Recruitment, retention and responsibility payment

A recruitment, retention and responsibility payment is a payment – from your bulk grant - to a teacher who has extra responsibilities, or to improve teacher recruitment or retention.

• Payment is not part of area or secondary teacher collectives
• What effect does it have on a teacher’s income?
• Boards meeting these conditions can allocate without ministry approval
• How to withdraw a payment

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Payment is not part of area or secondary teacher collectives

Secondary and area school boards:

• can choose to pay these payments to their teachers
• have the discretion to pay these payments at the same dollar value as units.

Pay recruitment, retention and responsibility payment to a teacher

What effect does it have on a teacher’s income?

A recruitment, retention and responsibility payment:

• is paid fortnightly with the teacher's base salary
• is not the same as a salary unit
• does not affect normal salary progression
• does not allow a teacher to progress past their qualification group’s maximum salary step
• is not payable as a bonus
• is divisible by two with both parts being allocated
• is not pro-rated for part-time staff
• for primary teachers is to be paid at the rate in the Primary Teachers' Collective Agreement.

Boards meeting these conditions can allocate without ministry approval

• Boards must consult with teaching staff about school priorities before they allocate payments.
• There is no limit to the number of recruitment, retention and responsibility payments, but as payments are ongoing liabilities for the board they must be affordable from bulk grant.
• A board is responsible for the Government Superannuation Fund employer subsidy, if it allocates a recruitment, retention and responsibility payment permanently or for 24 months or more.

Pay recruitment, retention and responsibility payment to a teacher

How to withdraw a payment

A board may withdraw payment if it gives:

• two-months’ notice to a secondary or area teacher
• two-terms’ notice to a primary teacher.

Withdraw a recruitment, retention and responsibility payment from a teacher