![[Canada] Ottawa hopes to clear Phoenix backlog by 2025 at a cost of nearly $1B](http://globalpayrollassociation.com/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-Parliament-Hill-In-Ottawa--O-214253950_1200x.jpg?v=1720745300)
In Canada, the government expects to spend a further $963 million to manage the ongoing Phoenix pay system disaster that has been hurting the public service since 2016. Ottawa has yet to announce the final price tag to rid the country of the system for good, Global News reports.
Until now, the Phoenix pay system failure has cost the federal government $3.5 billion; a figure that will only rise as the government tackles the massive backlog of payroll errors and problem cases.
The backlog must reportedly be cleared before Ottawa can dump the error-prone pay system, Alex Benay - the associate deputy minister of the Public Services department - said.
The federal government intends to clear that backlog by March 2025. However, as problem cases are processed, workers cannot control how many new problems are added to the pile, he said.
“We do not have control over intake … which has historically increased year over year,” Mr Benay said on July 9.
A backlog of about 215,000 unresolved, complex problems with the Phoenix pay system remains, he added.
The government reportedly hopes to process more than half of those cases by the end of the year by bringing more staff on board and using AI.
The anticipated costs for this year include $162.7 million to develop and test a new human resources and payroll system and to simplify current HR procedures.
Mr Benay couldn’t say how much the government will spend before the situation is fully resolved, however, he promised that it would be transparent about any issues encountered along the way.
He reportedly stated that one of the department’s goals this year is to calculate how much the new payroll system will cost if it proves successful.
“As soon as we get far enough into that process over the course of the year, we will have an idea of what the transformation costs will be,” he said.
The president of Canada’s largest public-service union reportedly pointed out the irony; that the Phoenix payroll system was intended to save the government millions year on year.
Phoenix was introduced in 2016 as a modern replacement for dozens of antiquated pay systems. Rather than making a change for the better, the system was riddled with errors, creating huge and costly upheaval across the public service.
Learn more about the Phoenix payroll disaster with the GPA’s Phoenixed Podcast
Read 6 Lessons Learned from the Phoenix Pay Disaster in 04:05 now
“They need to ensure that the next-gen. pay system doesn’t become another Groundhog Day, Phoenix remake,” Sharon DeSousa - Public Service Alliance of Canada president -said.
“We’ve lived this for the last eight years.”
Ms DeSousa said the government must not repeat the same mistake they made with Phoenix by discarding staff once the new system is in place, especially if they plan to use AI instead.
“There needs to be a human element to all of this,” she said. “Without a doubt, we got into this mess with Phoenix because they laid off a bunch of compensation advisers and the work that they do is so integral to ensuring that pay is actually done accurately on time.”
The government will reportedly provide another pay system update this autumn.
Source: Global News
(Quotes via original reporting)
In Canada, the government expects to spend a further $963 million to manage the ongoing Phoenix pay system disaster that has been hurting the public service since 2016. Ottawa has yet to announce the final price tag to rid the country of the system for good, Global News reports.
Until now, the Phoenix pay system failure has cost the federal government $3.5 billion; a figure that will only rise as the government tackles the massive backlog of payroll errors and problem cases.
The backlog must reportedly be cleared before Ottawa can dump the error-prone pay system, Alex Benay - the associate deputy minister of the Public Services department - said.
The federal government intends to clear that backlog by March 2025. However, as problem cases are processed, workers cannot control how many new problems are added to the pile, he said.
“We do not have control over intake … which has historically increased year over year,” Mr Benay said on July 9.
A backlog of about 215,000 unresolved, complex problems with the Phoenix pay system remains, he added.
The government reportedly hopes to process more than half of those cases by the end of the year by bringing more staff on board and using AI.
The anticipated costs for this year include $162.7 million to develop and test a new human resources and payroll system and to simplify current HR procedures.
Mr Benay couldn’t say how much the government will spend before the situation is fully resolved, however, he promised that it would be transparent about any issues encountered along the way.
He reportedly stated that one of the department’s goals this year is to calculate how much the new payroll system will cost if it proves successful.
“As soon as we get far enough into that process over the course of the year, we will have an idea of what the transformation costs will be,” he said.
The president of Canada’s largest public-service union reportedly pointed out the irony; that the Phoenix payroll system was intended to save the government millions year on year.
Phoenix was introduced in 2016 as a modern replacement for dozens of antiquated pay systems. Rather than making a change for the better, the system was riddled with errors, creating huge and costly upheaval across the public service.
Learn more about the Phoenix payroll disaster with the GPA’s Phoenixed Podcast
Read 6 Lessons Learned from the Phoenix Pay Disaster in 04:05 now
“They need to ensure that the next-gen. pay system doesn’t become another Groundhog Day, Phoenix remake,” Sharon DeSousa - Public Service Alliance of Canada president -said.
“We’ve lived this for the last eight years.”
Ms DeSousa said the government must not repeat the same mistake they made with Phoenix by discarding staff once the new system is in place, especially if they plan to use AI instead.
“There needs to be a human element to all of this,” she said. “Without a doubt, we got into this mess with Phoenix because they laid off a bunch of compensation advisers and the work that they do is so integral to ensuring that pay is actually done accurately on time.”
The government will reportedly provide another pay system update this autumn.
Source: Global News
(Quotes via original reporting)