MoE's new pay system still unacceptably flawed

17 October 2012
Immediate Release

Ministry of Education’s new pay system still unacceptably flawed

Systemic failures in the Ministry of Education’s new 26-million dollar pay system are still placing an unacceptably high level of stress on school principals and staff around the country.

NZEI Te Riu Roa National Secretary Paul Goulter says the new system has been in place for eight weeks and there are still far too many unresolved problems.

“Quite frankly, this is well beyond a joke. It has been an ongoing source of stress, particularly for administration staff and principals, for two months now and has been costing schools in both time and money,” he says.

“We’ve counted around 36 different systemic issues. We’re talking about things like teachers on fixed term contracts not getting holiday pay, relief teachers getting taxed for mileage, problems with maternity pay and so on.

“These are very basic payroll issues that seem to have somehow been misunderstood by the Ministry of Education contractors.”

“It’s become a fiasco and the Ministry needs to stop being defensive, admit that the situation is unacceptable and then sort out the mess - and quickly.”

“We know that a number of schools will be seeking compensation for the cost of dealing with problems that should have been easily foreseen and dealt with by the Ministry.”

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