Steady progress in transition of payroll service

Issue: Volume 93, Number 17

Posted: 22 September 2014
Reference #: 1H9cse

Cathy Magiannis, deputy secretary, education payroll services, provides an update on the work being done ahead of the transfer of the schools’ payroll service to a government-owned company.

“I’m pleased to report that good and steady progress is being made in the transition of the schools’ payroll service to a government-owned company.

The period leading up to the transfer of the service from Talent2 to the new company on October 17 is a critical one where many of the formal and legal requirements need to be completed.

I am very pleased to be able to confirm that the new company has been incorporated and named as Education Payroll Limited and the directors have been appointed. They are: Dame Patsy Reddy (chair), Murray Jack, and Peter Hughes.

All three were chosen for their expertise across a range of areas, including business acquisition and transfer, large IT system delivery and improvement, and public sector experience.

Another very important part of the transfer process has been progressed: offer packs have now been distributed to Talent2 staff currently working on various aspects of the education payroll. As was confirmed when the transfer plans were unveiled in late July, all Talent2 staff will be given the opportunity to take on roles with the new company. This not only minimises any potential disruption for everyone involved but also ensures the company retains people with school payroll expertise.

I am very encouraged by the great work being done by everyone involved in the transition to ensure we achieve everything we need to by October 17 when the government-owned company takes over. We are one step closer to creating a platform for continuous improvement of the schools’ payroll.

Finally, we are continuing to work hard on ensuring the forthcoming End-of-Year/Start-of-Year process runs as smoothly as possible. Bookings for the 2014/2015 EoY/SoY Overview webinar have opened and training runs from 29 September – 17 October.

We have made some significant improvements to the process this time around thanks to the invaluable feedback we’ve received from payroll administrators at your schools. Those improvements will be highlighted during the programme of training sessions on offer and will hopefully make the 2014/15 experience much easier for all involved.”

Warm regards,
Cathy

Directors

Dame Patsy Reddy of Wellington is a professional director and consultant. Over the past 25 years, she has had experience as a non-executive director of a range of New Zealand companies, in both the public and private sectors. She is currently chair of the New Zealand Film Commission, deputy chair of New Zealand Transport Agency, a non-executive director of Payments New Zealand Ltd and chief crown negotiator for treaty settlements in the Bay of Plenty region. Her previous roles include non-executive directorships of New Zealand Post, Air New Zealand, Telecom, Sky City Entertainment, and Southern Petroleum. She has been a member of the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal and a partner in law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts. Dame Patsy has also been a lecturer in the Law Faculty at Victoria University of Wellington and a trustee of numerous not-for-profit arts and educational organisations. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Murray Jack is currently chairman of Deloitte New Zealand, having previously been Chief Executive from 2005 to 2011. After graduating from Victoria University in 1976, he joined Deloitte’s Wellington Audit practice and later spent two years with Deloitte in London. Murray helped start Deloitte’s consulting practice in the mid-80s, becoming its managing partner in 1990. In 1994, he moved to Singapore to start Deloitte’s ASEAN consulting practice and later led its Asia Pacific Public Sector industry practice and ultimately the Asia Pacific Consulting practice. Murray has over 25 years of experience consulting to some of New Zealand’s largest corporates and government agencies and has worked extensively across Asia. He has served on advisory boards and Ministerial committees, and recently co-led the Ministerial Inquiry into Novopay. Murray has been a director of NZICA since 2009, is chairman-designate of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and is a member of the board of the Financial Markets Authority. He is also a member of the ANZ Leadership Forum policy group and a member of the board of the NZ Initiative, New Zealand’s leading think tank.

Peter Hughes started at the Ministry of Education in February 2013. He has had a career of more than 30 years across the state sector, and he returned to the public service to take up the job of secretary for education.

Peter describes his job as the best job in the country. He says he can’t think of another role like this where you get to spend the entire working day helping kids to be the very best they can be in their lives. Education transformed Peter’s life and he believes it has the power to transform the lives of others, too. He started out as a clerk at the Department of Social Welfare and his roles have included providing policy advice, working in the field, and senior executive management. Peter was chief executive at the Ministry of Social Development for 10 years, and before that was secretary for Internal Affairs, chief executive of the Health Funding Authority and deputy director-general of Health. Peter was named Government Department CEO of the year by TransTasman Magazine in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the state and in 2013 was voted Wellingtonian of the Year in the government category.

BY Cathy Magiannis
Ministry of Education,

Posted: 9:41 am, 22 September 2014

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