Clark David: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeClark David: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 09 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9516. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]10.Dr DAVID CLARK (Labour—Dunedin North) to the Minister for Economic Development: On what date did he first become aware of payroll problems at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and what action did he take?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Economic Development): Firstly I have been updated a number of times on payroll as the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has been brought together particularly with the four payrolls being brought into one. With particular regard to the issues that have been publicly discussed in recent days I was first advised on 5 October last year that the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment was establishing a payroll team to identify and address non-compliance and historical issues associated with entitlements to holiday pay. I supported the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s actions at the time and I have asked to be kept fully updated on its progress along with expressing the expectation to the chief executive that this issue be resolved as quickly as possible.Dr David Clark: Can he confirm that the issues that he first became aware of in October last year around the Holidays Act and payroll compliance were known to his Government in 2010?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: No I cannot. In relation to this particular payroll the time line is as I described last year. The labour inspectorate has had broader concerns about public and private providers complying with the Holidays Act going back some time possibly back to 2010 but the issues in relation to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment were identified to me in 2015 in October last year.Dr David Clark: The Minister didn’t know.Hon STEVEN JOYCE: No you are wrong.Mr SPEAKER: Order!Dr David Clark: During the 2012 Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment merger did his Government ensure the payroll system complied with the law?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: In the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment merger in 2012 a decision was taken to merge the four payrolls together including the former Department of Labour payroll which had been used right back I believe until around 2000. It was of course anticipated that that payroll which had been in place for many years would meet the requirements particularly given that the Holidays Act had been passed with its changes in 2003. Unfortunately from the period 2003 onwards there had been no attempt within the Government to ascertain that the payrolls were actually following the Holidays Act as it was laid down in 2003.Dr David Clark: Is he confident that his department has been providing correct advice to the private sector given that his department has failed to implement its own payroll system correctly?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: For the member’s benefit the labour inspectorate operates at arm’s length from the operation of the agency particularly in relation to payroll matters because the labour inspectorate has a responsibility to monitor the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s payroll as well as other public and private sector payrolls. As I said to the member in answer to an earlier question the inspectorate has had concerns for some time about payrolls generally and that matter has been discussed with the State Services Commission. This particular issue though was raised in 2015.Dr David Clark: Why did he fail to follow the advice on his ministry’s website about “calculating annual holiday pay” which appears under the tab headed “Get the basics right”?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: That is a question that could be asked right back to 2003 I believe because the holiday pay calculation is recognised as a complex calculation because it requires providers to assess the greater of the average wages of the person and the regular-time wages of the person. Just because you are a bad Opposition MP who yells all the time does not mean you cannot just listen to the answer to the question.