Minnesota State payroll woes widened after Workday rollout, auditors say

What the audit found

A report from Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor found payroll errors and delays grew after the statewide college system began using a Workday-based HR platform. Sample testing of 202 faculty members showed 19 were inaccurately paid, and additional testing identified another 38 inaccurate payments. The auditors also flagged late pay as a recurring issue. It has been reported that even the lower estimate of a nine percent error rate could mean roughly 1,278 employees were affected — payroll mistakes that hit real people in their pockets.

Why the system stumbled

Minnesota State began replacing its legacy ISRS ERP in 2019 to consolidate finance, HR/payroll and student systems. But the audit says the chosen Workday configuration did not include the capability to calculate faculty payroll, so the system never fully replaced older tools. The result: a patchwork of Workday, legacy payroll, and the state SEMA4 system creating pay distribution records and checks — and, according to auditors, interface problems when moving data between ISRS and Workday that made things worse after go‑live. Auditors also note the system had preexisting payroll issues; the launch appears to have amplified them.

Budget, delays and scope creep

Costs ballooned as the project evolved. The initial integration and implementation budget was $151.1 million; after awarding the contract to Workday in 2020 Minnesota State raised that to $242.7 million, and by November 2024 the total had climbed to $290.4 million. Timelines slipped too: HR and payroll were first slated to go live in July 2023 with the student piece in fall 2026, but the schedule was pushed to July 2024 for finance and HR/payroll and to fall 2029 for the full student rollout. Scope additions, extended timelines and extra contingency funds are blamed for the increases.

Context and reactions

This isn’t an isolated headline. Other state and university Workday projects have seen setbacks — Iowa scaled back its finance rollout in 2024, and Maine publicly accused Workday of failing to live up to parts of a 2021 implementation. The Register has asked Minnesota State and Workday for comment. Payroll is a blunt instrument: when it falters, people feel it immediately. Who’s minding the margins while systems get retooled? The auditors’ report suggests that question remains painfully relevant.

Sources: The Register