Queensland teachers fear repeat of 2010 health payroll disaster

Hundreds of Queensland teachers say they are not being paid their correct wage and are blaming glitches in the state payroll system which they fear could lead to a repeat of the 2010 Health Department debacle.

TPAQ president Scott Stanford says teachers are concerned about payroll glitches.

Hundreds of state school teachers fear a looming payroll debacle after waiting more than six months for the state to correct thousands of dollars in wage under and overpayments.

The complaints were lodged with the Teachers Professional Association of Queensland, which said it was inundated with questions from teachers about incorrect wage payments since the school year started.

TPAQ president Scott Stanford said his union estimated that some 500 teachers had been incorrectly overpaid as part of payroll glitches, adding up to about $500,000 in overpayments over the past six months.

He said according to TPAQ figures, the number of staff affected by overpayments was likely to be around 1 per cent of Education Queensland staff annually, which equated to about 950 people, on average, a year.

Additionally, he said he had complaints about underpayments from more than 30 teachers since January, with TPAQ estimating about 500 staff received reduced pays in the past six months.

TPAQ, an alternative union to the Queensland Teachers Union, estimated the current Education Department payroll errors were in excess of $500,000 a year.

Teachers Professional Association Queensland president Scott Stanford with state secretary Edward Schuller. Picture: TPAQ

An Education Department spokesman was unable to give the exact number of salary complaints over the past year but said the overpayment rate in dollar terms was around 0.01 per cent of total salary payments.

The spokesman said the department’s wage payment process was complex and had to contend with around 2.5 million fortnightly pay packets a year.

“The service supports a complex payroll environment for more than 1200 schools and 95,000 employees,” the spokesman said.

“We are proud of our payroll services delivery record.

“This service is a fundamental element for our department’s successful operation.

“The department’s overpayment rate is around 0.01 per cent of salary payments, a figure which relates to the total dollar amount of overpayments, not to the 95,000 staff figure or number of pay packets.

“The department endeavours to recover salary overpayments in a way that satisfies financial requirements without imposing undue financial hardship on the employee concerned.

“Recovery of overpayment is processed in accordance with the Department’s Management of Salary Related Overpayments procedure.”

Hundreds of teachers are concerned about payroll glitches.

Mr Stanford said the rise in overpayment and underpayment concerns triggered fears of an education department payroll failure similar to the Queensland Health payroll debacle of 2010.

He said overpaid teachers were concerned they would be forced to pay back the money in one large lump sum repayment with little notice, while those underpaid were struggling to get their full wages with back pay.

“There are about 30 teachers who have formally lodged complaints with us about being overpaid for at least six months but that figure is continuing to rise as there are others who are yet to lodge concerns,” Mr Stanford said.

“Many of those overpayment complaints are because part-time members are being paid a full-time wage.

“The big concern is that they will not be given enough time to repay the outstanding amounts which have added up to thousands of dollars in a few cases.

“We saw a similar payroll system disaster at Queensland Health in 2010 and this has concerned our members.

“We have also been inundated with teachers who have been underpaid which is probably a more dire situation.”

A Logan teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she worked 60 per cent of the hours of a full-time teacher and was surprised to see she was paid an extra 40 per cent, which equated to approximately an extra $1000 a fortnight.

“After the second time it happened last year, I went to my school’s principal to make sure that the school was aware of the mistake,” she said.

“I was referred to the pay office and the school’s business manager told me it was a payroll issue which the school had no control over and told me to call the Education Department.

“I spoke to the department and they referred me back to the school claiming that the school had not correctly put in an “adjustment to roster” statement.

“That was in September when the business manager denied any error.

“I know of other teachers who also have similar concerns.”

A Queensland teacher union says there are fears of a widespread education payroll glitch.

A Redland teacher who works full time said she was being underpaid to the tune of about $400 a fortnight after tax.

“The glitch in the payment system started in January when my pay went down from 50 hours a fortnight,” she said.

“I have lodged my complaint with the department but nothing has changed so far.

“It’s affecting my mortgage repayments and I still do not have an answer as to why it happened in the first place as I was working full time last year and this has just started.”