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Novopay holiday pay promise broken

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Novopay holiday pay promise broken

3News NZ

Ms Parata has delegated authority for Novopay to Associate Education Minister Craig Foss

Ms Parata has delegated authority for Novopay to Associate Education Minister Craig Foss

Months of promises that teachers will be paid properly for the summer holidays have been broken, with the error-ridden Novopay system still not working as it should.

School staff received their last pay before Christmas overnight, and the issues that have continued since Novopay's rollout in August are still present, despite the company behind the system - Talent2 - promising the Ministry of Education it would have the problems ironed out.

The principal of Auckland's Snells Beach School, Jill Corkin, told Radio New Zealand new issues had arisen in the latest pay round, with teacher aides overpaid.

She says that was unexpected, after spending 10 hours in the past week battling to get a payment for a part-time worker who has not been paid properly since August.

"I was breathing a sigh of relief, not expecting anything else, and then we're hit with these overpayments to two other people which I just wasn't expecting and $5000 being deducted from our account that I wasn't expecting at all."

Ms Corkin says she has heard similar reports from principals elsewhere in Auckland.

She has had issues getting the message across to the people behind Novopay.

"Once you actually get through there, the people that you're speaking to on the other end of the phone just simply don't understand school payrolls and that has not improved at all."

Another principal, Denise Torrey from Christchurch's Somerfield School, says "bizarre things" have happened this pay round.

"We've had staff members who we haven't seen or employed for 18 months or two years now getting a significant amount of money. We've had holiday pay that was meant to be sorted out last time actually being paid again, and it's a totally bizarre calculation."

The latest bungles come just days after Education Ministry head Lesley Longstone quit because of "strains" between herself and Education Minister Hekia Parata.

Ms Parata has delegated authority for Novopay to Associate Education Minister Craig Foss, who said six weeks ago that he had received assurances that holiday pay would go through on time.

NZN

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Comments

26/12/2012 11:26:23 p.m.

ross wrote:

$30+ Million down the drain. typical of National Govt. incompetent neocons.

22/12/2012 3:28:24 p.m.

Kathy wrote:

Have you thought about the fact that farmers only pay that little taxation because they are the biggest tax avoiders in the country Mike?. They have no living expenses as all their living expenses are paid for by the farm business and written off as a tax credit. That the majority of farmers profits are reinvested into the property to increased capital value of the business. That the biggest profits coming from a farm are not whilst running it but rather at its sale after years of capital reinvestment. Is it not also true that Bill English released a statement saying Farmers couldnt simply chose how much tax that they paid, and must comply with the same rules as everyone else when labour originally brought the issue up before him in parliament?. Farmers are well known tax avoiders. http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/7698549/IRD-hunts-farmers-using-tax-loophole

22/12/2012 1:18:02 p.m.

John wrote:

Pekia is not dumb she has prove it she is there for the perks of the job. Otherwise she would wake and not be on holiday she is useless

21/12/2012 4:38:16 p.m.

Phil wrote:

I am a teacher aide. I dont care who chose the payroll system or who failed to implement it correctly, what I care about is the fact that since novopay has been introduced I have not been paid correctly once. The system is rife with errors and does not have a manual check as a back up. Politically speaking I will most likely vote for the people who can fix the problem. There is an incentive for you National! Fix the problem and gain my vote! BTW Wayne and Mike, comparing farming to teaching is a great idea. in fact you can compare the situation to any profession. Take your regular pay period and triple it, then imagine going for that period of time without any income. If 3 months with no pay is normal then how would 9 months with no pay feel?

21/12/2012 3:13:00 p.m.

Brucey wrote:

Put Nova pay in charge of MPs salary's, it will be sorted immediately

21/12/2012 2:41:31 p.m.

wayne wrote:

@MIKE wtf, you kidding right, it might off been labour/greens whom signed them up, but its been national for the past 4-5 years that have allowed t2 to take forever to get there payroll working, OH BTW they were meant to take a couple of schools at a time and over time take all the schools. BUT no the government (which is National BTW) told them to take all the schools at once, why cause T2 were 4 years over due and had no real time frame when they could start. And for you to compare Farming and Teaching, make you sound like a idiot.

21/12/2012 1:12:12 p.m.

Mike wrote:

If teaching so hard, can always go farming, where you can go 3 months without any pay and this is normal!

Of course farming is high income, like in 2009 when the average income tax paid by farmers was around $1500, ie their taxable income for the year was around a single unemployment benefit with no additional allowances! But the rich farmers supported families on that!

For all the whining, teachers haven't been hard up. Will teacher svote for the parties involved in choosing Talent2 to provide this payment service? As remember, Talent2 was all signed up in August 2008 by the Labour/Green government. So what will the teachers do? I expect they will again blindly vote left, to the people who gave them Talent2, while blaming the right who had no involment in chosing Talent2.

21/12/2012 12:42:45 p.m.

Gabes wrote:

Brian lol at you.... A pathetic attempt to justify and divert the issues, now be a good little National Party supporter and toddle off back to syncophant land. As for Parata the 'no show prat' she is only there for the money not for the children. She couldnt organise a piss up at a brewery.

21/12/2012 12:05:28 p.m.

Wiki wrote:

Should we be at all surprised with the latest debacle? NO. Should schools be compensated for all the extra work YES. Should Foss and Parata go ABSOLUTELY. Will the problems end. NO. Will some teaching staff have a miserable xmas. YES. Will Talent2 be able to sleep at night? YES of course the will. I'm sure they are getting paid on time and correctly. If it affected the PM and his ministers would it have been fixed months ago. YES. So who the hell is stepping forward. NOBODY. Whose head will roll next? Your guess is as good as mine.

21/12/2012 11:51:56 a.m.

jan.. wrote:

Bank loans recommended for the teachers holiday pay so they can feed their children and families on Christmas day and holiday periods, 'problem solved’ just sue Novopay to pay for the bank interest fees, so get down to bank bank. Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year to you all and do take good care on our roads.