Disregarded sick leave was introduced to support teachers and principals during the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement to self-isolate after a positive test result. As COVID-19 isolation is no longer a legal requirement, disregarded sick leave is no longer able to be granted for COVID-19 absences after 15 August 2023.
Disregarded sick leave for teachers and principals
If you took sick leave prior to 15 August 2023 due to the legal requirement to self-isolate, you can submit an application for disregarded sick leave to have sick leave recredited.
The online disregarded sick leave form will stop being available from 9 October 2023.
How to apply
If a teacher or principal was sick with COVID-19 before 15 August 2023, then the school or kura can still submit a completed online application form, which will then be sent to the Ministry of Education.
The online application form will remain open until 9 October 2023.
Instructions
1
Evidence of teacher or principal's COVID-19 positive test result
Schools and kura should seek evidence that the teacher or principal tested positive for COVID-19 and was required to take sick leave during the period they are instructed to isolate. This should be stored by the school or kura as part of the teacher or principal’s personnel records.
The evidence could be:
- confirmation of a positive test result and text messages from Public Health or the Ministry of Health, or
- advice from a registered medical practitioner.
As part of the online form, the school or kura is required to attest that the teacher or principal has provided evidence that they have been diagnosed with COVID-19. In some instances, we may request evidence that the period of leave was due to the teacher or principal contracting COVID-19.
2
Fill in the online application form
Schools and kura will need to use their Education Sector Login to complete the online application form.
To access the application form, users will need to update their Education Service Login (ESL) credentials. This update only needs to happen once, and quick step-by-step instructions can be found below.
ESL instructions
How to give access to education workforce applications
How to give access to education workforce applications
