Photo: RNZ/Jimmy Ellingham
- Non-permanent staff particularly hard hit
- Massey says problems down to timesheet errors, although staff say not in all cases
- One staff member who wasn't paid couldn't pay his rent.
Staff across Massey University's three campuses are reporting problems with the university's new payroll system, which has left them out of pocket, frustrated and in some cases unable to pay bills and rent.
The university introduced a new system two months ago, although RNZ has also spoken to staff who say they've had problems dating back further, particularly for people on a mixture of contracts, or who aren't full-time permanent.
Massey, which has campuses in Palmerston North, Wellington and Auckland's North Shore, has acknowledged "pay disruptions" under the new system and says minimising this is its top priority.
It says they're largely down to invalid entry codes on timesheets, something the staff spoken to by RNZ dispute.
One permanent part-time staff member, who requested anonymity to protect his employment, said last month he initially wasn't paid at all on pay day, and then when he received his money it wasn't the correct amount.
"That meant that all of my automatic payments and bills set to come out on my pay day were defaulted.
"I had to call my landlord and say I couldn't pay the rent this week."
The man had to show his landlord proof of this, something he said was "humiliating". The man has a PhD and said living from pay day to pay day was degrading, but something he and others did because of their passion for their jobs.
He said he was frustrated the university relied on what he described as "fragmented fixed-term labour", and payroll problems were hitting those staff hard when they could least afford to lose income.
"The public still seems to have the idea that working in a uni is some cushy job where we all have tenure and sit around doing desktop studies into something irrelevant.
"The truth is the majority of frontline teaching work is done by tutors surviving year to year on a mishmash of fixed-term and casual contracts, with no security and no progression, and one paycheque away from disaster."
Another part-time permanent employee said among problems they'd encountered was being paid at the wrong rate for recent public holidays, while another employee on a mixture of contracts wasn't paid at all for those days.
She said that left her worried about paying bills, and feeling humiliated.
Massey responds
In a statement, a Massey spokesperson said it introduced a new system called MyWorkspace in March that brought human resources functions such as payroll together.
It said the majority of its 2832 employees in March, including casual staff, were paid on time. A "small percentage" - about 3 percent - of its employees who used timesheets "experienced a pay disruption of some kind". It typically had about 200-450 casual workers.
"Pay disruptions that occurred during the first two main pays were largely associated with the selection of invalid entry type codes on timesheets submissions," the Massey spokesperson said.
"By the fourth main pay run, only seven casual employees encountered timesheet-related issues, which is notably fewer than a routine pay week in the old system. All seven were contacted immediately and asked to resubmit their timesheets, with some able to do so in time for inclusion in the usual pay run."
The staff RNZ has spoken too though say timesheets weren't at the root of their problems.
The Massey spokesperson said minimising pay disruptions was the university's highest priority and, following best practice, it introduced extra pay runs when the new system was launched so discrepancies could quickly resolve.
"Our casual employees who needed to resubmit timesheets were paid as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the next pay cycle".
The spokesperson said Massey's pay system was large and complex, with some people employed under several arrangements.
Tertiary Education Union Massey organiser Ben Schmidt said union members had been in touch to report problems and it was working to understand the scale.
Those affected were deeply distressed, especially the "precarious workers" who didn't have permanent positions. The situation was unacceptable, he said.
"It's the employer's obligation to ensure that workers are paid in full and on time for their work. It should not be on employees to have to ensure they are simply being paid for the work they have performed at the agreed rate."
