Payroll glitches investigated

The Ministry of Education is pumping $15.6 million into sorting out payroll glitches that have left some school staff short-changed on holiday pay.

Ministry head of education infrastructure Kim Shannon said an ‘‘in-depth’’ investigation was being carried out to ensure the underpayments didn’t occur in the future.

‘‘Our initial analysis suggests it could take two years to understand and address the issues,’’ she said. ‘‘This is due to the size, scale and complexity of the schools’ payroll... responsible for paying on average 93,000 staff at 2500 schools each fortnight, which at times requires processing over 100,000 transactions.’’

In 2015, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment issued warnings that workers across New Zealand were likely being underpaid holiday pay, after a wide range of organisations were found to have misapplied rules in the Holidays Act 2003. Underpayments could go back years, and range from $70 to $1800 per worker.

There was good reason to think ‘‘some school employees may not have received their correct pay’’ after initial investigations, Education Minister Nikki Kaye confirmed.

The $15.6m set aside in this year’s Budget would allow the ministry to find the glitches and fix them, but would not cover the cost of repayments. ‘‘Given the number of employees in the education sector... over 100,000, it’s important to work through this issue thoroughly and give it appropriate resources,’’ Kaye said.

However, Manawatu Principals’ Association president Wayne Jenkins said the ministry should guarantee that it would cover all underpayments.

Some teachers had their salaries paid by the ministry, but some schools paid additional teachers from their own funds. ‘‘This could present issues for schools if there is found to be an error,’’ Jenkins said.

All payments are made through the ministry’s Novopay system. ‘‘I would expect the ministry would reimburse and support schools in this as it was beyond their control. It is important that this issue be resolved and addressed so staff have continued trust and confidence in their payroll system.’’