NSW Health moving to single payroll

NSW Health is considering the consolidation of its multiple salary packaging solutions into a standard state-wide salary packaging solution.

The new salary system will be hosted by a vendor partner and accessible by NSW Health staff from a Web browser for a period up to five years.

According to NSW Government documents, various health services within the NSW Health system provide a salary packaging service to employees either internally by the Health Service or by an external vendor.

Salary packaging across the NSW Health system is also carried out using manual and electronic systems.

The new salary packaging system will performs employee, payment and banking reconciliation processes within itself and will also perform the weekly payroll electronic funds transfer data process from NSW Health’s human resources information systems.

The HR information system is currently Supero, but the agency is preparing to migrate the system to Oracle’s human resources information system.

In addition to NSW Health, other health related agencies, such as Ambulance Services of NSW, The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, the NSW Department of Health, and all Area Health Services will be able to access the system.

The project will operate on a very tight timeline, commencing 15 October 2010 and scheduled to conclude by 15 January 2011.

NSW Health will likely be looking very closely at the details of the new system in order to avoid the issues which have plagued Queensland Health in its roll out of a new payroll system.

This month the state’s Treasurer, Andrew Fraser, said fixing the payroll bungle had cost taxpayers at least $4 million. The new system, introduced in March, saw hundreds of Queensland Health staff underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

The bungle has so far prompted an Auditor-General investigation and report and the implementation of a new payroll model.