New incentives available for compensation advisors supporting Phoenix - By building the specialized capacity of compensation advisors, the government hopes to be closer to resolving all pay issues.

From: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

News Release

August 29, 2017, Ottawa, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Government of Canada’s compensation advisor community is integral to the ongoing development and maintenance of the public service pay system. Employees, including those in the HR community, have been working hard to resolve pay-related issues.

Today, the Government of Canada announced it will be providing an incentive package to enhance the recruitment and retention of compensation advisors to address pay administration system issues related to the implementation of Phoenix.

The incentive package will apply to compensation advisors at the AS 01, AS 02 and AS 03 group and levels, who work at the Public Service Pay Centre (including the satellite offices) and within departments and agencies, and who are currently eligible for the Compensation Advisor Retention Allowance.

In addition, an expedited, independent review process will be established at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for compensation advisor job descriptions and classification grievances.

Since the implementation of Phoenix in February 2016, one key challenge the government has faced is the capacity to deal with volume challenges. Central to this was the loss of knowledge and expertise when compensation advisors were workforce adjusted in the lead up to 2015 as a result of the centralization of the pay administration functions. Retaining this employee expertise could have provided the necessary resources to deal with ongoing pay and compensation matters with the new system, avoiding the current capacity issues.

Quotes

“Having employees paid accurately and on time remains our first priority. Compensation advisors continue to work diligently to address pay requests, but more expertise and support is needed to help eliminate the backlog and implement recently signed collective agreements. This incentive package will help with the recruitment and retention of specialized employees to address and resolve employees’ pay issues.”

The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board 

“We hope that these measures will bring in additional compensation staff so that Phoenix-related problems are addressed more efficiently. All federal public service workers deserve to be paid on time and correctly.”

Robyn Benson, Public Service Alliance of Canada National President

Quick Facts

  • The package includes 3 elements:

    • $4,000 one-time payment; 
    • temporary increase in the overtime rate from time and a half to double time; and
    • temporary removal of the restrictions on how much unused compensatory and vacation leave can be carried over before being automatically paid out.

  • This incentive package is a result of an agreement reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and demonstrates our continued collaboration with unions to work towards the common goal of resolving pay issues for employees.

  • The funds for this incentive package will be allocated from the $142 million announced by PSPC in May 2017 to stabilize the pay administration system.

Associated Links

Contacts

Jean-Luc Ferland

Press Secretary
Office of the President of the Treasury Board
613-369-3163

Media Relations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
613-369-9400
media@tbs-sct.gc.ca

TTY (telecommunications device for the hearing impaired) 613-369-9371

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