According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the federal government’s new payroll system cost taxpayers approximately $685 million in back pay and more is still owed. The federal government is figuring out the total cost of the Phoenix Pay System (PPS) failure, which started in 2016.. Phoenix pay system .“To date, approximately $685 million has been paid in damages relating to the Phoenix Pay System,” said a Nov. 21 briefing note for Treasury Board President Mona Fortier..Last year, about $125 million in compensation was paid, which is included in the $685 million paid out..Employees whose paycheques were garbled were offered $2,500 for “general damages as compensation for stress, aggravation, pain, and suffering.” .About 62% of workers received incorrect pay, prompting numerous audits, and parliamentary organizations..“We recognize implementation of the Phoenix Pay System has had an impact on many current and former employees,” said the briefing note..The note did not give a total amount for unpaid claims..The compensation payments are taxable under employment income..Cabinet in 2016 launched the PPS on a promise of $70 million a year in taxpayer savings through streamlining 46 separate federal payroll departments dating from the 1970s. New software instead garbled payments for some 220,000 current and former federal employees..Access To Information records showed PPS was so mismanaged that it could not read decimal points, incorrectly billed some employees for provincial health premiums, and paid casual employees at hourly rates that differed from what they were quoted..No investigator to date has calculated the total cost of what the Auditor General called an “inexplicable failure.” The Parliamentary Budget Office in 2019 estimated costs at $2.6 billion, including ongoing software fixes..The costs associated with the PPS do not include specific claims by employees for other damages, such as foreclosures because an employee could not pay their mortgage, said a 2021 department of Public Works briefing note..“Claims for severe or more personal or financial impacts could include financial losses, mental anguish, or other impacts,” said the note..“Employees who took sick leave or other types of paid or unpaid leave because of an illness stemming from pay issues may also be eligible to apply for compensation.”.No one was fired over the PPS disaster..“We saw how that didn’t work,” former Digital Government Minister Joyce Murray earlier told the media..“We will always have respect for taxpayer dollars,” said Murray..“We also have a great deal of respect for our hardworking public servants. They have had a very difficult time with the pay system over the last few years.”
