New payroll joke on Queensland Health staff

THERE is no end in sight to the state's biggest joke - Queensland Health's payroll system will again rip off staff this week.

THERE is no end in sight to the state's biggest joke - Queensland Health's payroll system will again rip off staff this week.

A damning email obtained by The Courier-Mail warns some staff to expect their pay packet to include less than what they are owed because of yet another technical glitch.

The email, written by a senior officer from the department's payroll division, says staff won't be "very happy campers" when they check their pays because of a technical "fix".

The email, written by a senior payroll division officer, is another embarrassing blow for the Bligh Government, which claims the problems are under control.

Payroll staff have no way of knowing how many people will be affected, further multiplying the number of cases of incorrect wage payments which have to be resolved.

For the fourth day, Queensland Health boss Tony O'Connell refused to discuss the debacle.

The office of the speechless acting director-general failed to even acknowledge The Courier-Mail's requests for an interview, while Health Minister Geoff Wilson remains on holidays.

His temporary replacement, Neil Roberts, was told of the problems yesterday afternoon and said Queensland Health were "working to fix it".

However, the email exposes a souring relationship between Queensland Health and shared service provider CorpTech.

"There are going to be some very unhappy campers next week when the payslips come out and there is nothing we can do," the email sent this week from payroll client service officer Kylie Shelley warned.

"Our wonderful CorpTech has done another 'system fix' and that has created all these other problems!!!!"

Ms Shelley said yesterday she could not comment and referred calls to her manager, who also declined to comment.

In a written statement, human resource services deputy director-general John Cairns said "an average" of 100 people were affected each pay cycle but only those who worked on Sundays.

They could be underpaid between $50 and $210 each fortnight.

"Any claim for underpayment is corrected in the next pay run, or individuals are always invited to seek cash payments if they prefer," Mr Cairns said.

But one health worker, writing on a "fightback" page set up on social networking site Facebook, said the department seemed "all too keen" to demand back overpaid wages but was slow to rectify underpayments.