Government Novopay buy-out too late and schools still paying
30/7/2014
NZEI Te Riu Roa says that while the Government buy-out of Novopay from Talent2 is a welcome decision, it should have
been made at least a year ago.
“Government has dragged its feet for two years while the problems with Novopay wreaked havoc in our schools. The sector
has known for all that time that fundamental change needed to occur to deliver a functioning pay system,” said Paul
Goulter, National Secretary of NZEI Te Riu Roa.
“While Government has negotiated a compensation package with Talent2, the issue of compensation for schools struggling
on the front line of this debacle remains unresolved. Our schools and the staff directly affected continue to pay the
price.”
“Questions also remain about the longer term plan for paying school staff. Our schools need the certainty that payroll
is going to be effectively managed within the Ministry of Education and not flicked back out to the private sector.”
Paul Goulter said that schools would be greatly concerned if this was another short-term fix, and that the Ministry
needed to rebuild confidence that it could deliver an accurate and efficient pay roll system.