School staff 'are owed millions'

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Support staff working in schools are owed up to $6 million in backpay and allowances, says their union.

In one case a laboratory technician at a northern secondary school was awarded $30,000 in backpay.

The lab technician, whose details cannot be revealed because of a confidentiality agreement, had been working at the school for 24 years, but the statute of limitations meant only the last six years could be considered.

The New Zealand Educational Institute, the union which represents more than 9000 school support staff, said it was not an isolated case.

The union said it has recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for support workers.

NZEI estimates there are about 20,000 support workers - a group which includes librarians, school administrators, technicians and teacher aids - working in New Zealand schools.

It said the problem was because support workers salaries were paid out of schools' operational grants, which are paid by the Government and are also meant to cover school maintenance and running costs.

NZEI national president Colin Tarr said schools had struggled to pay their support staff and keep their schools running.

"That's not to apportion blame or to say the schools are doing it deliberately. In 99.9 per cent of the cases it has been an oversight or an anomaly."

Mr Tarr said the union decided the underpayment of support staff was a significant problem and commissioned research to find out the extent and what could be done to fix it.

It was found that out of 176 primary and secondary schools which were checked, 166 owed their support staff money - the average amount was $900.

The support workers were owed money through being graded incorrectly, not receiving pay rises or allowances they were entitled to.

NZEI national secretary Lynne Bruce said the underpayment was a major problem.

"If we apply the money that has been owing to support staff from those checks across New Zealand it would add up to just under $6 million," she said.

Mr Tarr said the clear message from the research was that the current system was not working and needed to be adjusted.

"It is quite clear that there is a significant quantum in terms of pay and in terms and conditions that our members are entitled to and haven't received."

A model for a new system had been designed and will be presented at the NZEI annual meeting in September.

It proposes to use a mixture of centralised staffing - a system similar to how teachers' salaries are managed - and funding from the operations grant.

If the model is adopted at the meeting it would become NZEI policy. The union would then lobby the Government to adopt it.

New Zealand School Trustees Association president Chris France said he thought the case of the laboratory technician being owed $30,000 was "dreadful", but he thought it was an isolated case.

Mr France said there was an issue with some support staff not being correctly graded, but he did not think it was because they were paid out of the operational grant instead of a central fund.

A Ministry of Education spokeswoman said there were no plans to separate support staff costs from operational funding.

"The ministry recognises the importance of boards of trustees retaining the discretion for deciding upon, and maintaining, a support staff structure that is most suitable for their particular circumstances."