Payroll lapses

[Published on 16 July, 1998]

Fifty-four teachers and other Education Ministry staff who resigned between
July 1995 and December 1996 continued to get paid after they had stopped
working, according to a payroll audit.

The Auditor-General's Office, which uncovered the discrepancy, said that the
salaries paid amounted to $232,350.

The money has since been recovered and stricter controls have been put in
place at the schools and the ministry.

Overpayment also took place at the National University of Singapore, where
the problem was first highlighted three years ago by the Auditor-General
when NUS continued to pay one staff member who had already resigned and
another who was on no-pay leave.

Another audit last year found that between April and November (1997), there
were 13 former NUS staff members who were being paid after they had resigned.
Another six were being paid while on no-pay leave.

NUS has recovered over $98,000 in 16 cases and is continuing its efforts to
recover $2,715 from three others.