Payroll Update 20 October 2021
20 October 2021
Kia ora koutou
In this payroll update:
- End of Year opens today in EdPay
- Novopay Online unavailable from today – use EdPay
- EdPay unavailable over long weekend due to system maintenance
- Fortnightly pay cycle timings
- Tell us who to contact in case of payroll emergency
- How to make authorised user changes or sign someone up for EdPay
- Our forms page has been rejigged
End of Year opens today in EdPay
End of Year screens opened today in EdPay. End of Year is an annual payroll process that ensures all employees are paid correctly over the term 4 holidays.
There are just four questions:
- What are your school's start and end dates for 2021 and 2022?
- Which employees' jobs are ending (terminating) in term 4 in 2021?
- Which continuing employees will have a last day for 2021 that is different to your school's term 4 end date?
- Have you booked annual leave for your 52-week workers?
Schools must have submitted this information by
5pm on 22 November 2021, but you can start any time from today.
Note: you cannot change your school's term 4 2021 end date after End of Year screens close on 22 November 2021. Please make sure that your term 4 2021 end date is correct before the End of Year screens close.
Novopay Online unavailable from today – use EdPay
Novopay Online (NOL) was switched off this morning, following the successful development and implementation of the EdPay portal. EdPay was first trialled with test or beta schools in March 2019, before being made available to all schools in October 2019. Education Payroll has been progressively retiring forms and adding new features to EdPay, working with beta or test schools who provide feedback, which allows adjustments to be made before rolling it out to all schools. We will be continuing to refine and improve EdPay and introduce new features, prioritising those that schools want first, with a focus on delivering continuous improvements to you.
EdPay unavailable over long weekend due to system maintenance
We have to update our wider systems as part of the NOL switch off and the transition to EdPay. To limit inconvenience to schools we are doing this over Labour Weekend. EdPay will be unavailable from 6pm Friday 22 October until 6pm Monday 25 October. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Fortnightly pay cycle timings
As we develop EdPay, an increasing number of EdPay transactions are being processed immediately. Those still needing to be processed by your payroll advisor will show as submitted in the activity history. They follow the same process as Novo forms, including cut-off times/dates. The calendar below shows the amended fortnightly pay cycle times (this is also available on the Novopay website).
Tell us who to contact in case of payroll emergency
Sometimes we need to contact your school and we cannot get a response via the existing contact details (especially when schools are closed due to lockdowns or the term 4 break). We need the name, phone number and email address of your school's designated authorised user. If you've already told us as part of the recent End of Year / Start of Year survey, you don't need to do anything. Otherwise let us know the right contact by emailing support@novopay.govt.nz with 'Emergency contact' in the subject line.
How to make authorised user changes or sign someone up for EdPay
Authorised users’ additions, cancellations and changes need to be formally notified by the school. We cannot change details if a schools sends us an email asking us to add someone, remove someone, or change someone's details. Changes are only done via EdPay forms 5 or 5c – linked below:
If you have an administrator who does not have access to EdPay and needs it, submit an EdPay5. If they need access to timesheets and leave only, select the ‘timesheet and leave administrator’ online access type. You can find an EdPay5 on the forms page [Novopay website]
Our forms page has been rejigged
Alongside a bit of a facelift for the Novopay website, we've reorganised the forms page of the Novopay website into three sections, so it's clearer about what can be done where, and things can be found more easily:
1. Tasks that should be completed in EdPay
2. Tasks that need a form
3. Back-up smart forms – use only if EdPay is unavailable.
Ngā mihi
Education Payroll