Phoenix Pay System - Shit's Horrible

[dapaterson]

The monthly reports are not particularly honest.  Certain "cases" are declared "Completed", even if the individual affected is still owed thousands of dollars.  But it makes the DM, ADMs, DGs and Directors responsible look less bad, so the lies get pushed out.

Part of this speaks to the fundamental failure of monolithic, single-provider services to the government.  In this case, once the system failed catastrophically, there is no other option available.

It's completely unacceptable that the "responsible" minister has now resorted to statements like  "There will come a time in the future where people will be paid promptly, accurately, and on time."

 

[meni0n]

The worst is that you're really powerless to try to remedy the situation. The union says sure you can file a grievance but it will not do anything to resolve your issue or get it resolved faster. Can't go to small claims court or any other court to try to get paid what you are owed. If this happened at a private company, the government would be all over them.

 

[Good2Golf]

Bets that in two months, the PSPC DM still gets her PMA bonus?  :worms:

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

I see that the Senate has decided to dump Phoenix.  The tabs at the Barefax must have not been getting paid.

 

[Loachman]

Is that place still open? The last time that I was there was in 1983, after the Connaught Ranges barbecue following The RCR Freedom of the City Parade began to thin out. We tried to get the Colonel-in-Chief to accompany us, but he graciously declined the invitation.

 

[Occam]

Yep, still open, and probably hasn't changed much.  And still makes the news, though it was a few years ago - http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/brazeau-confirms-hes-working-at-ottawas-barefax-strip-club

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Just had a small meet and greet for our new staff, one of our guys is owed $12,000, the new employee from IANAC was over paid by $12,000. What they need is a forum where you input your overpayments as credits and people with under payments can post amounts owed, then you can give your credits to the people owed money.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Where is 'Harry Tuttle, Heating Engineer' when you need him?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw

 

[tree hugger]

I've lost track of how many times they have messed up my pay.  Right now, I'm on long term LWOP and..... I'm still getting paid.... :

 

[dapaterson]

So, Radio Canada did some off the record interviews & review of leaked documents from the Miramichi pay centre.  It's apparently a toxic workplace, with quantity valued over quality, public humiliation of undertrained workers...

Je vois mes collègues qui se font traiter, on peut dire… comme de la merde.

I see my colleagues who are being treated, you could say... like shit.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1065913/formation-employes-miramichi-paye-fonctionnaires

 

[Jarnhamar]

Why isn't the government doing more to fix it?

 

[SupersonicMax]

There are now reports that the fix will cost upwards of $1B!  Give me $500M and your problems will be solved within 6 months, easy!  How's that for a deal?

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Why isn't the government doing more to fix it?

Because the government, unlike every other employer in Canada, is not subject to the oversight of one of the Labour Commissions, who would beat the crap out of any employer not properly paying it's employees in matter of minutes, not decades.

 

[dapaterson]

It wouldn't be a payday for the public service without: Compensation Web Applications - not available

In other words, you can't access your pay stub.


Now, I wonder if PSPC is going to start obeying the Directive on Payments (https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=32504); it suggests that public servants may be entitled to interest on some late payments:

Payments: general

4.1
The chief financial officer (CFO) is responsible for the following:
...
4.1.6
Ensuring that interest is paid when the payment is made later than the due date, as required by contract or statute, or when awarded in legal proceedings against the Crown;

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Scrap disastrous Phoenix pay system, union head urges Trudeau government
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/phoenix-pay-system-pipsc-union-1.4402415
Give us a year, and we'll build a working replacement for the trouble-plagued Phoenix pay system, one of the country's biggest civil service unions told the Trudeau Liberals on Tuesday.

Tired of months of repeated promises that the system's shortcomings would be fixed soon, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) wants the government to scrap the system and start over almost from scratch — a call the government isn't dismissing out of hand.

"After nearly two years of problems with IBM's Phoenix pay system, our members have lost confidence in the promise of fixing Phoenix," union president Debi Daviau said Tuesday.

"Despite all efforts to fix Phoenix, the number of open cases of pay problems has grown to 330,000 as of October 2017 — with no end in sight," said Daviau.

 

[dapaterson]

Given that a significant element in the Phoenix problems is the lack of experienced and knowledgeable compensation advisors, changing the underlying computer system will merely shift the jockey from one dead horse to another.

The Government model of monolithic central service providers is designed to breed this type of failure, such as SSC - unable to provide IT to line departments that meets their needs; Phoenix - in an effort to meet all payroll requirements became bloated and unworkable, from both a software and a process perspective; or travel services - which does not provide access to all available seat inventory, resulting in lost time and additional costs for travellers.

Is it time to break government out of the statist, bureaucratic mindset, and instead provide departments with the authority (and requirement) to go it on their own, with open and transparent reporting?

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

You got that one right, DP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIto5mwDLxo

 

[dapaterson]

You got that one right, DP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIto5mwDLxo

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day... or once a day, if it's a 24 hour clock...

 

[dapaterson]

Today's comedy: https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/comm/services-eng.html

PSPC Services

PSPC is Serving Government, Serving Canadians.

Our services provide government with greater knowledge, efficiencies, savings and solutions. We deliver services that are smarter and faster—and at a reduced cost—to improve how government does business.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Given that a significant element in the Phoenix problems is the lack of experienced and knowledgeable compensation advisors, changing the underlying computer system will merely shift the jockey from one dead horse to another.

The Government model of monolithic central service providers is designed to breed this type of failure, such as SSC - unable to provide IT to line departments that meets their needs; Phoenix - in an effort to meet all payroll requirements became bloated and unworkable, from both a software and a process perspective; or travel services - which does not provide access to all available seat inventory, resulting in lost time and additional costs for travellers.

Is it time to break government out of the statist, bureaucratic mindset, and instead provide departments with the authority (and requirement) to go it on their own, with open and transparent reporting?

I remember telling my Conservative MP that never did I ever expect a CPC government to come up with 5 year Central Plans just like the Soviets did. They fell hook , line and sinker for the shiny presentations.