Federal government officials say they are frustrated and have lost faith in the compensation process, designed to acknowledge their severe financial and personal difficulties due to the government’s problematic payment system.
Some officials say they are still affected by Phoenix’s pay system, introduced more than six years ago, which has since paid more, less and not paid many federal employees.
The government then agreed to pay eligible employees $ 2,500 in total damages due to Phoenix as part of its 2019 and 2020 damage agreements with various unions.
The CBC spoke with several current and former government officials, including some who declined to speak in public, who expressed disappointment with the long wait for compensation and delayed communications from the Canadian Finance Council’s Claims Team.
“I can’t plan, I can’t imagine that I’ll ever get paid by the government for what I’m owed,” said Grant Dyke, a retired tax auditor who has been experiencing pay gaps since he took on various higher-paying jobs. acting roles in the Canadian Revenue Agency, as well as disability leave in 2017.
“Now we are talking about six to six and a half years later, without compensation.”
I can’t guess I’ll ever get paid. – Grant Dyke, retired civil servant
In late 2021, the federal government announced another lawsuit, which the Public Service Alliance of Canada – the largest union of federal government officials in the country – said it would be careful the government not to “go crazy”.
The union said it could not respond to CBC’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Employees were entitled to apply for more compensation if they suffered severe financial and personal hardship, such as the loss of their homes, a ruined credit rating, or the development of trauma or mental health problems due to Phoenix.
Dyke, who is retiring in 2019 with a disability, said his pension each month remains volatile due to Phoenix’s miscalculations. He said that the calculations for his best five years were “confused” due to the arbitrary insufficiency and overpayments he received due to Phoenix.
“As far as I know, I can’t figure out what I have to pay, what I owe or what I owe the government,” said Dyke, who audits the payroll as part of his government work.
“And I’ve been doing it professionally for five years. So it’s so confusing.”
WATCH A former CRA payroll auditor says he can’t even trace the money in Phoenix:
A former CRA auditor says even he “can’t figure out” a way out of the Phoenix mess
Grant Dyke, who has worked for the Canadian Revenue Agency as a payroll auditor, says the traces of overpayments and underpayments caused by the Phoenix system are so confusing that even he can’t decipher what he and the government owe.
Although he qualifies for the $ 2,500 lawsuit, he said he has not seen the money yet. A letter from the government states that the date of its payment was February 2, 2022, more than four months ago.
Dyke made another request in the category of suffering. He suffers from anxiety and depression and said Phoenix had complicated his illness.
He applied for the request in December and said he was now waiting six months with no end in sight.
“They’re just dragging themselves over it,” Dick said.
Experiencing trauma through a claim process
Another former government official said he expects to “fight aggressively” for his damages claims – just as he is fighting for the money Phoenix has withdrawn from him over the years.
This employee, who worked for innovation, science and economic development in Canada before leaving in 2018, describes an annual depression in 2019 as a result of problems with Phoenix. He said the government continues to withdraw the pay due to it, even though it has already returned $ 8,254.25 in overpayments.
I guess the claim process is like the others [of] the Phoenix fiasco. – Howard Pancake, a former civil servant
“The anxiety was building and building, and in the end I confessed to myself [the] a psychiatric ward, “said the employee, whom the CBC agreed not to name because he feared that speaking publicly about his mental health would affect his reputation.
“My doctor made me watch a suicide. He insisted on either seeing me or talking to me every week. And my family was horrified.”
He applied for compensation for mental illness in January. After hearing “nothing” from the secretariat, the former civil servant said he was fed up and went to the local MP for help.
Shortly afterwards, he heard from the secretariat to present the relevant documents.
He said it was exhausting to relive the trauma through all the medical notes, correspondence and payments he collected for the lawsuit.
“I predict that after submitting this documentation, I will have to return to my MP, to become aggressive with [the] process yourself and push, “he said.
“If I didn’t go to mine [MP], my file would not be taken … I have no faith. And from what I’ve been through, I’m going to have to keep putting pressure. “
Phoenix’s payment system will cost taxpayers $ 2.4 billion as of April 2022. Some who have applied for compensation for severe hardship say they are disappointed to wait months and years for the process to pass. (Ron Ward / Canadian Press)
Howard Pancake, who worked with the Canadian Coast Guard in Halifax, said Phoenix problems have plagued him since 2016.
He applied for compensation in December and is still waiting.
“I guess the lawsuit is like the others [of] the Phoenix fiasco, “he wrote to the CBC.” I have no faith in the liberal [government] to fix that soon. “
Half of the claims have been resolved, says TBS
The Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance of Canada said in a statement by email that it did not comment on specific cases.
Spokesman Martin Potwin wrote that depending on the complexity of the lawsuit, processing could take up to “several months”.
Potwin said nearly 94 percent of total claims were resolved. Since the launch of the latest claims program in late 2021, nearly 800 of the 1,623 claims for grievous damages – just under half – have been resolved, he added.
Add Comment