Sick leave entitlements for teachers and principals

The tables on this page show the sick leave that will be accrued based on a teacher's or principal's accumulated service. See Sick leave for teachers and principals for details.

An employee's current tier code can be found on the School Annual and Sick Leave report.

  • Table A: Primary teachers and principals
  • Table B: Secondary/area school teachers and principals
    Note: This table is also used for primary teachers and principals who haven't transitioned to Table A.
  • Table C: Kaiārahi i te reo and therapists

Important:

Ensure you read the relevant employment agreement carefully for full details of their leave provisions.
See the Ministry of Education's website: Employment agreements
Contact NZ School Trustees Association if you need help to interpret employment agreement details.


Notes:

  • If an employee works across multiple sectors, Table B will be used.
  • If an employee transfers from one sector to another, they will remain on the current table and leave tier until sufficient service is achieved to reach the next tier in the new table.
  • To estimate the next sick leave entitlement date for an employee, contact the Education Payroll Service Centre to ask for their current total service. You can use this to work out how long until the employee reaches the next tier.

Table A: Primary teachers and principals

Tier code Service Accrued in this period total accrued
Years Months
A1 0 0 7 7
A2 0 3 7 14
A3 0 6 12 26
A4 0 9 5 31
A5 1 6 5 36
A6 2 6 5 41
A7 3 6 5 46
A8 4 6 5 51
A9 5 0 19 70
A10 5 6 5 75
A11 6 6 5 80
A12 7 6 5 85
A13 8 6 5 90
A14 9 6 5 95
A15 10 0 14 109
A16 10 6 5 114
A17 11 6 5 119
A18 12 6 5 124
A19 13 6 5 129
A20 14 6 5 134
A21 15 6 5 139
A22 16 6 5 144
A23 17 6 5 149
A24 18 6 5 154
A25 19 6 5 159
A26 20 0 25 184
A27 20 6 5 189
A28 21 6 5 194
A29 22 6 5 199
A30 23 6 5 204
A31 24 6 5 209
A32 25 6 5 214
A33 26 6 5 219
A34 27 6 5 224
A35 28 6 5 229
A36 29 6 5 234
A37 30 0 22 256
A38 30 6 5 261
A39 31 6 5 266
A40 32 6 5 271
A41 33 6 5 276
A42 34 6 5 281
A43 35 6 5 286
A44 36 6 5 291
A45 37 6 5 296
A46 38 6 5 301
A47 39 6 5 306
A48 40 6 5 311
A49 41 6 5 316
A50 42 6 5 321
A51 43 6 5 326
A52 44 6 5 331
A53 45 6 5 336
A54 46 6 5 341
A55 47 6 5 346
A56 48 6 5 351
A57 49 6 5 356
A58 50 6 5 361
A59 51 6 5 366
A60 52 6 5 371
A61 53 6 5 376
A62 54 6 5 381
A63 55 6 5 386
A64 56 6 5 391
A65 57 6 5 396
A66 58 6 5 401
A67 59 6 5 406
A68 60 6 5 411

Table B: Secondary/area school teachers and principals

Note: This table is also used for primary teachers and principals who haven't transitioned to Table A.

Tier code Service Accrued in this period total accrued
Years Months
B1 0 0 7 7
B2 0 3 7 14
B3 0 6 17 31
B4 0 9 15 46
B5 5 0 46 92
B6 10 0 62 154
B7 20 0 75 229
B8 30 0 77 306*

*Where a teacher exhausts all 306 days of their aggregated sick leave entitlement, and therefore has no future entitlement, they must be granted sick leave in accordance with the Holidays Act 2003.

The employee shall be entitled to 10 days sick leave for each 12-month period, to a maximum accumulation of 20 days.

Table C: Kaiārahi i te reo and therapists

Tier code Service Accrued in this period total accrued
Years Months
C1 0 0 20 days 20 days
C2 0 6 10 days 30 days
C3 1 0 10 days
40 days
C4 1 6 10 days
50 days
C5 2 0 10 days
60 days
C6 2 6 10 days
70 days
C7 3 6 10 days
80 days
C8 4 6 10 days
90 days
C9 5 6 10 days
100 days
C10 6 6 10 days
110 days
C11 7 6 10 days
120 days
C12 8 6 10 days
130 days
C13 9 6 10 days
140 days
C14 10 6 10 days
150 days

Each subsequent 12 months of completed service will accrue 10 days.