By Matthew Condon; From: The Courier-Mail ; April 10, 2010 12:31AM
PREMIER Anna Bligh has launched a review into a wages bungle that left almost 4000 health workers without pay, while bosses celebrated the new payroll launch.
Ms Bligh said it was also inappropriate that senior executives and bureaucrats celebrated the rollout of the new system.
The new system was launched on March 24 and the first two fortnightly pay periods resulted in health workers not being paid or being short-changed.
"This party (on March 30) should not have happened, it should not have gone ahead," Ms Bligh said today.
"It's very frustrating for all the people in Queensland Health who have had a problem with their pay.
"I share their frustration and concerns.
"Cash payments are being made to people," she said.
"There is now an external review of the entire payroll system."
Ms Bligh indicated heads would roll if there was enough evidence to prove the fiasco happened as a result of negligence.
"If there has been any failure to implement this properly we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action," Ms Bligh said.
"This is a huge payroll and changing was always going to be a difficult process, but these glitches are unacceptable.
"We will look at this carefully before we roll it out in any other department."
It's estimated the payroll project has cost more than $40 million, yet created massive problems for staff.
Ms Bligh said extra staff have been employed to rapidly resolve to the crisis.
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said it was unacceptable for the payroll problem to have occurred once, let alone for two pay periods.
"That's led to severe problems with (employees) paying mortgages, buying groceries and paying for day-to-day issues," Mr Langbroek said.
"We would expect a minister or Anna Bligh to take some responsibility."
The Courier-Mail revealed today that the introduction of Queensland Health's abortive payroll system was celebrated with a roof-top party while thousands of staff went without pay.
Senior executives and bureaucrats involved in the $40 million project were treated to beers, cheese platters and a barbecue just days after the troubled payroll system went live.
The Tuesday afternoon shindig was held on March 30 on the roof of the Department of Public Works in George St, with guests enticed by an invitation featuring a cheesy play on the poem Click Go The Shears.
It went ahead despite warnings "it would be inappropriate" given at least 3800 hospital workers had not been paid or had been short-changed by the payroll system.
Some staff had just one cent transferred into their accounts. Others had data about rostered days off and overtime completely wiped from the new system.
The Courier-Mail print edition revealed this week how staff at the state's biggest hospital who may have missed out on pay were offered phone numbers for charities.
The host of the party was Corp Tech, the government's technology arm responsible for installing and seeing the system go live on Sunday, March 14.
"It's outrageous," said one technology expert who worked on the project. "The first payroll errors became apparent a week after the system went live. And here they are having a barbecue a week after that."
The new rostering and payroll system within Queensland Health was to be the flagship for the combined SAP and Workbrain systems.
It was expected similar systems would be rolled out across government over coming years. Instead, the flawed $40 million project – estimated by some sources within the Queensland Health Implementation of Continuity project, as it was officially called, at more than $100 million – has had a devastating impact on many of the 80,000 Queensland Health staff it was designed to service.
Five days after the system went live, Mick Reid, director-general of Queensland Health, told staff they could be "proud of what we have achieved". In the message to all QHIC staff leaked to The Courier-Mail and dated March 19, Mr Reid said he wanted to thank his colleagues for "your tireless effort in achieving the payroll system go live".
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said yesterday news of a "celebration" of the so-called "successful" roll out of the payroll project would only further anger nurses and health workers who hadn't been paid properly. "Thousands of health workers across Queensland simply haven't got money in the bank to pay their bills," he said.
"Health workers are sick and tired of the spin and excuses – they just want to get paid."
One Queensland Health staffer declined to attend the party, saying it was "inappropriate to have a function when there are so many people still suffering the after-effects".
Executive director of Services for Corp Tech Phil Hood yesterday said he was unable to comment.
QUEENSLAND HEALTH'S PAYROLL BLUES
December 10, 2009
Doctors label Queensland Health's payroll system "a shambles".
December 22, 2009
Queensland Health admits to overpayment pay bungles, with doctors and nurses required to pay back $27 million.
March 2010
Queensland Health poised to implement new Workbrain/SAP rostering and payroll system commissioned by Queensland Government's Corp Tech agency ("responsible for the design, build and maintenance of corporate information systems to manage Queensland Government finances and human resources") that has taken nearly three years for IBM to develop at a cost of more than $22 million. But the decision is taken to:
• not trial the new system by running it in parallel with the old system.
• start the new system without allowing sufficient time for the entry of all the staff and roster data.
• start the new system mid-pay cycle so that only five days were allowed for the entry of data for the next pay period instead of 14.
March 24, 2010
Queensland Health employees receive their first pays from the new system and many find they have been short paid, while some complain of not being paid at all.
April 7, 2010
Queensland Health employees receive their second pays from the new system and again many are short paid or not paid at all. QH refers out-of-pocket workers to charities before setting up a hotline.
