CD 2013-005

Subject: Direct Deposit and Suppression of Print Initiative

March 22, 2013

1. Purpose

1.1. The purpose of this directive is to provide information on the different initiatives aiming to reduce the number of cheques and pay stubs printed.

2. Background

2.1. As part of the Federal Budget 2012, the federal government will be phasing out cheques in favour of direct deposit (DD) for all federal payments.

2.2. In addition to implementing DD for employee pay and to further support the Government's efforts towards a paperless environment as outlined in the Government's Economic Action Plan 2012, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is aiming to significantly reduce the printing of pay stubs by April 1, 2013.

3. Policy

3.1. As per the Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment, DD is the mandatory payment method for all employees (including casuals, students and terms of less than 6 months) hired after September 1, 1992.

3.2. To support departments and meet its objectives, PWGSC is planning to put in place several initiatives that will automatically reduce the number of cheques and stubs printed. This directive will be updated with additional details as they become available.

3.3. In addition to the aforementioned initiatives, PWGSC will also be enhancing the self service tools provided to employees and compensation advisors through the Compensation Web Applications (CWA).

4. Procedures and Instructions

4.1. CWA and self service tools

4.1.1. A new CWA DD tool will be created to allow employees and compensation advisors to amend direct deposit information online for both regular pay and supplementary payments.

4.1.2. The DD application will be added to the CWA "Statement of Earnings (Pay Stub) and Tax Slips" page and is planned for launch in Spring 2013

4.2. Cheques

4.2.1. To reduce the number of printed cheques processed by PWGSC, a bulk change will be processed on March 27, 2013 which will automatically enable Supplementary Pay DD for all active employees who receive their regular pay by DD but still receive their supplementary pay by cheque.

4.2.2. The bulk change process will automatically copy the information found in the regular pay DD fields (950 and 951) and copy it to the supplementary pay DD fields (979 and 980). Those employees will then receive their supplementary pay through the same payment method and to the same bank account as their regular pay.

4.2.3. Employees wishing to designate a different bank account for supplementary payments will be able to do so by contacting their compensation advisor.

4.2.4. House of Commons and struck of strength (SOS) employees will be excluded from the bulk change.

4.2.5. Departments are reminded that direct deposit is the mandatory payment method for all employees hired after September 1, 1992. Payments by cheque should only be made on a temporary basis when direct deposit is not possible. In order to assist departments to identify employees who still receive a cheque, the Regional Pay System produces a monthly report which includes this information. Departments are responsible for contacting these employees and promoting the use of direct deposit.

4.3. Paper Pay Stubs

4.3.1. On March 25, 2013 PWGSC will also be processing a bulk change which will automatically suppress the printing of pay stubs for all active employees paid by direct deposit in the following classifications:

A table listing all the classifications affected by the bulk suppresses print of the pay stub.
Bargaining Unit Designator Code (BUD) Classification
10200 Executive (EX)
20100 Actuarial Science (AC)
20400 Auditing (AU)
23100 Economics and Social Science Services (EC)
30100 Administrative Services  (AS)
30300 Computer Systems Administration (CS)
30400 Financial Administration (FI)
30500 Information Services (IS)
30600 Organization and Methods (OM)
30700 Personnel Administration (PE)
30800 Program Administration (PM)
30801 Mediation and Conciliation (PM-MCO)
30900 Purchasing and Supply (PG)
31000 Welfare Programs (WP)
31100 Commerce (CO)
50100 Communications (CM)
50201 Data Conversion (DA-CON)
50202 Data Production (DA-PRO)
50300 Clerical and Regulatory (CR)
50401 Bookkeeping Equipment Operator (OE-BEO)
50402 Calculating Equipment Operator (OE-CEO)
50403 Duplicating Equipment Operator (OE-DEO)
50405 Mailing Service Equipment Operator (OE-MSE)
50406 Micro-photography Equipment Operator (OE-MEO)
50501 Court Reporter (ST-COR)
50502 Office Composing Equipment Operator (ST-OCE)
50503 Secretary (ST-SCY)
50504 Stenography (ST-STN)
50505 Typing (ST-TYP)

4.3.2. Employees temporarily struck off strength (T-SOS) and SOS will be excluded from the bulk suppress print of the pay stub. Employees not in these BUDs, as well as employees in departments CRA, GSS, PAA, MPA, IRS, CSE, PAL, SRT, SYT, PAY, ETH, LIB, FJA, NBC, RSN, HOC, MPR, DUS, EXT, AUD, TSD, RLT, PSC  and SEN, will also be excluded from the bulk suppress print of the pay stub.

