Therapists

On 6 November 2020, NZEI Te Riu Roa raised a pay equity claim for therapists and those doing the same or substantially similar work in state and state-integrated schools and the Ministry of Education.

In March 2024, the claim was settled. This settlement sees speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and music therapists in the education sector fairly valued for the work they do.

We hosted webinars with the Ministry of Education designed for principals and those tasked with implementing the actions for pay equity implementation in schools.

The webinar recording and associated slides are available in the Learning Library.

Changes to the recruitment of therapists

The Therapists’ Pay Equity Claim Settlement differs from other pay equity settlements in the education sector because coverage by the settlement cannot be assumed.

This is because of the definition of the work covered by the settlement (clause 9open_in_new). It says that in order to be covered, the work must be carried out by a therapist who meets the registration requirements for their respective regulatory body.

This means schools may have an extra requirement during the recruitment process: to confirm whether the employee meets the appropriate registration requirements.

It also differs from other settlements because it introduces a mechanism for reimbursing specific professional fees incurred by therapists (as long as they are covered by the settlement).

Some of these fees are incurred by the employee to practice legally, while others may only be incurred if the employer requires them.

More information about the specific actions and decisions schools now need to take when employing therapists is available in our recruitment section:

• Appointing a Music or Speech-language Therapist

• Appointing an Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist

Updated employment terms and conditions for speech-language therapists

The terms and conditions for a speech-language therapist (SLT) covered by the Pay Equity Settlement continue to be found in the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement, except those related to:

• Salary

• Entry steps

• Reimbursement of professional fees, and

• The review mechanism of the above.

These terms and conditions for these SLTs are instead set by the Settlement Agreement, which applies to SLTs as if it were a term of the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement.

You should provide the employee with a link to the Settlement Agreement. Our letters of offer for SLTs, available in our recruitment section, do so.

Templates, resources, and references

Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references. 

Depending on your device, these may download or open in a separate browser. 

Links from us 

• Pay Equity Webinar – Therapists

• Appointing a Music or Speech-language Therapist

• Appointing an Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist

• Recruitment

• Casual employment agreements

• Fixed term letters of offer and noticesopen_in_new

• Permanent employment letters of offeropen_in_new

Ministry of Education

• Therapists’ Pay Equity Claimopen_in_new

• Therapists’ Pay Equity Settlement Agreementopen_in_new

• Therapists’ Pay Equity Settlement implementation guideopen_in_new

Collective Agreement 

• Kaiārahi i te Reo and Therapists’open_in_new

  • open_in_new

    Clause 3.2 – Therapists

Music Therapy New Zealand 

• Process and guidelines for Registration and Renewal of Annual Practising Certificateopen_in_new

New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association 

• Membershipopen_in_new