SDHB pays staff twice in payroll error

A LARGE number of Dunedin hospital staff were seeing double this week after a payroll blunder.

More than 1600 Dunedin staff of the Southern District Health Board were paid twice on Wednesday night, as a result of a dataprocessing error.

The board did not reveal the amount of money involved or how much it cost to fix the mixup.

In a written statement, chief executive Chris Fleming said 1625 staff, mostly nurses, were affected.

The error occurred while the board was changing its banking provider, Mr Fleming said.

‘‘Many staff contacted us when they noticed the mistake, and all staff were alerted to the error this morning.’’

Staff were advised yesterday the board’s banks and external payroll provider would recall the extra payments last night, starting at 6 o’clock.

‘‘We are pleased that our banking and payroll providers were able to work together to address this issue quickly, and minimise any implications for our staff.’’

Many staff members joked on social media they thought their Christmas bonuses had come early.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation organiser Lorraine Lobb said it was an unfortunate mistake.

No union members had come to her about any issues caused by the mixup.