Compensation Focus: Pay Transformation Initiative - August 2011 - No. 8

| PWGSC’s Pay Centre of Expertise finds a home!

| In February 2011, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) launched a Request for Information looking to lease 3,200 square metres of useable office space in Miramichi, New Brunswick. Following a fair, transparent and competitive lease acquisition process, PWGSC has awarded a four-year contract to Dalfen’s Limited for leased space in the Miramichi Mall, located at 408 King George Highway. This space will house the first group of employees for the new Centre of Expertise (CoE) approximately 146 of the total 550 positions.

|Sharing your Questions

In our June edition of Compensation Focus: Transformation, we launched our new "Questions and Comments" form. Many questions were received on a large variety of subjects related to the Consolidation of Pay Services Project. This month's newsletter has been dedicated to sharing some of these questions, as well as our responses.

The questions received fell into five recurring topics. The following is a snapshot of the questions and the answers:

Transition Schedule:

|When will we find out which wave our department is in?

|We are currently working closely with departments and agencies to finalize the transfer schedule. You will be informed once decisions are officially made.

Transition Toolkit:

I read on your Compensation Focus: Transformation - July Edition, that the Workforce Transition Toolkit was made available in June to all departments. Is it possible to send me a copy of the tool by email so I can pass it on to my co-workers?

|PWGSC provided this toolkit as a guide to Heads of HR and managers in order to help support departmental planning activities around workforce management and the transfer of pay services to the Pay CoE (i.e. Transition Strategy). We encourage you to connect directly with your manager to discuss your departmental Human Resource Transition Strategy and obtain a copy of the toolkit.

Employee Placement Committee:

How is the information that I have provided to my manager being used?

Many departments have chosen to use the toolkit developed by PWGSC in their department planning activities. This information will be used by departments to understand and manage the impact of consolidation within their departments. The information will also help with efforts made to find placement opportunities.

Regional Pay Offices (RPOs):

What is the impact of the Consolidation of Pay Services Project on RPOs?

The RPOs will continue to provide current services to departments as well as to the new pay CoE. Therefore, they are not impacted by the Consolidation of Pay Services Project. However, the implementation of the Pay Modernization Project - to replace the 40-year-old Regional Pay System (RPS) with a modern, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) pay system by 2015-2016 will have an impact on RPOs with the introduction of automated pay administration functions. The degree of impact is not yet known at this time, and will not be known until the new system is defined by Fall 2012. There will be workshops over the next few months where experts from departments and RPOs will be invited to participate. Rest assured that PWGSC will be working closely with RPOs on a transition plan as the Pay Modernization Project moves forward.

Transition Team:

I'm interested in being a part of the transformation team. How does one apply?

Opportunities for both the Consolidation of Pay Services project team and the Pay Modernization project team will be posted internally to Publiservice throughout the duration of the projects.

Questions and Answers

For detailed information about the Pay Modernization Project or the Consolidation of Pay Services Project, please refer to the Transformation of Pay Administration - (Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)s) or read up on our monthly newsletter - Compensation Focus: Transformation.

Your Feedback...

Please keep it coming! Your comments and suggestions are important to us.

Fill out our Questions and Comments Form or send us an email at transformation@tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca!