Schools brace for yet another Novopay payday debacle

19 February 2013
Immediate Release

Schools brace for yet another Novopay payday debacle

School principals and administration staff around the country are preparing for what’s been called another “challenging” pay period as staff salaries are banked this evening.

NZEI National Secretary Paul Goulter says it appears there will be no let-up from the problems that the beleaguered Novopay pay system has been causing.

“The Ministry of Education has itself warned that this week’s pay period will be as challenging as any in the past.

“The message we’re getting is very much doom and gloom. Ongoing issues such as holiday pay not correctly paid over the Christmas period as well as issues dating back to August are being compounded by new issues around new staff and beginning teachers.

‘It’s totally exhausting and frustrating for principals and school administration staff.”

Mr Goulter says NZEI Te Riu Roa will shortly start to survey schools to quantify the impact that the shambles around Novopay has had on their jobs.

“This will help us decide on what further action is needed.

“We will also be meeting with the Deputy Secretary of Education this week to discuss the Terms of Reference for the Ministerial Inquiry into Novopay.

“We will be pushing hard for the inquiry to examine why the Government has been trying to transfer responsibility for staff salary payments to individual schools without adequately resourcing that transfer and why the basic programming and planning has gone so wrong.”

ENDS

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