Phoenix glitches give rise to United Way concerns

Anxiety over the Phoenix pay system’s foul-ups is now spilling into the federal government’s plans for its massive United Way workplace campaign, which kicks off next month.

Michael Allen, United Way Ottawa’s president and CEO, admitted he and federal officials are worried public servants’ “apprehensions” about the malfunctioning Phoenix pay system could reduce payroll donations to the workplace campaign, the biggest in the country.

“Make no mistake: We are concerned about the impact of Phoenix pay system on this campaign when 80 per cent of donations come from this route for more than 5,000 charities,” Allen told Postmedia.

The campaign’s success is heavily reliant on public servants’ using payroll deductions to make their contributions. The problem is that Phoenix is working so erratically when changes are made to pay transactions that public servants are afraid to risk the deductions for fear of fouling up their pay or not getting paid at all.

Phoenix, the government’s new automated pay system, was rolled out in two stages in February and April. Problems began from the start, with thousands complaining they were unpaid, overpaid or not paid enough.

Phoenix works fine for employees who work regular nine-to-five hours with no pay adjustments, extra pay or changes. As soon as changes are introduced, processing somehow goes awry.

“If I was the United Way, I would have some grave concerns,” said Donna Lackie, president of the Government Service Union. The union represents workers at Public Services and Procurement Canada, which is responsible for Phoenix.

“I think public servants will want to give, but they won’t want their pay touched for fear of not getting paid. I think they will use credit cards and cash.”

Canada’s public servants and federal retirees are historically the largest contributor to the United Way’s campaign. Last year, the campaign raised $33.6 million.

Nearly 68 per cent of public service donors used payroll deduction to make their contributions. Payroll deductions accounted for about 80 per cent of the money raised in the campaign. Retirees’ contributions are also made as deductions from their regular pension cheques.

“Whatever inhibits the process of donors making their gifts, and that is in the mix, has the potential to diminish dollars raised for 5,000 charities across the country,” Allen said.

He stressed public servants’ “desire and commitment” to the campaign remains, and said the government is putting together a plan to delay the canvassing phase of the campaign until November.

This means the campaign will launch as planned in September but the first two months will be devoted to education and work with volunteers. Volunteers will then begin canvassing employees in November with deductions coming off paycheques beginning in January.

Deputy ministers Bill Pentney and Marie Lemay, whose department is managing the Phoenix nightmare, are this year’s co-chairs of the campaign.

The government has yet to test Phoenix to see if it can successfully deduct United Way pledges from federal paycheques.

Allen said the government seems confident this can be done by October, and plans can be adapted if jitters about Phoenix haven’t been settled by November.

United Way is also looking at bimonthly credit card payments that would give public servants the perk of being able to collect points, Allen said. The problem with cash and credit cards is that donations tend to be lower. “A payroll deduction gift is higher than a cash gift even though the tax and impact are no different. It just feels different when giving cash all at once,” he said.

Last year, the average donation among federal workers in the National Capital Region was $474.