Phoenix overall queue and backlog decrease: Committee of the Whole—July 8, 2020
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Context
This note focuses on the ongoing reduction of the overall queue and backlog, implementation of collective agreements, taxes, overpayments and underpayments.
All questions related to next generation human resources and pay solution should be directed to the minister of Digital Government.
Suggested response
- Employees deserve to be paid accurately and on time
- Resolving pay issues is a top priority and thanks to the hard work of our compensation employees we continue to see a steady decline in the backlog
- As of June 24, 2020, the number of transactions waiting to be processed at the Pay Centre has decreased by 51% since the peak of January 2018, representing a reduction of 323,000 transactions from 633,000 to 310,000
- Over the same period of time, the backlog of transactions with financial implications has decreased by 67%, representing a reduction of 259,000 transactions, from 384,000 to 125,000
- We have also processed more than $2.4 billion in collective agreement retroactive payments to employees
If pressed on overpayments:
- our priority is to support employees and resolve public service pay issues as quickly as possible
- as part of our COVID-19 measures, employees who have agreed on a repayment plan but now need to revisit it can contact the Client Contact Centre to discuss available options
- the Pay Centre has also suspended all new recoveries of overpayments that are eligible for flexible repayment measures
- the work to resolve pay issues is progressing with care as we recognize that unresolved pay issues represent undue stress and hardship for our employees and their families
- we continue to work with departments and agencies to improve the timeliness and accuracy of human resources (HR) data submitted to the pay system, which helps to prevents new cases
If pressed on taxes:
- for the 2020 tax-filing season, we built on lessons learned and implemented a more robust plan to issue accurate tax slips and assist employees
- the 2019 year-end tax plan included robust testing, dry runs, and improved communication of year-end information to the compensation community and employees
- tax slips for 2019 were released to federal employees on a staggered schedule by the legislated deadline of the end of February 2020
Background
Queue and backlog
In total, as of June 24, 2020, there are approximately 310,000 transactions ready to be processed at the Pay Centre, including 125,000 with financial impact beyond the normal workload.
As of June 24, 2020, the overall queue of transactions waiting to be processed has decreased by 51% since its peak in January 2018, representing a reduction of 323,000 transactions (from 633,000 to 310,000).
Over the same period of time, the backlog of transactions with financial implications has decreased by 67%, representing a reduction of 259,000 transactions (from 384,000 to 125,000).
2020 tax-filing season
The 2019 year-end tax plan included clear direction on robust testing, completion of dry runs, quality and integrity verification of data, implementation of the tax updates, as well as communication of year-end information to the compensation community and employees. Tax slips for 2019 were released to federal employees on a staggered schedule by the legislated deadline of the end of February 2020.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) continues to actively work with departments and agencies to communicate with employees who may receive amended tax slips because of outstanding issues with their pay file.
The total volume of amended tax slips for 2018 was significantly lower than in the previous year. As of January 2020, there were approximately 40,000 amended tax slips produced for 2018 compared to 213,000 for 2017.
Under current legislation, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) ceased to automatically review amended T4s for 2016 in January 2020. Employees will need to request reassessments, which CRA has agreed to facilitate. Communications for employees were sent and more are being developed.
Overpayments
As of December 5, 2019, it is estimated that just over 98,200 individuals potentially owe the government money as a result of an overpayment.
As the Phoenix pay system cannot segregate true overpayments from administrative overpayments, it is not possible to accurately provide specific figures for true overpayment, which represent money owed to the government.
Administrative overpayments are part of the system’s design and are not a technical issue. They have no impact on employees considering that refunds are automatically generated and netted out in the next pay period. Administrative overpayments are created to ensure employees receive the pay to which they are entitled.
In recognition of extraordinary challenges due to the backlog, recovery of most overpayment balances will not begin until:
- all of the employee’s outstanding pay transactions have been processed
- the employee has received 3 consecutive accurate pays
- the employee has indicated their preferred repayment option
To note, these flexibilities do not apply to routine operations— for example, leave without pay (LWOP) of 5 consecutive days or less is recovered from first available funds.
It is important to note that when PSPC reports a balance of overpayments, the figure includes both true overpayments and administrative overpayments. True overpayments represent employees receiving pay that they are not entitled to, whereas administrative overpayments are part of the system’s design and have no impact on employees.
Underpayments
Employees who have been underpaid can request emergency salary advances or priority payments from their departments.
Unpaid amounts owed to employees can be related to several factors. They can result from regular pay transactions such as overtime and acting pay that are not yet processed or due to errors.
Underpayments are not automatically tracked in the Phoenix pay system because it is impossible to obtain these figures accurately until all backlogged pay related transactions are processed by compensation advisors.
Collective agreement implementation: 2014 and 2018 contracts
With regard to the 2014 round, there are currently 126 Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) and separate employer’s agreements and salary rate updates that have been processed, representing more than $2.4 billion in payments to employees.
To ensure retroactive payment amounts are accurate, PSPC is conducting a manual review of almost 180,000 accounts. This manual work is on track to be completed in fall 2020.
In August 2019, the first of the 2018 round of collective agreements were signed. The implementation of a number of these collective agreements is underway.
Lessons learned from the implementation of the 2014 round of bargaining allowed PSPC to collaborate with departments and agencies, and bargaining agents to simplify processes, improve accuracy of payment and reduce the need for manual work.
We expect that only 5% of the 2018 round of collective agreement transactions will need manual intervention, resulting in a reduction of hundreds of thousands of manual transactions.
In comparison, the 2014 round required compensation advisors to manually process and validate more than 60% of collective agreement transactions.
TBS is responsible for engagement with PSPC, employees and unions on collective and compensation agreements. PSPC is working with TBS to identify options that will ensure the next round of collective agreements is processed in an efficient and timely manner.
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