Salary assessment
The Salary Assessment Unit (SAU) assess the annual base salary of new, foreign and returning teachers working within the New Zealand state sector. A teacher must apply to have their salary assessed and submit the relevant salary assessment application form. This team does not assess the salaries of principals or non-teaching staff.
The team assesses the salary based on a combination of qualifications, teacher's registration, salary credit and relevant previous employment and then places teachers in the correct grade and step. The rules and regulations for salary assessment are determined by the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the relevant collective agreement.
New to Salary Assessment? Here's a helpful Salary Assessment Application Manual (PDF) to introduce you to the process.
Please see below for an overview of the NOVO forms that the Salary Assessment Unit use.
For the following scenarios, a NOVO7t will need to be completed:
- new beginning teachers who have never worked before
- teachers who have worked overseas in teaching positions
- teachers who have worked in positions that were not teaching but relevant to what they will be teaching
- teachers with previous teaching and employment history outside of the NZ state sector;
- teachers who have been out of the NZ state teaching sector for more than two years. We need to assess any service credit for previous relevant work employment and/or qualifications gained while away
- teachers returning to the NZ state teaching sector within two years who wish to apply for a service credit assessment for previous relevant work employment and/or qualifications completed while away
- assessment as a Speech Language Therapist (under the PTCA).
Note: for all annual salary Increment requests, please contact your school principal , as you need to go through the attestation process not salary assessment.
A NOVO17t will need to be completed if a teacher that is currently employed by a NZ state school has gained an additional/new qualification that needs to be assessed.
A NOVO18t should be completed to request a Service Increment Allowance to be assessed for an eligible teacher. This is an additional allowance to a teacher's salary that may be due if they have been at the top step of their grade for three years or more.
Please note: a new Service Increment Allowance is only available under the Secondary Teachers CA (Clause 4.9) and Area School Teachers CA (Clause 3.18). Please refer to the relevant clause to view additional eligibility criteria.
A NOVO19t is to be completed for teachers who are returning to teaching after a period of absence for the purpose of childcare and wish to apply for a childcare salary credit.
Here is the check sheet to follow before sending the form to SalaryAssessment@novopay.govt.nz
To download a Salary Assessment form to complete, please refer to the forms page.
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about the Salary Assessment Unit.