Description: The Government of Canada is scrambling to collect payroll over-payments from thousands of its employees before it runs out of time. These over-payments were generated by the much-maligned Phoenix payroll system, and, the statute of limitations to recover these amounts expires after six years. Phoenix went live in 2016 and problems with pay were reported almost immediately, so the clock has been ticking. Chris Aylward, the president of the the Public Service Alliance of Canada union, offered that “It’s unbelievable that the government is forging ahead with this heavy-handed clawback for workers . . . while leaving over $15.5 billion uncollected from big corporations who received excessive COVID subsidies during the pandemic.”
Date: February 23, 2023
Source: torontosun.com
Discussion points:
1) Have you or any of your classmates experienced any pay problems from the Phoenix payroll system? If so, have any of you been flagged for overpayments?
2) Do you think the employees should be held responsible for returning the over-payments?
3) Chapter One of Wiley’s Managerial Accounting: Tools for Business Decision-Making tells us about the trend towards our economy becoming a service economy, including services provided by governmental agencies. If you were an accounting officer for a Government of Canada agency, what impact would these payroll problems with Phoenix have had on your costing of government services?
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