dress code. Wear weather appropriate clothes and shoes. Do not wear slippers/sandals.
Please bring two forms of I.D. for all casual jobs.
It is important to be punctual and commit to the job you have been confirmed for.
At all times, always remain in full sight of teachers no matter what you are doing.
Be courteous, be professional, and bring your cheerful self to work! There are very few jobs that bring such joy and privilege at the same time and teaching (& nurturing is one of them).

Acknowledgement

Aroha Consulting Limited offer this employment agreement to “Reliever Name”.

In signing this agreement, I “Reliever Name”!accept the terms and conditions of my employment as detailed within this offer and declare that:

I have read, and fully understood the terms and conditions of this agreement, and have received a copy of it.
I was told about my right to get independent advice on the terms and conditions of this agreement and I have been given time to take that advice.
I have raised any issues I have about the terms and conditions of this agreement and my employer has responded to these issues.
I understand I am being employed on a casual “as required” basis, which means my employer will only offer work as and when it is available. I also understand my annual holiday entitlement will be met by my employer giving me holiday pay on a “pay as you go” basis.
I have told my employer about any existing physical and/or health conditions that might be worsened by doing the job, or might affect my ability to do the job.
I confirm there are no contractual or other legal reasons that could stop me from working for my employer.
The information I have given is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I have not left out anything that could affect the decision to employ me.
I am, and will remain, able to work legally in New Zealand for the term of this agreement.