STAFF at Southampton University have hit out after it failed to pay them.

“Scared” workers at the University of Southampton discovered their pay had not gone into their accounts yesterday.

It comes just months after strike action over a pensions row – which meant that staff had already had last month’s pay docked for lectures they did not teach while on the picket line.

Now managers at the Highfield campus have apologised for the error – but have said cash might not reach some workers’ accounts until Wednesday.

And they directed staff to a health-and-wellbeing website while they tried to find out what caused the problem.

Dr Chris Fuller, a lecturer in history at the university, tweeted his displeasure at his employer.

He wrote yesterday: “Oh good, some of us will be paid today (Monday), some tomorrow, and the rest by Wednesday.

“It’s not as if, having already been docked pay for industrial action, my finances were not in a dire state before this.”

He claims to have lost £1,580.74 “to strike for 14 days to defend my pension from people who earn approximately that much, and in many cases a lot more, per day”.

He added on Twitter: “Fortunately the university keeps me so overworked I can’t even begin to think about which direct debits are about to bounce, what bank charges I’m about to incur, and what other overheads won’t get paid.

“Ignorance is bliss. Just keep working pleb.”

Speaking to the Echo, another employee said their pay packet took a £600 hit last month after strike action in February.

The employee said: “It’s just not good enough. It’s very scary. I’ve got rent to pay and bills coming out.

“It’s not in any way reassuring to know that our employers can’t pay us on time.

“The pay slips have been up since last week so they know how much was supposed to come out.

“Management try to cover over disasters with ridiculous ‘wellbeing initiatives’, putting the responsibility on us to deal with our increasingly terrible working conditions rather than having to do anything about it themselves.”

Managers apologised “wholeheartedly” for the mistake and said it was due to a “systems glitch, not a financial inability to pay”.

They added that they didn’t know how many of the university’s 6,000 staff it affected.

Chief operating officer Ian Dunn emailed staff on Monday afternoon to say he “deeply regretted” the situation.

He said employees would be reimbursed for any charges or penalties as a direct result of any late salary payment.