Gov’t workers in poor house over holidays

Official warns more civil servants could see ‘low or no pay’ over Christmas

OTTAWA — Federal government managers were warned this week of a possible surge in emergency pay requests from civil servants over the holidays after new issues were discovered with the troubled Phoenix pay system.

Managers were to receive lists of “low pay or no pay employees” by Friday, and were being encouraged to reach out to those who might need help.

“We would encourage you to reach out to employees on this list to determine if an emergency salary advance (ESA) or priority payment may be required on December 27th, and if any special measures to provide the payment may be needed given the holiday season and related absences and travel,” said a memo from Les Linklater, an associate deputy minister at Public Works and Government Services Canada, made public Friday.

The memo was issued Wednesday after problems were discovered in processing of pay requests for the final payday of the year, Dec. 27.

Officials said some transactions entered into the pay system in early November weren’t processed, creating a new backlog of problem files.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents some 180,000 civil servants, said it sought and received assurances from the government that any employee facing year-end pay issues could request emergency funds.

PSAC and other unions said they were also continuing to offer emergency pay services to their members.

The auditor general last month reported more than 150,000 government workers — or about half the federal civil service — had been affected by the Phoenix fiasco that began nearly two years ago, either by being underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

The government has warned it could cost upwards of $1 billion to stabilize the pay system and fix it.