By Canadian Press

Feds reducing paycheque problems, aim to solve all by Oct. 31

Sep 7, 2016 | 2:30 PM

OTTAWA — The federal government says it’s going to cost at least $40 million to $50 million this year to straighten out its troubled new pay system.

However, officials say they are starting to see progress in their efforts to resolve the problems, and hope to be done by Oct. 31.

Marie Lemay, deputy minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, says there are about 67,500 cases of federal workers with outstanding pay issues, down from more than 80,000 in mid-July.

The Phoenix pay system was supposed to centralize the handling of the huge federal payroll, but its rollout led to employees being underpaid, overpaid or not paid at all.

Lemay says there were always glitches in the system because of the size of the payroll, the number of people moving in and out of the public service and the complexity of the pay scales.

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In the past, though, the magnitude of the problem was hidden by the decentralized system.

The new program was supposed to save the government $70 million a year, but Lemay says that won’t happen this year.

“I am confident that we will see savings in the future years,” she told a news briefing on Wednesday.

Right now, she said, the emphasis is on making sure people get paid correctly.

The government has promised to pay out-of-pocket expenses for public servants who didn’t get paid and had to resort to running up credit cards.

It also says that people who were paid too much will have to pay the money back, but over time.

The Canadian Press