[Canada] Ottawa preparing to ditch disastrous Phoenix pay system

The Canadian government is accelerating plans to rid itself of the disastrous Phoenix public service pay system at last, CBC reports.

Launched in 2016, Phoenix has spectacularly failed regularly to deliver timely or accurate pay to the nation’s public servants. You can learn more about its dramatic implosion and its human impact in the GPA’s six-part Phoenixed podcast.

The government's latest tally reportedly found that more than 300,000 of 425,000 Phoenix transactions had failed to meet service standards (as of April) including 213,000 transactions that came more than a year late.

Alex Benay - the federal official responsible for the file - said that the $135 million set aside in the 2024 budget will be a significant boost to the development of Dayforce, the pay system expected to replace Phoenix in years ahead.

Mr Benay told Radio-Canada, "We had really good news, in the sense that the government trusts our plan."

Ottawa didn't make a direct announcement related to Phoenix when the new spending was announced. However, the figure is a major increase in funding for the Dayforce project that launched in 2018 with an average annual budget of $25 million.

The federal government reportedly intends to make Dayforce its new pay system, after conducting a series of tests that concluded in February. Ottawa pays $36 billion in salaries to 420,000 people annually.

Mr Benay clarified that much work must be done before a transition to the new system. But Ottawa has abandoned any hopes of salvaging Phoenix in the long term.

"We need to change this situation, and I would say that there are more and more reasons to be able and to want to make a change," he said.

In the lead-up to the transition to a new payroll system, the government says it will use AI tools to clean up data in the Phoenix system and reduce the number of late payments.

The government reportedly intends to introduce Dayforce gradually in several federal departments, allowing the new system to launch as smoothly as possible when Phoenix is finally ​​dropped.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada said certain compensation rules could be standardised government-wide to ease the transition to a new pay system. However, it emphasised that unions should help design and test the new system.

"If the members don't suffer, we're ready to cooperate in setting up a payroll system that works," said spokesperson Yvon Barrière. "But we need to be certain that the system will work, and that it will not disadvantage our members under collective bargaining agreements."

Another union of federal employees is hopeful that the government has taken on board lessons from the past.

Sean O'Reilly - from the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada - said, "Eight years after the implementation of the Phoenix pay system at the federal level, about a third of employees are still reporting payroll errors. As long as employees continue to experience problems, the government must continue to compensate and accommodate them." 

Source: CBC

(Quotes via original reporting)

The Canadian government is accelerating plans to rid itself of the disastrous Phoenix public service pay system at last, CBC reports.

Launched in 2016, Phoenix has spectacularly failed regularly to deliver timely or accurate pay to the nation’s public servants. You can learn more about its dramatic implosion and its human impact in the GPA’s six-part Phoenixed podcast.

The government's latest tally reportedly found that more than 300,000 of 425,000 Phoenix transactions had failed to meet service standards (as of April) including 213,000 transactions that came more than a year late.

Alex Benay - the federal official responsible for the file - said that the $135 million set aside in the 2024 budget will be a significant boost to the development of Dayforce, the pay system expected to replace Phoenix in years ahead.

Mr Benay told Radio-Canada, "We had really good news, in the sense that the government trusts our plan."

Ottawa didn't make a direct announcement related to Phoenix when the new spending was announced. However, the figure is a major increase in funding for the Dayforce project that launched in 2018 with an average annual budget of $25 million.

The federal government reportedly intends to make Dayforce its new pay system, after conducting a series of tests that concluded in February. Ottawa pays $36 billion in salaries to 420,000 people annually.

Mr Benay clarified that much work must be done before a transition to the new system. But Ottawa has abandoned any hopes of salvaging Phoenix in the long term.

"We need to change this situation, and I would say that there are more and more reasons to be able and to want to make a change," he said.

In the lead-up to the transition to a new payroll system, the government says it will use AI tools to clean up data in the Phoenix system and reduce the number of late payments.

The government reportedly intends to introduce Dayforce gradually in several federal departments, allowing the new system to launch as smoothly as possible when Phoenix is finally ​​dropped.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada said certain compensation rules could be standardised government-wide to ease the transition to a new pay system. However, it emphasised that unions should help design and test the new system.

"If the members don't suffer, we're ready to cooperate in setting up a payroll system that works," said spokesperson Yvon Barrière. "But we need to be certain that the system will work, and that it will not disadvantage our members under collective bargaining agreements."

Another union of federal employees is hopeful that the government has taken on board lessons from the past.

Sean O'Reilly - from the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada - said, "Eight years after the implementation of the Phoenix pay system at the federal level, about a third of employees are still reporting payroll errors. As long as employees continue to experience problems, the government must continue to compensate and accommodate them." 

Source: CBC

(Quotes via original reporting)