- AGREEMENT BETWEEN UTE AND THE CRA REGARDING PHOENIX DAMAGES COMPENSATION:
On November 16, PSAC issued a message that its members can now seek compensation for the severe impacts of the Phoenix pay system failures through the newly developed online claims process. This compensation was negotiated in October 2020 by the PSAC as part of the Phoenix Damages Agreement.
Members who have suffered severe personal or financial consequences may submit one or more claims for compensation. This applies to current members, those who have left the public service and those who represent the estate of a deceased member.
To be eligible, an individual had to be a PSAC member and have incurred severe damages between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2020 as a result of Phoenix pay issues.
Depending on the type of claim, a minimum threshold of $1,500 may apply. If the total claim is greater than $1,500, the member will be entitled to compensation. The minimum threshold will only apply once for all claims submitted through this process.
These claims can include:
- financial costs or lost investment income due to delays in pay;
- leave taken because of health issues;
- severe damages and personal hardship, including mental anguish;
- accumulated interest on outstanding amounts for loans, mortgages, credit card or other debts due to delayed severance or pension payments;
- issuance of interest on delayed severance, pension or missing pay;
- use of sick leave or other paid or unpaid leave for illness (the $1,500 threshold does not apply in this case);
- loss of security clearance;
- bankruptcy or significant credit rating impact, whether solely or in part caused by the Phoenix pay system;
- forced resignation from the public service because of financial hardship.
In addition, in the same release, the PSAC reaffirmed that our former members and retirees will finally be able to access the general compensation claims process starting in December 2021.
We will keep you informed of any further developments as they occur.
- PHOENIX DAMAGES COMPENSATION DEEMED TAXABLE
In my last report to you, I mentioned that in order to expedite the process and to spare our members from having to go through the normal appeals process, the PSAC had proposed to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that both parties apply to the Tax Court of Canada for a ruling.
I have been following up on this issue regularly at meetings of the PSAC National Board of Directors. However, I have no new developments to report to you on this issue at this time.
I will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep you informed of any new developments.
- UNASSIGNED UTE MEMBERS
Louise Dorion, Administrative Assistant at the National Office, continues to work on updating the PSAC Unionware system to assign unassigned UTE members to a Local. We continue to monitor the situation very closely.
In addition, at the last Presidents' Conference, we discussed the processing of membership applications. I made a commitment that the National Office would follow up on this issue. To that end, we sent out an email to Locals on October 4 to provide guidance and help them better understand the application process. We defined the process, provided the link to access the online membership card and outlined the timelines associated with processing applications.
I would like to thank Brother Shane O'Brien, Senior Labour Relations Officer, for his involvement in this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
Marc Brière
National President