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How it affects you
If you were employed by us at any point between July 2010 and May 2023 and paid through the Ministry’s Wellington-based payroll system, your leave and final pay may not have been calculated and paid correctly.
We have paid more than 97% of the value owed to former staff and 84 residual unpaid amounts older than 6 years were transferred to Treasury as unclaimed money in February 2024. The remaining 25 amounts will be transferred to Treasury if they are unclaimed within 6 years of the date the person left the Ministry.
What you can do
Please contact us by using the contact us details on this web site. We will let you know if you were impacted and we still hold your payment. If you left MFAT more than 6 years ago you can also check the Treasury unclaimed money website.
Checking for a deceased person or someone you act for
To check if a deceased person’s estate or someone you act for is due a remediation payment, Please contact us with your details and those of the person you are acting for. We will need a copy of your authority to act before we provide information about any payment that may have been due.
Our work to comply
MFAT replaced its payroll system in May 2023 to achieve compliance for our current staff. We have contacted and paid most impacted former staff and residual unclaimed amounts over 6 years old were transferred to Treasury in February 2024. The remaining 25 payments owing will be transferred to Treasury if they are not claimed within 6 years of the date the person left the Ministry.
More information
Contact us using the details on this website if you would like to know if you were owed money and if the amount has been transferred to Treasury.
FAQs
We have updated update our FAQs as required. If you have any further questions please make contact using the contact information on this website.
What is the Holidays Act?
The Holidays Act 2003 sets out how payment for leave and final pays are to be calculated and paid. The Act came into effect in April 2004.
What was the issue?
Compliance issues with the Holidays Act were common in both the public and private sectors because many payroll systems were not aligned with the Act. Like many other organisations, the Ministry’s payroll system did not always calculate a person’s holiday pay correctly. We have fixed this by calculating and making remediation payments to anyone who has been incorrectly paid and by replacing our payroll system.
How far back did remediation payments go?
We were required to go back six years from the date of a claim or six years from the date the Ministry became aware of the Holidays Act issues. The Ministry became aware of potential issues in mid-2016. Therefore, calculations started from the beginning of the first pay period in July 2010. Other agencies with similar issues have also gone back six years.
Did all staff receive remediation payments?
About 80% of the staff that were employed by the Ministry and paid through the Wellington payroll system between July 2010 and May 2023 were due a remediation payment. Typically this affected staff who have received payments over and above their normal salary, such as allowances or benefits.
Was anyone overpaid?
Yes, however, in line with other government agencies and after consultation with Unions, the Ministry’s SLT has decided there would be no routine action to seek recovery of overpayments.
Were staff employed at post impacted?
Only staff that were paid through the Wellington payroll system were impacted. Staff employed at post were not affected because they were not paid through the Wellington payroll system and are not covered by New Zealand legislation.
Did the Ministry engage with Unions?
Yes, the Ministry engaged with Unions. As agreed in the Collective Agreement, the Ministry involves Unions in decision-making on matters affecting employees as much as practical, and acts in the spirit of partnership. We sought Unions’ views on the approach we took, and welcomed ongoing input to make sure we identified and resolved project challenges and issues along the way.
What has the Ministry done about issues with the system?
The Ministry became aware that there were issues with the Wellington payroll-system’s compliance in mid-2016, and since then have:
- Engaged with the Public Service Commission to receive guidance.
- Verified the issues in 2017.
- Established a project and project team to look into the issues and make recommendations to SLT about what we need to do to make the system compliant and how to manage any under or over payments.
- Sought legal and subject matter advice internally and externally.
- Engaged with other public sector departments with similar issues.
- Made remediation payments to all impacted current and most former staff members.
- Replaced the PSE payroll system with SAP Success Factors in May 2023.
How long did this project take?
The project made payments to affected current staff up to June 2019 and then transitioned work to the Payroll team to make ongoing payments until system compliance was achieved achieved in May 2023.
Does my payment take into account my previous employment with other Agencies?
Our remediation payments were for the time you worked at MFAT between July 2010 and May 2023 and were paid through our Wellington payroll system. You should contact any other agencies you worked for during this time to find out if they also had issues with Holiday Act compliance.
How was my remediation payment calculated?
In 2017 a process began to agree how we should compensate staff for any short payments under the Holidays Act. During this process we considered legal advice, the approach taken by other agencies and employers and we produced a set of detailed assumptions about how we would calculate the amount anyone may be owed. Once this was complete, we consulted with staff and Unions on the assumption document, had it externally reviewed and then agreed by the Senior Leadership Team.
A Calculation Model was created to calculate the amount payable for each individual based on the assumptions and historical payroll data. The Calculation Model was formally tested to ensure it calculated in accordance with the assumptions and it was subjected to an independent review from an external expert in the field.
As a result of this work we were able to determine the amounts individuals were owed for Holidays Act remediation payments.
Why was my remediation payment different to others?
Individual circumstances can result in different amounts owing for similar staff members because of differences in allowances, lump sum payments, reimbursements, grants, hours of work, when and how much leave has been taken, final pays, and the value of any Holidays Act adjustment payments already made.