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Novopay Pledge Is Bunkum, Chaos Reigns
Thursday, 10 January 2013, 2:47 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
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Chris
HIPKINS
Acting Education Spokesperson
10 January 2013
MEDIA STATEMENT
Novopay
Pledge Is Bunkum, Chaos Reigns
The Ministry of Education’s pledge to provide
'financial support' to schools who have had bank accounts
emptied over the summer break courtesy of the shambles that
is Novopay, will be cold comfort to the thousands of school
staff forced to cut short their holidays to deal with the
on-going mess, Labour's acting Education spokesperson Chris
Hipkins says.
"Schools around the country have been
employing extra staff to deal with the Novopay fiasco, yet
the Ministry of Education is still refusing to offer them
any sort of compensation. That means money that should be
going into educating kids is going into fixing up the
Government's administrative bungles.
"The cost of
overpayments made by Novopay is just one of a number of
extra expenses these schools are facing. Just as important
are the extra administrative costs created by the shambles,
and the Government isn't offering any help with
those.”
He is predicting more chaos when Novopay runs
the first big pay cycle for 2013.
"Novopay can't even get
it right over the holidays when there are no relief teachers
and irregular payments. Imagine the bedlam when schools
start trying to add new teachers, remove teachers who have
moved on, and adjust hours and responsibilities.
"While
Hekia Parata and Craig Foss continue to enjoy their extended
summer break, thousands of Kiwis up and down the country
have been left uncertain about whether they will be paid at
all or - if they are lucky enough to be paid - whether
they'll get the right pay.
"It's well past time for the
Ministers to step in and fix this mess once and for all.
Their 'hands-off' approach to running the country has
allowed the debacle to spin out of control.
“If
they're not up to the job of getting things back on track,
John Key should replace them with people who are competent
enough to do so.”
labour.org.nz
ENDS
© Scoop Media

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