Ministry working to minimise errors in next two pay rounds

Media release

18 January 2013

Ministry working to minimise errors in next two pay rounds

The Ministry of Education is advising school staff the next two pay rounds will have an increased number of errors but has assured them it is working with Talent 2 to resolve the issues as soon as possible.

The Ministry also reminded schools that it is able to make direct payments to any staff member who is not paid or is underpaid.

It’s expected the issues will arise from the start-of-year process which involves the thousands of staff who move schools at the beginning of a new school year, or who start work in a school for the first time, and those who need to re-join the payroll because they aren't employed during the school holidays.

Approximately three quarters of schools have now completed this process. The remainder are being contacted and offered assistance.

This process was always expected to be a challenging period in the introduction of such a large pay system.

Rebecca Elvy says the education sector has been informed about the increased potential for error due to the number of staff who are added to the payroll at this time of year.

“Where a staff member is not paid or significantly underpaid schools have the option of either paying the staff member directly or contacting the Ministry to arrange a direct payment.

“The Ministry will also make an advance to any school experiencing cash-flow problems because they have had an overpayment to a staff member made out of their operational funding.”

The Ministry is currently testing a solution to address the well-known issue with inaccurate banking/staffing reports which is expected to be ready for release in the next couple of weeks.

Ms Elvy acknowledged the hard work and dedication of school staff in completing the start of year process.

“We sincerely thank them for their hard work and dedication and assure them the Ministry and Talent 2 are working hard to resolve these issues.”

Notes for editors

The Ministry is aware of an issue with reports relating to top up holiday payments. These are not showing in draft SUE reports, however the Ministry is confident this issue will be resolved before the next pay period.

ENDS

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