The Department has advised all affected teachers of further delays to the rollout of the SAP HR/Payroll system. There were some significant issues with Release 3 at the end of July, including some teachers missing out on vacation pay, so the final release is now scheduled for 8 November.
Some members contacted the Federation when, during the vacation period, their pay was suddenly, and inexplicably reduced. The Department’s initial response was to assure teachers that they had not lost any entitlements, and that they would receive the remaining vacation pay at the end of the summer vacation period. Federation immediately intervened and the problem has now been rectified. All teachers should now have been paid any outstanding money.
The Department has decided to further delay the final rollout to ensure teachers in the final group are not similarly disadvantaged. This delay has not been caused by Federation. It has been caused by the Department’s inadequate anticipation of the resourcing required for the roll out.
Any teacher who has leave plans based on the earlier rollout, concerned that they may be disadvantaged by the delay, is reminded that they can make amendments to their leave application. For maternity leave in particular, the current provisions will continue to apply until 8 November. Members should review each version of Federation’s advice leaflet, L5 Maternity, Adoption and Parental Leave, to ensure they are making the best decisions for their leave on either side of the rollout date. Members are reminded that until the rollout:
- a teacher on half-pay maternity leave receives full pay over the vacation period. This does, in effect, equate to some extension of the paid leave
- half-pay maternity leave accrues full vacation entitlement. This means that while the delays will have slightly shortened the amount of paid maternity leave a teacher on half-pay thought she was going to get, it is likely to have proportionately increased the vacation pay to which she is entitled.
Teachers who are on leave on 8 November will have the new conditions apply from that time. Any advice that teachers are receiving that their entire leave will be calculated and applied under the current system is incorrect. On the day the rollover occurs, teachers’ existing balances and entitlements are recalculated and the new provisions will apply immediately. For more information, see Federation’s information leaflets and industrial bulletins in the members’ area of the website.
Anna Uren Research/Industrial Officer