PREMIER Anna Bligh has launched a review into a wages bungle that left almost 4000 health workers without pay, while bosses celebrated the new payroll launch.
Ms Bligh said it was also inappropriate that senior executives and bureaucrats celebrated the rollout of the new system.
The new system was launched on March 24 and the first two fortnightly pay periods resulted in health workers not being paid or being short-changed.
"This party (on March 30) should not have happened, it should not have gone ahead," Ms Bligh said today.
"It's very frustrating for all the people in Queensland Health who have had a problem with their pay.
"I share their frustration and concerns.
"Cash payments are being made to people," she said.
"There is now an external review of the entire payroll system."
Ms Bligh indicated heads would roll if there was enough evidence to prove the fiasco happened as a result of negligence.
"If there has been any failure to implement this properly we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action," Ms Bligh said.
"This is a huge payroll and changing was always going to be a difficult process, but these glitches are unacceptable.
"We will look at this carefully before we roll it out in any other department."
It's estimated the payroll project has cost more than $40 million, yet created massive problems for staff.
Ms Bligh said extra staff have been employed to rapidly resolve to the crisis.
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said it was unacceptable for the payroll problem to have occurred once, let alone for two pay periods.
"That's led to severe problems with (employees) paying mortgages, buying groceries and paying for day-to-day issues," Mr Langbroek said.
"We would expect a minister or Anna Bligh to take some responsibility."
The Courier-Mail revealed today that the introduction of Queensland Health's abortive payroll system was celebrated with a roof-top party while thousands of staff went without pay.
Senior executives and bureaucrats involved in the $40 million project were treated to beers, cheese platters and a barbecue just days after the troubled payroll system went live.
The Tuesday afternoon shindig was held on March 30 on the roof of the Department of Public Works in George St, with guests enticed by an invitation featuring a cheesy play on the poem Click Go The Shears.
It went ahead despite warnings "it would be inappropriate" given at least 3800 hospital workers had not been paid or had been short-changed by the payroll system.
Some staff had just one cent transferred into their accounts. Others had data about rostered days off and overtime completely wiped from the new system.
The Courier-Mail print edition revealed this week how staff at the state's biggest hospital who may have missed out on pay were offered phone numbers for charities.
The host of the party was Corp Tech, the government's technology arm responsible for installing and seeing the system go live on Sunday, March 14.
"It's outrageous," said one technology expert who worked on the project. "The first payroll errors became apparent a week after the system went live. And here they are having a barbecue a week after that."
The new rostering and payroll system within Queensland Health was to be the flagship for the combined SAP and Workbrain systems.
It was expected similar systems would be rolled out across government over coming years. Instead, the flawed $40 million project – estimated by some sources within the Queensland Health Implementation of Continuity project, as it was officially called, at more than $100 million – has had a devastating impact on many of the 80,000 Queensland Health staff it was designed to service.
Five days after the system went live, Mick Reid, director-general of Queensland Health, told staff they could be "proud of what we have achieved". In the message to all QHIC staff leaked to The Courier-Mail and dated March 19, Mr Reid said he wanted to thank his colleagues for "your tireless effort in achieving the payroll system go live".
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said yesterday news of a "celebration" of the so-called "successful" roll out of the payroll project would only further anger nurses and health workers who hadn't been paid properly. "Thousands of health workers across Queensland simply haven't got money in the bank to pay their bills," he said.
"Health workers are sick and tired of the spin and excuses – they just want to get paid."
One Queensland Health staffer declined to attend the party, saying it was "inappropriate to have a function when there are so many people still suffering the after-effects".
Executive director of Services for Corp Tech Phil Hood yesterday said he was unable to comment.
QUEENSLAND HEALTH'S PAYROLL BLUES
December 10, 2009
Doctors label Queensland Health's payroll system "a shambles".
December 22, 2009
Queensland Health admits to overpayment pay bungles, with doctors and nurses required to pay back $27 million.
March 2010
Queensland Health poised to implement new Workbrain/SAP rostering and payroll system commissioned by Queensland Government's Corp Tech agency ("responsible for the design, build and maintenance of corporate information systems to manage Queensland Government finances and human resources") that has taken nearly three years for IBM to develop at a cost of more than $22 million. But the decision is taken to:
• not trial the new system by running it in parallel with the old system.
• start the new system without allowing sufficient time for the entry of all the staff and roster data.
• start the new system mid-pay cycle so that only five days were allowed for the entry of data for the next pay period instead of 14.
March 24, 2010
Queensland Health employees receive their first pays from the new system and many find they have been short paid, while some complain of not being paid at all.
April 7, 2010
Queensland Health employees receive their second pays from the new system and again many are short paid or not paid at all. QH refers out-of-pocket workers to charities before setting up a hotline.