Public sector bands and regrades: making a case for a higher band

How bands and steps work

Most public service agencies group roles into pay bands, sometimes called grades or scales. The Public Service Commission describes a band as a range of pay with upper and lower limits for the same or similarly sized roles. Within a band there may be steps, fixed entry points and criteria for moving through them, or more discretion. Each agency sets its own bands, often in a collective agreement, and many publish them.

Moving up the band is progression. Moving to a higher band, through a new job or a regraded one, is promotion. Pay moves have been tight since late 2024: the Public Service Commissioner told Public Service departments to keep growth in staff costs within forecast inflation, with no new or extended pay progression based on time served, and to count each step up as a pay increase within that limit. That condition applies to departments, not to Crown entities, schools or the Police.

Progression versus regrade

Progression is about you: moving up the steps of your current band, through time in the role or a performance assessment, depending on your agency's system. It has a ceiling at the top of the band.

A regrade is about the job: the role is re-evaluated because what it involves has changed, and it lands in a higher band if it is now bigger. The Commission's guidance recognises that position descriptions often fail to reflect the full range of work, skills, responsibility and effort a role requires, and asks agencies to consider how often roles should be re-evaluated, so changes are recognised and people continue to be fairly paid.

If you are at the top of your band, or your work has grown well beyond your position description, a regrade is usually the route to ask about. Our guide to asking for a pay rise covers the conversation itself.

The evidence a job evaluation looks for

Job evaluation, sometimes called job sizing, works out the size of a role relative to others. Employment New Zealand lists the typical factors: skills and knowledge, experience, responsibility, demands and effort, working conditions, and comparison with similar jobs. It evaluates the role, not how well you do it.

So build your case around those factors:

• Responsibility: budgets, people, decisions or outcomes you now own that the position description does not mention.
• Skills and knowledge: specialist expertise the role now requires, such as a system, a statute or a technical field.
• Demands: complexity, stakeholders, ministerial or public-facing work, and how often you act for someone more senior.
• Comparison: similar roles, in your agency or others, that sit in a higher band.

Put it in writing, with an updated position description that reflects what you actually do, and specific examples with dates.

Timing with collective agreements

Many public service roles are covered by collective agreements, which set bands, steps and sometimes the process for reviewing a role. Read yours, and talk to your union delegate if you are a member: they will know how regrades are handled in your agency and when bargaining is due. A request made just before a restructure or during bargaining may be handled differently from one made at a quiet time.

Pay equity is a separate route with its own rules. Since 14 May 2025, a claim needs work done by a workforce at least 70% female for at least ten consecutive years, and claims open at that date were discontinued.

Recording scope changes as they happen

A regrade case is far stronger with a record built over months than with a list recalled in one evening. Each time your role grows, such as new responsibilities, acting in a senior role, or a project beyond your band, write a line with the date and what changed. Our guide to public sector applications covers how agencies assess the same kind of evidence when you apply for a higher role.

In jobtracker.co.nz, Your Career keeps your wins as you go, each with the date, what kind of win it was and the number it moved, alongside your pay record and review dates, so the evidence is ready when you ask. You can see an example wins journal in the demo, which needs no account.

Record the scope as it grows