Hon Steven Joyce
Minister with responsibility for Novopay
28 February 2013 Media Statement

Govt Releases PwC Report On Pay Period 24

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report for Pay Period 24 of the schools’ payroll.

Pay Period 24, which was paid on the morning of 20 February, paid 78,351 staff a total of $160.03 million. This was 3,978 more staff than Pay Period 23 and reflects the seasonal growth in the payroll at this time of the year.

The PwC report shows there were complaints and notifications received regarding 1.9 per cent of staff across the country. 777 staff were notified as not paid, 231 were overpaid, and 471 underpaid. Affected staff were from 447 schools around the country.

The Pay Period 24 data compares with 2.2 per cent of staff and 628 schools about which complaints and notifications were received in Pay Period 23. Mr Joyce says indications are there will be similar levels of errors recorded for Pay Period 25 while efforts are on-going to get the system successfully stabilised.

“We are continuing to see huge numbers of transactions in every pay period. The seasonal increase in new starts alongside the substantial re-work required in each pay period places considerable pressure on the pay system. All parties involved are working hard to resolve issues ahead of pay going through each fortnight,” Mr Joyce says.
Last weekend the first in a series of three planned releases to address some of the most significant software bugs in the Novopay system was made under the Remediation Plan. A total of 78 defects were successfully resolved.
The second release, which is planned for three weeks’ time, is scheduled to resolve 140 bugs. At this stage the third release, set for April, will target another 50 bugs. Exact numbers will be confirmed closer to the release dates.
“The three releases planned for February, March and April are designed to reduce the level of pay calculation errors, improve the reporting to schools, and provide some initial improvements in the user interface. This will lower the level of re-work required for school administrators,” Mr Joyce says.

“As I noted last week we have asked the Technical Review team to evaluate the software remediation plan as part of their work and give us an opinion on whether that will address the identified issues with the system.

“I am expecting to receive a draft report on the technical review from reviewer Murray Jack in the next day or so. Evaluating the Remediation Plan will slightly lengthen the time before the final report is received but will give us a better understanding of our options.
“The on-going problems with Novopay are frustrating for everyone involved but they are complex to resolve and there is no quick fix. I appreciate the extra effort that principals, school administrators and other staff are putting in to resolve issues and I thank them for their continued hard work and patience.”

Attached: PWC Report on Pay Period 24

ENDS

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