20 February 2014
Novopay bugs continue to dog pay system
The Novopay system continues to fail hardworking school support staff, teachers and principals, NZEI National Secretary
Paul Goulter said today.
The year’s second pay cycle this week left 350 principals underpaid a career step allowance along with reports of
multiple other under-payments and errors.
The year’s first pay cycle earlier this month had a considerably higher error rate than pay cycles last year, which
Minister Steven Joyce blamed on data entry errors and the complexity of the school payroll.
However, this week’s principal payment error clearly lies with Novopay and its software systems.
Mr Goulter says the school payroll is no more complex this year than last year.
“The fact is that Novopay is not delivering and causing huge stress especially for school support staff who act as
payroll officers.
“No matter how much the Minister promotes self-service on-line and a help desk, the system itself is so flawed that it
is causing unprecedented problems, stress, time and money.
“The Ministry of Education cannot be seen as a good employer if this situation continues. The school workforce has been
patient for more than a year, but that patience is fast running out.”
ENDS