Working at the Ministry of Education

The Business Enablement and Support team deliver well-connected, efficient and effective corporate services that enable our people to do their best work every day. 

The essential services, support, tools and resources we provide help make the Ministry a great place to work. 

Working for the Ministry brings you a full range of benefits, including: 

• Health care 
• Vision Care 
• KiwiSaver
• Banking Packages 
• Flexible Work Hours 
• Family Care 
• Study Assistance Programme 
• Sporting and Cultural Leave 

Health Care

The Ministry offers group schemes with Unimed and Southern Cross. This means you qualify for:

• reduced premiums with easy payment methods 
• no 90-day wait to claim
• cover for certain existing conditions.

Vision Care 

If working at the Ministry affects your eyesight, we'll pay for the cost of an eye examination and contribute $300 to the cost of your corrective lenses. 

KiwiSaver 

KiwiSaver is a voluntary, long-term savings scheme designed to help New Zealanders save for their retirement. You may also be able to draw on your KiwiSaver to buy your first home. 

You can choose your own KiwiSaver scheme and fund type, but if you don't choose you will be put into the Ministry's selected scheme. 

Banking Package 

You'll be able to use the government banking package with Westpac which offers: 

• reduced interest rates on personal loans and mortgages 
• a contribution of $1000 towards legal and other professional fees on home loans over $100,000 
• no establishment fees on personal and home loans 
• discounts on insurance premiums for home, contents, vehicle, boat, life and loan cover policies.

Flexible Work Hours

To help you with your work/life balance, you may be able to work flexible hours as long as you complete the total required weekly hours in your employment agreement. Not all positions can offer this benefit - we'll explain this at your interview or in the employment offer. 

Family Care 

To help with the extra cost of childcare and the difficulties that come with returning to work while caring for a small child, employees who return from parental leave of six weeks or more may be entitled to a lump sum of 30 working days pay.

Staff can use their own sick leave to care for sick family members. 

Study Assistance 

We encourage you to take on teritary study that will help you in your job as well as benefit the Ministry. We offer a subsidy to help cover the costs of part-time study. You may also be able to negotiate reduced work hours while you are studying. 

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) 

Our employee assistance programme aims to help our staff resolve personal and work-related problems. It's completely private, confidential and free for up to four individual counselling sessions. 

Sporting and Cultural Leave 

If you are selected to represent New Zealand in sporting or cultural events you may be eligible for four weeks paid leave per year on top of your normal annual leave. 

Development Opportunities 

To help you keep learning and developing in your job, we offer training programmes, mentoring and other opportunities. You'll make a plan with your manager to set goals you would like to achieve and work out how we can help you reach them. 

If you would like to take on further education, you can access on-the-job qualifications through the National Qualifications Framework or study with a tertiary institution. We offer a subsidy to help with course costs if your study directly relates to your development in your role with the Ministry and will benefit the Ministry overall. We also offer study leave, mentoring and support to ensure you make the most of your educational opportunity. 

Check out our job and careers page for the latest roles or contact one of us. 

Hear from Katrina Ross and Diane Matthews about their experiences of working at Ministry of Education.