Repeal of section 13 (Employment in schools) – application date

Clause 531

Submission

(63 – Chapman Tripp)

The repeal of section 13 should take effect from when the amending legislation is enacted and not be backdated to 1 October 2008.

Comment

Backdating the repeal of section 13 to 1 October 2008 would adversely affect Ministry of Education employees who were automatically enrolled after that date as a result of changing from one state or state-integrated school to another. When the repeal takes effect, any automatic enrolments during the backdating period would be retrospectively invalidated. Subsequently, the legal position – such as an employee’s membership in a KiwiSaver scheme – is unclear. If the repeal of section 13 is not backdated but instead takes effect from when the legislation is enacted, this legal uncertainty would be avoided.

Recommendation

That the submission be accepted.