Personal grievance rights

The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 introduced new provisions that mean an employee earning a total remuneration package (including allowances) of $200,000 or more does not have the right to raise personal grievances for, or related to, dismissal from employment.

Principals of large schools (those with rolls of more than 1,400 students) may earn enough to be caught by this threshold.

Does this apply to school principals?

The new provisions allow for an employer and an employee to agree that the right to raise personal grievances related to dismissal from employment is maintained. PPTA Te Wehengarua, SPANZ, and NZEI Te Riu Roa, as unions of secondary and area school principals, have negotiated such an exemption: 

• Clause 11.6.7 of the Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

• Clause 10.3 of the Area School Principals’ Collective Agreementopen_in_new

These clauses are incorporated into the promulgated individual employment agreements (IEA) based on the CAs used to employ non-union principals, so the exemption also applies to principals employed under an IEA.

These clauses mean the new statutory provisions do not apply to principals (for at least the terms of their respective 2025-2028 collective agreements, including any extension for bargaining under section 53 of the Employment Relations Act 2000).  

What actions are required of boards?

If your principal is likely to be caught by the $200,000 threshold, you can use this letteropen_in_new to detail the variation and its implications and record it with your principal locally.

Otherwise, no action is required. Continue to follow good employment practice and act fairly, reasonably and in good faith.

Please seek our immediate advice if you have a conduct or performance concern about your principal, or if you are undertaking a school closure. 

Templates, resources, and references

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

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Links from us

• Letter - Specified Threshold Variationopen_in_new

Collective Agreements

• Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreement

• Clause 11.6.7

• Area Schools Principals’ Collective Agreement

• Clause 10.3

Employment Relations Act 2000

• Section 53 - Continuation of collective agreement after specified expiry dateopen_in_new

• Section 67J - Employer and employee may agree that sections 67I and 113A do not apply

Ministry of Education

• Secondary principals’ collective and individual employment agreementsopen_in_new

• Area school principals’ collective and individual employment agreementsopen_in_new