Sheffield Hallam University: Staff warned they may not get paid on time over banking issue
Staff at a city university are holding their breath over whether they will be paid on time this week.
An email was sent to all employees at Sheffield Hallam University at 3.15pm today (September 17) informing them that as things stood then they may not receive their salaries on their normal payday (September 18).
The circular from chief finance officer Ryan Keyworth claimed the university’s bank is facing a “processing issue.”
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Mr Keyworth added he wanted to “reassure you that we have more than enough money” to cover payments, and that their pay packets will arrive by September 19 at the latest.
This reassurance comes after the university told all staff members on an online call in May that leaders intended to find £28m in cuts for 2025-26.
One member of staff with over 20 years experience at the university said they had “never seen anything like it” and felt “very angry” for the salary announcement to come in the wake of voluntary redundancies.
They told The Star: “I’m honestly so cross about it. Everyone has direct debits set up on their payday, I don’t know what will happen there.
“I felt distrust when I first read it.
“I’ve just had enough. Me and my colleagues have already faced voluntary severance twice, and then we get messages like this.”
The university saw 450 leave through voluntary redundancies in 2024. A second round opened in May 2025, when all staff were invited to an online call informing them leaders intended to find £28m in cuts for 2025-26.
It comes after the University and College Union (UCU) last week (September 10) held a strike ballot over “job cuts and worsening conditions” at Sheffield Hallam.
The union claims the city campus uni is “planning cuts totalling £70m over the next four years” including a 30 per cent reduction in staff costs, while considering building a London campus at a cost of £10m.
A Sheffield Hallam University spokesperson said: “We want to reiterate our apology to staff for salary payments being made a day later than planned. This is down to a processing error by our bank.
“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we put in place support for staff that will allow us to provide partial salary advances tomorrow (18 September) for anyone where a delay may cause financial difficulties. We will also reimburse staff if they incur any charges.
“Over the coming days, we will be working with our bank to understand how this happened and ensure that it does not happen again.”