System error leaves thousands of NHS staff owed earnings
02 May 2014
Nurses in Northern Ireland have been underpaid by hundreds of pounds due to errors following the introduction of a new payroll system.
Nursing Times has reported that overall around 7,000 staff employed by Health and Social Care trusts have been affected by mistakes that have emerged over the past five months.
Errors include incorrect tax and national insurance deductions and missing payments for travel and working unsocial hours.
The Royal College of Nursing, which is stepping in to help resolve cases, said there had been a surge in complaints this month with the end of the tax year.
The problems stem from teething problems and technical glitches linked to the introduction of the online HR, Payroll, Travel and Subsistence system. The new system is part of the Northern Ireland government’s Business Services Transformation Programme, which also includes the centralisation of trusts’ payroll and HR personnel.
Some of problems had apparently been caused by a bug in the system while others were because managers were unfamiliar with how to use it so had sent information to the wrong place.