Payroll Update 3 December 2021
Kia ora koutou
In this payroll update:
- Start of Year opens on Wednesday 8 December
- Start of Year dates for 2022
- Step-by-step process for Start of Year
- Check your EdPay access
- Tell us who to contact in case of payroll emergency
- Start of Year 2022 training video
- No Start of Year complete button
- Annualisation form NOVO23nt ready now
- Salary assessment for 2022
- Timesheet only employees and public holidays
- Temporary extended phone hours
- We're here to help
Start of Year opens on Wednesday 8 December
Start of Year (SoY) is an annual payroll process that ensures all employees are paid correctly for the start of the new school year.
It can seem complicated, but really there are just five questions:
- Are your school’s term dates correct for 2022?
- Do you need to restart any term-time-only auto-paid non-teachers or fixed-term teachers?
- Do you need to make any changes to your existing teacher and non-teachers' pay details, such as employment status, hours, allowances, funding source, leave or annualisation?
- Do you have new staff in 2022?
- Do you need to terminate any roles?
Schools must have submitted this information by 5pm on 25 February 2022, but you can start any time from Wednesday 8 December (the earliest possible open date for Start of Year due to the Term 4 holiday pay processes).
Start of Year dates for 2022
- 8 December – Start of Year screens open in EdPay
- 31 January – last day to submit NOVO23NT (annualisation) forms
- 2 February – last day to restart employees starting in pay period 23 in the SoY screen
- 25 February – Start of Year screens close at 5pm
Download a printable EoY/SoY key dates flyer for 2021/22 (PDF, 581KB).
Step-by-step process for Start of Year
We've prepared some guidance to help you do SoY in EdPay.
All SoY information is now available at www.novopay.govt.nz.
Here's the simple how-to Start of Year step-by-step process (Novopay website)
You can also download a printable Start of Year Guide 2022 (PDF, 1.63 MB)
Please use the Start of Year actions tool to decide whether to make your start of year changes in EdPay or by NOVO forms.
Check your EdPay access
The SoY process is done in a special screen in EdPay. As all EdPay passwords expire every 60 days, yours may need resetting. Your payroll advisor can help with this.
If any authorised users are leaving at the end of the year, you'll need to fill out an EdPay5C to have their access revoked. If you have any new authorised users starting, they'll need to be set up to get access to EdPay using and EdPay5 form. The forms are on the EdPay and forms page [Novopay website]
From time to time we receive email requests to add people to or remove people from the authorised user list, however this can only be done using and EdPay5 or EdPay5c.
Tell us who to contact in case of payroll emergency
Sometimes we need to contact your school and we cannot get a response using 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, you don't need to do anything. Otherwise let us know the right contact by email to support@novopay.govt.nz with 'Emergency contact' in the subject line.
Start of Year 2022 training video
An instructional video is available to guide you through the SoY process in EdPay. The 5 minute long video, which opens in Vimeo, is available on the Novopay website or by clicking here.
No Start of Year complete button
As with End of Year, there is not a ‘SoY complete’ button, as all information updates in real time. We will close Start of Year for all schools on 25 February at 5pm, so please ensure that any changes you need to make (school term dates, restarting employees, or hours changes) have been made before this, as they won’t be able to be changed in the Start of Year screen after this point.
Annualisation form NOVO23nt ready now
Make sure all of your school authorised users (school administrators and school business managers) who are annualised have their new annualisation form for 2022 submitted before the end of the Term 4. The 2022 NOVO23nt is available now on the EdPay and forms page of the Novopay website. You need to complete this form for yourself (and have it approved by your principal) soon, as without it you may lose access to EdPay at the end of January.
Salary assessment for 2022
Please submit any salary assessments for new or returning teachers as soon as possible
- Salary assessment can be done even if your employee does not yet have a Ministry of Education number, or IRD or NZ bank account number.
- Assessment is necessary to determine the correct salary entitlement of your teaching staff. Submitting an assessment request early avoids new or returning teachers being placed on the untrained and unqualified entry grade and step when they start.
- Salary assessment may require several supporting documents, so it's good to allow plenty of time to gather them all. Please visit the salary assessment page on the Novopay website or check the application form for more information on all salary assessment requirements.
Timesheet only employees and public holidays
Timesheet only employees who are eligible for public holidays (Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day and New Years holiday) will be paid these in pay period 20, based on their timesheets paid in Pay Period 18 and Pay Period 19. This is the only time we automatically pay public holidays to these employees.
Temporary extended phone hours
On Thursday 9 (draft SUE), Monday 13 (second draft SUE including termination pay) and Wednesday 15 December our phones will be open from 8.30am to 5pm to support you over this busy period. Termination pay will show on Monday 13 December, so please check your SUE report.
We're here to help
There are help resources on the training page of the Novopay website. We know Start of Year can be confusing, but we're here to help. If you're struggling, contact your payroll advisor early. We will help you get things sorted.
Ngā mihi
Education Payroll