[Canada] Alberta public servants underpaid after issues with new payroll system

In Alberta, Canada, a number of public servants have been underpaid for weeks following the introduction of a new payroll management system, CBC reports.

Atlanta’s provincial government confirmed to CBC News that the large-scale transition to the 1GX program in December resulted in pay errors for a "small percentage" of Government of Alberta staff. The government did not initially specify how many employees were affected but - following publication of the story - Service Alberta confirmed that pay issues had been reported by approximately 531 staff.

A spokesperson for the minister of Service Alberta wrote, "We understand the concerns that staff have on this, we are resolving these concerns as soon as possible and are confident that the issues experienced will not be a long-term concern." 

Service Alberta is reportedly working to rectify the issues and payments will be made available to affected staff.  

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), however, believes that as many as 5,000 employees may be affected by issues with the payroll program. The AUPE said employees across corrections, social services, and fish and wildlife have all filed complaints and the union will continue working with the employer and tech support to resolve the issues. 

Some union members have reported up to 40 per cent of their wages missing, while others are missing premium pay for evening or weekend shifts.

Susan Slade - AUPE vice president - said, "We definitely do not want it to look like what happened with the Phoenix system." The Phoenix system fiasco involved tens of thousands of federal public servants being overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all as a result of of a new, issue-laden pay system. 

1GX is a set of business applications intended to integrate services across the Government of Alberta. It manages payments and invoices for employees, contractors and other services using several kinds of software. The AUPE claims there was insufficient training given to management and workers on the new system before the employees were switched over. 

Implementation began in the summer of 2020 at a cost of $79.6 million in the last fiscal year, according to Service Alberta documents. 

"The system is clearly not capable of handling the complexities of a workforce of 20,000," Ms Slade said.

"This system never should have been introduced until it actually was appropriate to do so." 

If the issues are not fixed in a timely way, the AUPE is anticipating a large number of grievances to be launched. 

The Government of Alberta reportedly paid out over a million invoices electronically - about 85 per cent of all invoices- in 2018-2019. The ministry-set goal was to increase that total to 92 per cent of invoices by 2023.

In Alberta, Canada, a number of public servants have been underpaid for weeks following the introduction of a new payroll management system, CBC reports.

Atlanta’s provincial government confirmed to CBC News that the large-scale transition to the 1GX program in December resulted in pay errors for a "small percentage" of Government of Alberta staff. The government did not initially specify how many employees were affected but - following publication of the story - Service Alberta confirmed that pay issues had been reported by approximately 531 staff.

A spokesperson for the minister of Service Alberta wrote, "We understand the concerns that staff have on this, we are resolving these concerns as soon as possible and are confident that the issues experienced will not be a long-term concern." 

Service Alberta is reportedly working to rectify the issues and payments will be made available to affected staff.  

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), however, believes that as many as 5,000 employees may be affected by issues with the payroll program. The AUPE said employees across corrections, social services, and fish and wildlife have all filed complaints and the union will continue working with the employer and tech support to resolve the issues. 

Some union members have reported up to 40 per cent of their wages missing, while others are missing premium pay for evening or weekend shifts.

Susan Slade - AUPE vice president - said, "We definitely do not want it to look like what happened with the Phoenix system." The Phoenix system fiasco involved tens of thousands of federal public servants being overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all as a result of of a new, issue-laden pay system. 

1GX is a set of business applications intended to integrate services across the Government of Alberta. It manages payments and invoices for employees, contractors and other services using several kinds of software. The AUPE claims there was insufficient training given to management and workers on the new system before the employees were switched over. 

Implementation began in the summer of 2020 at a cost of $79.6 million in the last fiscal year, according to Service Alberta documents. 

"The system is clearly not capable of handling the complexities of a workforce of 20,000," Ms Slade said.

"This system never should have been introduced until it actually was appropriate to do so." 

If the issues are not fixed in a timely way, the AUPE is anticipating a large number of grievances to be launched. 

The Government of Alberta reportedly paid out over a million invoices electronically - about 85 per cent of all invoices- in 2018-2019. The ministry-set goal was to increase that total to 92 per cent of invoices by 2023.