Count number of leave days
Count the leave days that will be deducted from the employee's leave balance before booking leave to check that the employee has enough leave entitlements to cover the requested number of days.
Important:
Ensure you read the employee's 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.
The following terms are used in the rules on this page.
- Absence period: the period between the start date and the end date of the leave.
- Free day: a day that an employee does not normally work.
- Work day: a week day that an employee would normally work. A reference to consecutive work days relates to the days an employee would normally work, e.g. if they normally work on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, then a Thursday and the following Monday are consecutive work days.
- School vacation: this is the period from the Monday of the first week of the vacation to the Sunday before the new term starts. The vacation period does not include the weekend at the end of the preceeding school term.
Guidance for counting leave days for different employee types
The number of leave days booked, and therefore deducted from an employee's balance, depends on leave type, employee agreement provisions, days worked and timing of the leave.
Paid sick leave for all teachers and principals under the latest employment agreements (2022/23)
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New sick leave conditions and entitlements were introduced for all teachers and principals on the latest employment agreements (2022/23). When sick leave is booked, only the days the school is open for instruction will be deducted from an employee's sick leave balance.
This change came into effect:
- from 03/07/2022 for secondary teachers
- from 01/12/2022 for secondary principals and primary principals (PPCBU)
- from 03/07/2023 for primary teachers and primary principals (NZEI), area school teachers and principals
EdPay automatically disregards weekends and public holidays from a period of sick leave that is booked.
Count the consecutive work days in the absence period.
Do not count:
- any school vacations or public holidays that fall in the absence period
- any weekend days.
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Paid sick leave for full-time teachers and principals on older agreements
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Count the consecutive work days in the absence period.
- If there are five or fewer consecutive work days in the absence period, do not count any weekend days.
- If there are more than five consecutive work days in the absence period, count all of the calendar days, including weekends.
Do not count:
- any school vacations or public holidays that fall in the absence period.
Examples
- An absence from Wednesday to the following Wednesday (inclusive) is counted as eight days. This includes the intervening weekend because there are six consecutive work days.
- An absence from Wednesday to Friday in the last week of term and Monday at the start of the next term is counted as four days. This does not include the weekend because there are fewer than five consecutive work days.
- An absence from Wednesday to Friday in the last week of term and from Monday to Wednesday at the start of the following term is counted as eight days. This includes the last weekend of term because there are six consecutive work days.
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Paid sick leave for part-time teachers on older agreements
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For part-time teachers, deduct each day of absence as a full day from the teacher's entitlement.
Secondary Teachers' Collective Agreement
If a secondary part-time teacher normally works five days in a week, follow the rules for full-time teachers/principals above. Deduct each day of absence as a full day from the teacher's entitlement.
Follow the rules below for part-time secondary teachers who do not normally work five days in a week.
Count:
- only the days that the teacher would normally work during the absence period.
Do not count:
- any intervening free days, including weekends
- school vacations or public holidays that fall in the absence period.
Primary Teachers' Collective Agreement
Count:
- sick leave is to be debited on the basis of the days of absence where absence does not exceed five consecutive working days or;
- on the basis of continuous days, including weekends, where the absence exceeds five consecutive working days;
- no deduction will be made of absences of less than two hours.
- part-time employees shall have sick leave debited only for days normally worked (ie. ignoring intervening days not worked). Debiting will be on the basis of one full day sick leave for each working day lost provided that where a part-timer is absent for two consecutive working days surrounding a weekend, then one weekend day will be debited in addition to the days normally worked.
Do not count:
- school vacations or public holidays that fall in the absence period.
Area School Teachers' Collective Agreement
If an area school part-time teacher normally works five days in a week, follow the rules for full-time teachers/principals above. Deduct each day of absence as a full day from the teacher's entitlement.
Follow the rules below for part-time area teachers who do not normally work five days in a week.
Count:
- only the days that the teacher would normally work during the absence period.
Do not count:
- days they would not normally work, including weekends
- school vacations or public holidays that fall in the absence period.
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Paid sick leave for non-teaching staff
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Count the days the employee would normally work during the absence period. Do not count public holidays. Do not count school vacations for term-time only employees.
For part-time employees, deduct each day of absence as a full day from their entitlement.
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Paid annual leave for non-teaching staff
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Annual leave entitlements for non-teachers are expressed in weeks rather than days in the employment agreements. This means that, although you book leave in the EdPay payroll system as days or half days, it is necessary to think in terms of weeks when counting leave days.
Employee works five days per week
If the employee normally works five days per week, count all the employee's normal work days that fall in the absence period. Do not count public holidays. Do not count school vacations for term-time only employees.
Employee works fewer than five days per week
- If the employee works fewer than five days per week, and they take all of their normal work days as annual leave, book five days of leave, so that a week is deducted from their annual leave entitlement.
For example, if an employee normally works two days per week, and they take both days as annual leave, book this as five days (one week) of leave.
- If the employee works fewer than five days per week, and they take only some of these days as annual leave, count only the employee's normal work days that fall in the absence period.
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Unpaid leave for full-time teachers
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Count the consecutive school days that the teacher would normally work in the absence period;
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If there are five or fewer consecutive school days in the absence period, count only the employee's normal school days. Do not count any public holidays, weekends or school vacations.
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If the absence period exceeds five consecutive school days in two weeks, count all days in the absence period, including intervening weekends and public holidays. Do not count school vacations.
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Unpaid leave for part-time teachers
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Employee works five days per week
Count all the work days that fall in the absence period. Do not count school vacations or public holidays. If the total number of days counted is more than five, add the intervening weekends and public holidays.
Employee works fewer than five days per week
If a part-time teacher normally works fewer than five days per week, do one of the following:
- If the absence is for a continuous period of more than one calendar week, count all of the calendar days, including weekends and public holidays.
- If the absence is for a continuous period of one calendar week or less, count only the teacher's normal work days.
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Unpaid leave for non-teaching roles
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Employee works five days per week
If the employee normally works five days per week, count all the employee's normal work days that fall in the absence period. Do not count school vacations for term-time only employees.
Employee works fewer than five days per week
- If the employee works fewer than five days per week, and they take all of their normal work days as unpaid leave, book a full week of leave.
For example, if an employee normally works two days per week, and they take both days as unpaid leave, book this as five days (one week) of leave.
- If the employee works fewer than five days per week, and they take only some of these days as unpaid leave, count only the employee's normal work days that fall in the absence period.
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