Privacy statement

Purpose

Maintaining the privacy of personal information Education Payroll manages and holds is critical to maintaining the trust and confidence of:

• schools’ employees 
• the Ministry of Education, on whose behalf we manage the payroll payments and information,
• and the public.  

The purpose of this privacy statement is to inform users of Education Payroll services, and school staff, how we collect personal information, how we manage it, and what we do with it.

Collection of personal information

Education Payroll manages personal information from schools to manage the payroll records and payments of school employees across the New Zealand State integrated schooling sector.

What information do we collect?

Education Payroll collects the following types of information about school staff:

• personal information
• contact details
• banking information
• employment/Job information
• payment information
• tax/superannuation/deduction information
• records of phone calls

How do we use personal information?

We use personal information we collect from schools for the primary purpose of processing accurate payroll and payroll related services. 

Personal information collected by Education Payroll is used by the Ministry of Education for: 

• reporting  
• education workforce related research and statistics 

How do we collect your personal information?

Personal information is collected in the following ways: 

• electronically submitted through Novopay Service Desk Application (NSDA) 
• in hard copy forms 
• through EdPay (a digital channel for schools to directly enter and manage payroll instructions) 
• from a telephone call recording 

EdPay uses cookies to manage session information and to collect standard internet log and user behaviour information.

Recording of telephone calls

As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service to our customers, we record all inbound and outbound telephone calls.  

We record calls: 

• for staff training purposes, helping us to improve the quality of our customer service and to ensure the information that we receive and provide is consistent and accurate for reporting on the number and types of enquiries we receive. 
• to find/investigate ways to simplify our service to you. 
• to ensure we have an accurate record of your call, which may be needed to support any transactions or conversations that take place over the phone and/or if there is a dispute. 

Sharing of your personal information

Education Payroll will only share your personal information where it is required or authorised to do so by law. Education Payroll will only share personal information that is necessary for the purpose for which it is being shared, and where possible, will share only aggregated and non-identifiable information. 

There will be times when Education Payroll is required to share your personal information with third parties, such as authorised users (school principals and administrators), Inland Revenue, Ministry of Justice, ACC, and nominated financial institutions for the payment of salaries and other payroll-related payments. Personal information may be shared with these parties for the purposes of tax and superannuation, benefit payments, union membership payments, employment checks, and system administration.  

Education Payroll manages the education sector payroll on behalf of the Ministry of Education. Education Payroll is required to provide personal information to the Ministry of Education which it uses for reporting, and education workforce related research and statistics.  The Ministry of Education may also share the information where legally required to do so by law.

Education Payroll engages with third parties to assist with: 

• protecting the operation of the Education Payroll systems and networks, including the use of monitoring and detection tools to assist with identifying potential threats such as hacking and virus dissemination, and other security vulnerabilities. 
• hosting or maintaining data centres, service platforms, and other infrastructure and systems to process and store your personal information on our behalf. 

How will we keep your personal information safe?

Education Payroll is committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorised access, use, or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure your information. 

How long will we keep your personal information?

Education Payroll holds personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, the Ministry of Education’s Data Retention and Disposal requirements, and the Public Records Act 2005. 

Your rights under the Privacy Act 2020

Under the Privacy Act 2020, you have the right to access and to request correction of your personal information provided to Education Payroll. Education Payroll may require proof of your identity before being able to provide you with any personal information. 

Please contact your school administrator if you would like to inquire, view, or correct your personal information we hold.

If you’re not satisfied with our response to any privacy-related concern you may have, you can contact our Privacy Officer or the Privacy Commissioner: 

Updates of Education Payroll practices

We reserve the right to change this policy. Your continued use of Education Payroll’s services means you will be bound by the amended policy. We will communicate changes to this policy via our regular newsletter to school payroll administrators.

Updated December 2022