Statement of service
When a teacher commences in the NZ State teaching sector they can claim for service as a teacher overseas or in the private and early childhood sectors. They can also claim for relevant work experience which is service that is not teaching but relevant to the teaching position they are working in (as long as the employing principal deems it to be relevant).
Eg. if they are going to be employed as a cooking teacher, they may be able to claim for service as a chef.
Please note: Voluntary teaching service that is trained or untrained cannot be given salary service credit as all service must be in paid employment to be eligible to receive service credit.
The exception to this is voluntary service at VSA (Voluntary Services Abroad). Providing the teacher was teaching in this role and held a teaching certificate, salary service credit can be given. (Statement of service required)
To calculate the correct amount of service to be credited, we need to know exactly how long someone has worked and whether the role/s were full time or part time.
All statements of service must:
- Be on an official letterhead from the previous company
- Be signed by the writer and be written by either the employer or a supervisor in the company
- Have an exact start date with a day, month and year*
- Have an exact end date with a day, month and year.* Statements must be written after the service is completed. – i.e. not for a future end date
- Have a description of the service/role
- Advise if the work was full time or part time
- If part time or casual, it must be stated either hours per week or total hours or days worked
For an example of a statement of service with all the required information, please see here