CANADA
Canadian Public Servants continuing to suffer serious pay issues because of the botched Phoenix system could be offered compensation for “real mental and emotional stress”.
Damages talks between the Government and the unions that represent PS employees “have been advancing”, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) said in a statement, although neither the unions nor the Treasury Board Secretariat revealed details.
National President of the PSAC, Robyn Benson said for two years her members had lived in fear of every payday.
“They have had their lives turned upside down and through it all they have continued to show up to work and deliver the services Canadians depend on,” Ms Benson said.
“An agreement on damages won’t solve everything, but it is an important part of making our members whole.”
It is so far estimated that the total cost of the debacle, from the creation of Phoenix to dealing with its problems, could exceed C$1 billion (about the same in Australian dollars) by the end of this year.
The previous Conservative Government predicted when the system was first adopted that it would save taxpayers C$70 million (A$70.3 million) annually.
Meanwhile, figures released by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), which oversees the beleaguered system, suggested a long-awaited reprieve from the ever-growing backlog of problems was in sight.
There were about 626,000 transactions awaiting processing at the Government’s pay centre, the Department said on its web-based pay dashboard.
While that’s fewer than the peak of 633,000 problem pay files reached in January, the decline may be short-lived, the PSPC warned.
“This decrease is promising, but with additional work left to do on overpayments and collective agreements, a continual decline is not expected until later this spring.”
Last month’s Federal Budget allocated C$16 million over two years to the search for a Phoenix replacement, but that could be years away.
Ottawa, 18 March 2018
