Boards of trustees' payroll responsibilities

A board of trustees employs the staff at its school. As the employer, a board is responsible for managing its school by:

• delegating day-to-day management to the principal
• making sure employees receive their correct pay
• making sure the school practises good record-keeping.

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Board delegates day-to-day management of school

It is a board's responsibility to make sure it has processes in place for tasks it delegates, and that the principal (and other delegated staff) do these tasks in a timely way.

Board delegates to principal

Part of the delegated day-to-day management of the school is doing the pay and sending payroll instructions to pay centres. Two methods to do this are by using:

• email (by becoming an authorised email user)
• i-paydata.

Board authorisation is necessary when principals sign up to use each method. It ensures the board:

• knows who is using these methods to change pay
• has suitable processes set up to control the validity of and access to information.

Principal delegates to other staff

Day-to-day management includes some payroll tasks which the principal may delegate to staff at the school who look after the pay.

Ministry template: schedule of delegations
Information for new school trustees
Delegations under the Education Act 1989

Making sure employees receive their correct pay

A board is responsible for making sure its employees receive their correct pay. Board members do this by making sure they, their principal and payroll staff:

• use the Ministry of Education's employment agreements
• use payroll forms for pay instructions
• know their legal responsibilities when completing payroll forms
• check payroll reports immediately
• get employment advice from New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA).

Making sure your school practises good record-keeping

A board is responsible for making sure it keeps good employment and payroll records. Board members do this by:

• putting good record-keeping processes in place
• making sure their principal and payroll staff know the law about keeping these records.