RC backs union calls for payroll bungle help

The Australian Services Union (ASU) says it has been successful in getting help for Queensland Health payroll staff struggling to deal with the fallout from a faulty new system.

More than 3,000 Queensland Health staff across the state were underpaid or not paid at all in the last fortnight and hundreds more reported problems this week.

ASU spokeswoman Julie Bignell says the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) has agreed that payroll staff need urgent assistance to correct the problems.

"It'll make a bit of a difference to payroll staff who really need the time off the phones to be able to adjust people's pays," she said.

"I'd have to say they probably would think that that's too little too late.

"I think the better course of action would have been to have foreseen this in the first place."

Ms Bignell says payroll staff have been inundated with phone calls because of the bungle.

"The volume of calls has been so great that people literally pick up the phone and hang up the phone and cannot get off the phone - it is constant," she said.

"There are many of our other members saying they can't get through to payroll services to even tell them about what their problem is.

Health Minister Paul Lucas has promised help for any workers whose credit ratings are affected by not being paid properly.

"We would be more than happy to have Queensland Health provide them with the appropriate letter in support," he said.

"Then if there is an ongoing issue where someone is not prepared to actually take that on board as a credit rating agency then I'm more than happy to take that up on a personal basis with a credit rating agency."

QBuild pay problems

Meanwhile, the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says some of its members who work at QBuild have been underpaid for up to eight weeks.

The ETU has spoken out after problems were revealed with a new payroll system within Queensland Health.

ETU spokesman Scott Reichman says there is frustration among QBuild staff.

"It's mostly after hours call-out payments that haven't gone through, plus some allowances and other bits and pieces that they're entitled to for the different kinds of work that they do that haven't been coming through," he said.

He says QBuild workers have been told it could take some time to sort out the problem.

"They've been told that they are trying everything they can to get it sorted out and we've had some assurance we'll be sorted out in the next week or so regarding absent allowances," he said.

"Some of the other problems of the new system regarding leave and other entitlements are going to take somewhat longer to sort out."