4.3.3. Compensation advisors will be responsible for resuming the print of the pay stub for any employee who, for reasons out of their control, cannot access CWA.

4.3.4. PWGSC will continue its effort to significantly reduce the number of pay stubs printed and will be implementing further measures in the coming months. Departments that are CWA deployed are strongly encouraged to actively promote the use of electronic pay stubs for all their employees.

PWGSC will be monitoring and assisting departments in their efforts to reduce the number of pay stubs printed.

5. Inquiries

5.1. Any inquiries on the information contained in this directive should be addressed to your Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Compensation Services Office.

Original Signed by
Carrie E. Roussin

Carrie E. Roussin
Director General
Compensation Sector
Accounting, Banking and Compensation

Reference(s): CJA 9015-6

Information Notice to Employees

Direct Deposit and Suppression of Print Initiative

As part of Budget 2012, the federal government is phasing out cheques in favour of direct deposit for all federal payments. In order to serve you better and achieve the Government's commitments on direct deposit for employees' pay, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is pursuing an e-Pay Services initiative which targets improved client service through the increased use of self-service and electronic pay service solutions.

Under this initiative, PWGSC will be eliminating the issuance of paper pay cheques, wherever possible, in favour of direct deposit for regular and supplementary payments for all employees (including terms, casuals and students) by April 1, 2013. Employees hired prior to 1992 who continue to receive paper pay cheques are asked to consider voluntarily moving to direct deposit as soon as possible. Employees can sign up for direct deposit by completing a Direct Deposit Enrolment Request form (PWGSC 8437 06/2009) and submitting it to their compensation advisor.

On March 27, 2013 PWGSC will be moving all supplementary payments to direct deposit for those employees currently receiving their regular pay via direct deposit.  The supplementary payments will be deposited in the bank account currently used for regular payments. Employees wishing their supplementary payments to be directed to a different banking institution or account may complete the above-referenced form. Soon employees will also be able to initiate and amend their banking information for direct deposit directly through Compensation Web Applications (CWA).

CWA offers on-demand self-service access to employees' personal pay and tax information, as well as a wide range of other useful personalized compensation information. CWA has been deployed to the vast majority of departments to which PWGSC delivers pay services. Employees who have not already enrolled in CWA are encouraged to do so immediately. On March 25, 2013, PWGSC will be suppressing the print of the pay stubs for all active employees working in departments that are fully CWA deployed and are in classifications that have been identified as connected. The list of impacted classifications can be found below. Employees who have had their pay stubs suppressed and cannot access CWA will be able to reinstate the print of their pay stub by contacting their compensation advisor.

PWGSC is working with compensation advisors for departments with CWA, as well as organizations having unique requirements for accessing pay stubs that cannot be addressed through CWA, to ensure all employees continue to receive their pay information.

PWGSC remains committed to meeting the challenge of moving to a paperless pay environment while ensuring continued quality services to its clients.

Classifications Affected by the Bulk Suppress Print of the Pay Stub

A table listing all the classifications affected by the bulk suppresses print of the pay stub.
Bargaining Unit Designator Code (BUD) Classification
10200 Executive (EX)
20100 Actuarial Science (AC)
20400 Auditing (AU)
23100 Economics and Social Science Services (EC)
30100 Administrative Services  (AS)
30300 Computer Systems Administration (CS)
30400 Financial Administration (FI)
30500 Information Services (IS)
30600 Organization and Methods (OM)
30700 Personnel Administration (PE)
30800 Program Administration (PM)
30801 Mediation and Conciliation (PM-MCO)
30900 Purchasing and Supply (PG)
31000 Welfare Programs (WP)
31100 Commerce (CO)
50100 Communications (CM)
50201 Data Conversion (DA-CON)
50202 Data Production (DA-PRO)
50300 Clerical and Regulatory (CR)
50401 Bookkeeping Equipment Operator (OE-BEO)
50402 Calculating Equipment Operator (OE-CEO)
50403 Duplicating Equipment Operator (OE-DEO)
50405 Mailing Service Equipment Operator  (OE-MSE)
50406 Micro-photography Equipment Operator (OE-MEO)
50501 Court Reporter (ST-COR)
50502 Office Composing Equipment Operator (ST-OCE)
50503 Secretary (ST-SCY)
50504 Stenography (ST-STN)
50505 Typing (ST-TYP)