Dear Representative,
NISTR Payroll Update
I am writing to provide an update on NISTR payments in light of the recent concerns expressed by colleagues and users on the payroll process.
Salary payments to 4,222 teachers have been processed to reach accounts on 18 October in respect of temporary NISTR engagement during the month of September. A further 727 teachers will receive payment for NISTR days alongside their contracted salary at the end of the month.
On analysis of the payroll data, it is estimated that approximately 300 teachers will not receive salary for some of their completed bookings on 18 October for one of four main reasons linked to compliance with basic audit requirements or the absence of critical information:
- Schools had not signed-off the booking providing the employer approval to pay salary;
- The teacher had not provided payroll with bank details;
- The teacher is not live on the NISTR system; and
- Some teachers were in contract until end of August and already in receipt of salary creating a duplicate payment issue.
We have sent targeted communications to all users whose pay is impacted by the reasons outlined.
Unfortunately, an administrative issue came to light late on 17th October which has impacted approximately 224 teachers, who may not receive all of salary owed today. We have sincerely apologised for this inconvenience and acknowledge the concern this has caused to affected users.
I wish to offer reassurance that EA will provide an interim payment to teachers impacted by this processing error, which they will receive by Tuesday 25th October. All impacted teachers have now been notified of their revised payment date. We have focused resources on improving processing of payroll information and can guarantee that measures will be put in place that will prevent this error from occurring again in future.
The interim payments to this group only are being urgently processed taking account of the fact the bookings were approved by the school employer and would have been paid under normal circumstances. Where a teacher has been unpaid for another reason, e.g. where a school has not signed-off a booking, it would not be appropriate to process similar payments as this would not comply with basic audit requirements as necessary information to process salary has not been provided.
If additional information is required, we encourage users to view our extensive support resources available on the NISTR website including FAQs, Quick Reference Guides and Training Videos. For further support, users can contact the NISTR Helpdesk on 028 9056 6256. Phonelines are open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.
We are grateful for your ongoing support.
Regards,
Frances Meehan,
EdIS Programme Director