It is about time that the Government considered cancelling
the contract they have with Novapay. I obviously do not know the contents of
the existing contract signed by the Ministry and OK’d by Labour (is that
correct?). The constant reports of stuffups, underpayment, non-payment and over
payment beggars the mind. I suspect that a great deal of energy is put into retrieving
those overpayments but not enough into fixing the problems that cause these
events.
Our hard-working principals and key support staff have had their
much needed holidays interrupted as they have had to return to school to sort
out the mistakes for their staff. The staff affected are in a position of
dreading their pay days; wondering what has been done to their accounts by the
Novapay system.
Is it not time to look at alternatives to Novapay? I am
assuming that the move was made as a money saving measure. How much research
was done in regard to how effective this organization is? I have heard anecdotal
reports that the same company has a bad name in Australia; unconfirmed of
course. Do the media have to do the work for the Ministry; because we are hearing
little from the Government and Ministry? What gets me is that Minister Parata
has had little to say on the matter, especially since Parliament went on
holiday.
The bottom line is that Novapay is causing a great deal of
angst for many teachers, support staff and principals. The whole debacle has
reached the point where the Government must consider returning to the system
that Novapay replaced. I know that it is possibly very naive of me to suggest
such a solution given the reality of ‘contracts and law,’ but surely signing a
document has ‘safeguards’ that recognise a course of actions for when things go
terribly wrong. How much time and how many more people need to be forced through
the ‘mill of Novapay’s incompetence before some action is taken?
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