SNAs are victims of payroll problems at Department of Education

More than 800 special needs assistants (SNAs) were paid at least five days late last week because of another payroll problem at the Department of Education.

The glitch meant substitute SNAs who were due to be paid last Thursday week did not receive their payments. Instead, the department had to make advances last week, with any outstanding amounts to be paid on March 12, a month after the error happened.

The mistake follows the issuing over the last fortnight of delayed salary increases, and two months’ arrears, to over 25,000 teachers and SNAs on the payroll. They were due to have received their increments in December, delayed by three months already as a condition of the 2013 Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) for public servants earning under €65,000. But software problems in the payroll system meant that SNAs and teachers were not paid their increases, and backpay of up to several hundred euro each, until February 12 or 19.

It is unclear if any of those affected by the latest delay for substitute SNA payments had already been affected by the increment delay. But the IMPACT union, which represents most of the country’s 10,500-plus SNAs, said it is not acceptable.

“They are paid a grade 3 rate, which isn’t a huge amount of money, and any interruption to that will cause severe hardship,” said IMPACT assistant general secretary Dessie Robinson.

For non-contract SNAs, hourly rates of €12.50 to €20.13 are paid for those who did not work as an SNA before 2011. Mr Robinson said those paid for substitute work could include people who had just one or two days’ work in the previous fortnight for staff covering sick leave.

The department said it regrets any inconvenience caused as a result of the technical problem. It meant that 840 substitute SNAs were not paid as scheduled on February 12.

Emergency arrangements were made and the department made payments worth 55% of those SNAs’ gross pay last week, the vast majority received on Tuesday and Wednesday. But 20 did not get paid until last Friday.

The figures were decided after the department retained 45% of gross pay to cover taxes, charges and other deductions. A spokesperson said a full reconciliation of the emergency payments is under way and any outstanding balances will be issued in the March pay run.

Full-time SNAs work on a salary scale starting at €20,869 or €23,188, if they started working after 2011, or before it, respectively. It rises to a maximum €33,605 or €37,339 after at least 15 years’ service, depending on the date of first appointment.