Payroll update 22 January 2025
Kia ora koutou
Ngā mihi o te tau hou pākeha ki a koutou katoa. Happy new year to you all. We hope you had a peaceful time over the break and that, like us, you’re getting ready for a great start to the new year.
Start of Year
Key dates
Reminder about annualisation for term-time-only support staff
Annualisation doesn’t roll over each year. You need to submit a new EP23nt for all term-time only support staff who want their pay annualised (ie, equal fortnightly payments spread over 52 weeks).
You can access the 2025 Annualisation form EP23nt on the EdPay and forms page (EdPay.govt.nz).
Even if you are familiar with the process, the information on the screen will make it easier to complete the form and to get all the details right first time.
Restarting employees - your restart job counter should be zero
Please check that you have restarted all your term-time-only employees and fixed-term teachers for the 2025 school year. In the Start of Year Restart job tab, click the Add employee to be restarted box to see which employees still have jobs to be restarted.
The job counter at the bottom of your screen needs to be at zero.
Start dates - Term-time-only (TTO) employees
TTO employees don’t always start on the same day the school opens. To avoid people being overpaid for days they didn’t work, please make sure you enter their start dates correctly.
Start dates - Returning fixed-term teachers
A returning fixed-term teacher’s start date will always be 28 January, no matter what date the school opens for instruction.
If a fixed-term teacher is starting after your school's start date, please see page 6 of the Start of Year Guide to see whether leave should be booked.
Annualisation amount in pay period 23
The 2024 annualisation period ends in the middle of pay period 23 and annualised employees will be paid:
- a portion of their 2024 earnings (22 January 2025 to 30 January 2025), and
- a portion of their 2025 earnings (31 January 2025 to 4 February 2025).
This means their pay may be slightly different from both their 2024 amount and their 2025 amount, but it is correct. From pay period 24 they will receive their 2025 annualisation agreement amount.
Reminder: Annualisation top up for returning employees is paid in pay period 24.
Dedicated payroll advisors
Another good reminder for the start of the new year is that each school/kura has a dedicated payroll advisor at Education Payroll. They are familiar with your school’s payroll and can answer your questions, provide advice, and help you complete payroll procedures. If you call us and your payroll advisor is unavailable, your call will automatically be forwarded to another person on their team. If you are unsure who your school’s dedicated payroll advisor is, please ask us when you next call.
Timesheet and leave (TAL) defect resolved
We have resolved a defect in EdPay where Timesheet and Leave (TAL) administrators couldn’t:
- submit relievers’ timesheets, or
- see the buttons to select if the reliever also had a part-time role.
If your school gave TAL administrators temporary school-wide access to EdPay, please change them back to TAL-access-only. You will need to complete an EP5 form and email it to support@novopay.govt.nz.
2024 audit reports
2024 audit reports will be available from 7 February 2025. You will need to download these reports to complete your school’s 2024 financial statements.
Key dates
Your school’s financial statements need to be with auditors by 31 March 2025 and your school’s annual reports need to be submitted to the Ministry by 31 May 2025.
If you need more information or help
Second increase to the Leadership in Literacy and Numeracy rate – Primary Principals’ (NZEI) Collective Agreement
The Primary Principals' (NZEI) Collective Agreement (PPCA) 2023 – 2025 includes a two-step increase to the Leadership in Literacy and Numeracy base payment rate. The first increase was in July last year. We will implement the second increase from 28 January 2025, which will raise the annual rate from $4,000 to $8,000.
Provisional salary for principals, MITA and PBITA
In September each year the Ministry of Education notifies schools of their provisional roll, staffing and funding entitlements for the following year. Education Payroll uses this provisional information to update:
- pay for principals, and
- the Māori Immersion Teacher Allowance (MITA) and Pacific Bilingual Immersion Teaching Allowance (MITA) for eligible schools.
In March the Ministry uses your school’s actual roll on 1 March to confirm your roll for the year. Once your roll data is confirmed Education Payroll updates the payroll data. We will remind you again later in the year when the roll data is confirmed.
If you have any questions about anything in this update, please contact your dedicated payroll advisor.
Ngā mihi
Education Payroll