Hon Steven Joyce
Minister Responsible for Novopay
11 February 2014 Media Statement
Update on Novopay start of year process
Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the reports on complaints and notifications received in
regards to Pay Period 22 and 23 of the schools’ payroll.
Pay Period 22, which was paid on the morning of 22 January, paid 60,638 people a total of $140.26 million. The report
for that pay shows complaints and notifications were received regarding 0.18 per cent of staff across the country, 13
staff were notified as not paid, 60 were overpaid, and 34 underpaid. Affected staff were from 68 schools or 2.77 per
cent of schools in the payroll system.
Pay Period 23 paid 74,578 people a total of $146.87 million on the morning of 5 February. The complaints report for that
payday shows that complaints and notifications were received regarding 0.69 per cent of staff across the country, 234
staff were notified as not paid, 107 were overpaid, and 175 underpaid. Affected staff were from 268 schools or 11.07 per
cent of schools in the payroll system.
“The performance of Pay Period 23 was not as good as we’ve recently been experiencing. The result has us slightly above
the 0.5 per cent acceptable steady state error level as defined by the Novopay technical review last year. This is the
first time we have been above that level since the beginning of April last year (21 pay periods ago),” Mr Joyce says.
“Early indications are that there was no particular software error that caused the non-payments. It appears at this
stage to be due to a range of data entry errors.
“The Pay Period 23 result underlines the high level of complexity of the education payroll end of year/start of year
processes in which considerable administrative changes need to be made. The New Zealand education payroll is the most
complex in New Zealand and more work remains to be done to simplify the business processes to ensure it runs as smoothly
as possible each year. This work and completing outstanding work on leave balances are the early priorities this year.
“The 234 staff notified as not paid, have either been paid or are in the process of being paid. We apologise to those
who have been inconvenienced. If a school staff member needs further assistance, they should contact the Education
Ministry as soon as possible.”
Percentage of staff about which complaints and notifications receivedNumber of Schools affectedPay Period 230.69%*268Pay Period 220.18%68Pay Period 210.25%92Pay Period 200.34%166Pay Period 190.19%111Pay Period 180.079%62Pay Period 170.093%68Pay Period 160.084%58Pay Period 150.21%118Pay Period 140.18%133Pay Period 130.15%108Pay Period 120.12%109Pay Period 110.21%151Pay Period 100.27%173Pay Period 90.12%76Pay Period 80.22%156Pay Period 70.26%177Pay Period 60.30%197Pay Period 50.39%234Pay Period 40.42%247Pay Period 30.26%166Pay Period 20.44%264Pay Period 12.14%^386Pay Period 260.43%232Pay Period 251%406Pay Period 241.90%447Pay Period 232.20%**628
^ This was higher due to the one-off voluntary bonding error
* Start of school year pay 2014
** Start of school year pay 2013
ENDS