Schools are being warned to prepare for more problems with
underpayments in the first two pay rounds of the school year.
Principals and support staff around the country have been
forced back to school early to deal with the ongoing debacle
with Novopay, the payroll system introduced in August.
The Ministry of Education said the pay rounds on January 23
and February 6 are likely to be too much for the system, as
payments are started or restarted to about 40,000 staff who
have moved schools or were not paid during the holidays,
Radio New Zealand reported.
However, the number of errors each pay day are declining,
Ministry workforce group manager Rebecca Elvey said.
"The trend has absolutely been heading in the right direction
but I would also stress that there are two pays coming up,
both of which include new staff starting at new schools, so
both of those I suspect won't be consistent with the trend.
So I suspect there will be underpayments in those payments,"
she told Radio New Zealand.
Schools had until yesterday afternoon to enter their details
to be included in next week's pay.
Principals' Federation president Philip Harding said he was
aware of staff from several schools having problems using the
system and he was not confident there would be fewer problems
with Novopay this year.
"We cannot have another year such as the last few months have
provided schools. We need the Auditor General to help us," he
told Radio New Zealand.
The Ministry will this year commission an independent review
of the payroll system.
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