Principals, staff cut short break to deal with Novopay mess

8 January 2013
Immediate Release

Principals and support staff cut short summer break to deal with Novopay mess

Many school principals and support staff have been forced back to school early in order to deal with the ongoing Novopay debacle.

Tomorrow is pay day for teachers and NZEI National Secretary Paul Goulter says many principals around the country are cutting their break short in order to try to sort out the expected problems arising from the payroll system.

“The summer holiday period would normally be the most straightforward pay period of the year because it’s the one time that no relievers and support staff are on the pay-roll.

“But the issues around Novopay are so massive and entrenched that principals believe they have no choice but to return to schools to deal with the expected fallout from yet another error-ridden pay period,” he says.

“New errors develop every fortnight and there’s nothing to indicate that this pay period will be any different.

“The week prior to Christmas was a total shambles despite the Ministry of Education downplaying the problems. It was enormously stressful for principals and school administrators at a very busy time. Now principals are being forced to come in early from their break to deal with expected new problems.

“We are concerned that Novopay is contributing to an unacceptable level of stress for staff going into the new school year.”

ENDS

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