Queensland Health sinks resources into recovering overpayments while underpaid staff go begging

QUEENSLAND Health has three times more staff chasing down overpayments than it has helping workers underpaid by its faulty payroll system.

THE hits keep coming for Queensland Health staff.

The Courier-Mail can reveal that the struggling department has three times more staff chasing down overpayments than those assigned to help workers left underpaid by its faulty payroll system.

A team of 71 case managers has been ordered to hunt $62 million mistakenly handed out during the long-running debacle. By contrast, 21 staff man the "payroll resolutions group" which helps resolve claims of wage underpayments.

Workers will yet again be short-changed in their pay this week after a technical "fix" caused problems with the system's ability to correctly pay overtime loadings.

Queensland Health has consistently argued the system had stabilised but The Courier-Mail revealed on Saturday a damning email showing payroll staff had no way of knowing how many people would be affected by the latest glitch.

One health worker, writing on social networking site Facebook, said her pay had included four different types of errors in the past six months and she was "nervous" about the latest bungle.

"We've got some big bills coming and I can't afford to be screwed again," she said.

Another worker disputed Queensland Health's assertions that only 100 staff who worked on Sundays would be affected by the glitch, saying she had been underpaid for four of the past five pay cycles and had never worked Sundays.

It adds to concerns the controversial recovery of overpaid wages made to 38,000 staff could drag on for years.

Already there is only one case manager for every 138 health workers who have concerns with their bill, with another 24,000 staff yet to respond to letters sent out last month. One health worker, who did not want to be named, told The Courier-Mail he was convinced his overpayment bill was wrong but trying to seek help from case managers was a "waste of time".

He said they offered only an analysis of how a person could be overpaid, without additional proof to cross-check against the much-criticised payslips.

"So it's basically back to square one, with them thinking people have been overpaid, and us thinking we haven't, with no one knowing exactly what is going on or who is going to have the answers," he said.

In a written statement, Queensland Health human resource services deputy director general John Cairns said any underpayments would be given priority.

He said the 21 payroll resolution officers would work with more than 800 regular payroll staff across the state to help people with claims or overpayment bills.