As holidays approach, workers entangled in Phoenix pay fiasco grapple with money woes

CTV National News: Phoenix pay problems persist The botched Phoenix pay system that has disrupted the lives of 80,000 public servants remains unfixed. CTV's Omar Sachedina reports.

For thousands of federal government employees still waiting for regular paycheques amid the ongoing Phoenix pay system backlog, the financial strain this holiday season is especially severe.

Suzanne Baptiste, a public servant in Ottawa, said she was delighted when she was hired 10 years ago because her job came with benefits and a pension. But due to a human error in September, she hasn’t received a regular paycheque in four months.

These days, Baptise says she’s under “a lot of stress.”

"I had to go out and get a second job, so I’m working part time as well. My husband has had to pull in more hours at his work to help the family. We have bills to pay,” she told CTV Ottawa.

About 80,000 federal workers have been underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all because of human errors and technological glitches in the Phoenix pay system. The government has taken steps to solve the problem, but a backlog of cases means that about 10,000 cases have yet to be fixed.

Baptiste has received some emergency funds to help make up for the losses. But she says the confusion has meant that she and her colleagues similarly affected aren’t sure how much money is going into their bank accounts each pay day.

“They are hopeful that the next pay between Christmas and New Year’s, that it should be resolved. I’m not holding my breath, to be honest with you, until I see the deposit in my bank account,” Baptiste said.

The Distress Centre of Ottawa said it has seen an increase in phone calls from public service workers who have been affected by Phoenix pay problems. A service facilitator with the distress centre said the organization has heard stories of people struggling to make car and mortgage payments or even put food on the table.

“So the effect it has really depends on the different lifestyle these people are living and unfortunately has really dire consequences for anybody who hasn’t been paid in this long,” said Breanna Pizzuto of the Distress Centre of Ottawa.

In a sit-down interview with CTV Ottawa’s Graham Richardson, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Judy Foote said the government is doing everything it can “to fix this as quickly as we can.”

“It’s heartbreaking for me as well that we have not been able to solve these issues much faster than we are doing. We had 82,000 in a backlog. We’re now down to 10,000. But anyone going without pay for work performed is totally unacceptable. And we are working so hard to try and resolve these issues,” Foote said.

Asked about the reason behind the backlog, Foote shifted blame to the previous Conservative government.

“Regrettably, the system we inherited, there was 700 compensation advisors who were let go. I’m confident had that not been the case by the previous government, we would not be in the situation we’re in today.”

With a report from CTV Ottawa and files from The Canadian Press