How to read your pay stub
This page shows you how to access and interpret your pay stubs in Compensation Web Application. It also explains how to interpret the mass retroactive pay statements accessible in Phoenix.
Due to technical difficulties, the Phoenix pay stub and mass retroactive pay statements are currently unavailable.
On this page
- Accessing your pay stub online
- Interpreting the information on your pay stub
- How your online pay stubs compare
- Accessing and interpreting mass retroactive pay statements
- How to report errors in your pay
Accessing your pay stub online
You may access your pay stub via the Compensation Web Applications (CWA) by selecting CWA pay stubs and archived tax slips.
Note: CWA is password protected and requires a myKey to log in. You may use CWA to:
- view your pay stub archive (current year plus previous year)
- view pay period start and end dates
- conveniently print pay stubs
- access tax slips predating Phoenix implementation
- view earning details for overtime
- view a breakdown of retroactive payments
- view a breakdown of leave without pay periods
More information
- Compensation Web Applications (CWA) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- CWA pay stubs and archived tax slips (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- Get a myKey via the Online Registration and Credential Administration
- Video: How to access your pay stub
Interpreting the information on your pay stub
- Pay codes and abbreviations
- Deductions schedule
- Pay stubs with a $0 value
- Annual salary
- Gross pay
- Taxes and benefits
Pay codes and abbreviations
Your pay stub contains numeric pay codes and abbreviations. Consult these lists of common earnings and deductions codes, abbreviations and acronyms to help you understand what they represent.
- common earnings codes (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- common earnings abbreviations and acronyms
- common deductions codes (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- common deductions abbreviations and acronyms
Deductions schedule
In months when there are 2 pay periods, 50% of monthly deductions is taken in each pay period. When there are 3 pay periods in a month, the deductions are taken in the second and third pay periods only. This means that your first net pay of the month would be higher, and your net pay in the second and third pay periods would be the same but lower than the first.
Note: Mandatory deductions such as income tax, Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance could be taken on an employee’s first pay period.
Pay stubs with a $0 value
You may receive a $0 pay stub if any of the following 3 scenarios applies to you:
- you were overpaid an amount that exceeds your usual pay for a past pay period (twice your pay or more)
- you did not report any time worked in a given pay period (only applies to employees who usually complete and submit a timesheet)
- a past acting assignment is entered in the human resources systems or the pay system after the fact (“late acting”)
A recovery of an overpayment for a single pay period is in line with Pay Centre standards.
In the case of a late acting payment, the pay system first needs to recover your substantive pay for that past pay period. The system records that substantive pay as an overpayment, resulting in a $0 pay stub. Once the recovery is complete, the pay system will process the late acting payment. The following pay period, you will receive 2 pay stubs:
- current pay stub
- late acting pay stub (the difference between the overpayment and late acting pay owed)
You may check your Compensation Web Applications pay stub for a justification of the $0 amount by selecting entitlements and deductions.
Employees should review all pay stubs and verify the amounts owed.
Annual salary
The pay stubs do not indicate your annual salary. To confirm your annual salary:
- calculate it using the online gross to net calculator (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)
- check your collective agreement
Gross pay
Your gross pay is the combination of your regular pay earnings, any one-time payments that are owed to you, retroactive pay and earnings for any extra-duty hours (including overtime and other allowances, such as meal allowances) processed in the same period. For example, if you work extra hours in the month of November, your mid-December pay will include your regular pay, your extra-duty pay and any other types of pay you are owed.
Note: Employees who enter their time and labour using Phoenix employee self-service must submit all time and labour claims by the Sunday (9 pm eastern time) of the non-pay week. Your manager and finance must then approve before the end of the next day (Monday) if the claims are to be included on your next pay. Follow up with your manager to ensure timely approvals.
Pension deductions
Your pension deductions might include:
- superannuation (low rate)
- superannuation (high rate)
- retirement compensation arrangements
Your pension deduction (PSSA) is calculated at either a low or high rate. The low rate is used when your current annual salary is below a specific threshold. Once your annual salary exceeds this amount, your deduction changes to the high rate.
Pension deductions More information
Taxes and benefits
The calculation of benefits, contributions and allowances may vary each pay period. However, this will not affect the total sum payable each calendar year.
How your online pay stubs compare
Due to technical difficulties, the Phoenix pay stub and mass retroactive pay statements are currently unavailable.
Your earnings and deductions amounts are the same on the CWA pay stub as they are in Phoenix. However, differences between CWA terminology and Phoenix terminology affects how these amounts appear on the pay stub. This section highlights where the terminology and display methods on each pay stub differ and explains how.
- Gross
- Taxable gross
- Total taxes and deductions
- Net
- Federal tax
- Provincial tax
- Superannuation
- CPP/QPP
- QPIP
- Credit union
- Association dues
- Death benefits
- Health insurance
- Retroactive pay and overtime pay
Gross
In CWA, this is your total salary and additional earnings including overtime, allowances and retro earnings (if applicable).
Phoenix displays this gross amount in section 5, Earnings (Total).
Taxable gross
In CWA, this is your taxable earnings amount, which is your gross pay before tax deductions and benefit deductions.
Phoenix divides this amount and displays it in 2 fields:
- section 4, Paycheque summary (Canadian income tax, or CIT Taxable Gross)
- section 7, Before tax deductions (Total for the year-to-date, or YTD)
Total taxes and deductions
In CWA, this is a summary of the statutory taxes and deductions withheld from your payment for the current pay period and year-to-date, or YTD.
Phoenix displays this amount in section 4, Paycheque summary Total taxes and Total deductions).
Net
In CWA, this is your total payment amount, equal to gross pay less all taxes and deductions.
Phoenix displays this amount in section 4, Paycheque summary (Net pay).
Federal tax
In CWA this is the amount the federal government deducts from your pay according to the prescribed rate for your salary bracket.
Phoenix displays this amount in section 6, Taxes (CIT, or Canadian income tax).
Provincial tax
In CWA, this is the amount the government of Québec deducts from your pay if you work in the province, or if you live in this province and requested the deduction.
Phoenix displays this amount in section 6, Taxes (QIT, or Québec income tax).
Superannuation
In CWA, this is your Public Service Pension Plan deduction.
Phoenix breaks this deduction down into 3 parts in section 7, Before tax deductions:
- PSSA low
- PSSA high
- RCA
CPP/QPP
In CWA, this is your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) deduction or your Québec Pension Plan (QPP) deduction, whichever applies.
Phoenix displays this deduction in section 6, Taxes (CPP or QPP).
QPIP
In CWA, this is your Québec Parental Insurance Plan deduction.
Phoenix displays this deduction in section 6, Taxes (QPIP).
Credit union
In CWA, these are your deductions for loan payments, registered retirement savings plans, savings or other such deductions, if applicable.
Phoenix displays this deduction in section 8, After-tax deductions (Credit union deduction).
Association dues
In CWA, these are deductions for your association or union dues.
Phoenix displays these deductions in section 7: Before-tax deductions (Dues).
Death benefits
In CWA, this is the amount deducted for your Supplementary Death Benefit plan coverage.
Phoenix displays this deduction in section 8, After-tax deductions (Supplementary Death Benefit).
Health insurance
In CWA, this is the amount deducted for your Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP), if applicable.
Phoenix displays this deduction in section 8, After-tax deductions (PSHCP)
Retroactive pay and overtime pay
By selecting View Phoenix Paycheque in CWA, you may review retroactive and overtime pay information broken down by period of work and the number of hours per earning type.
On the Phoenix pay stub (accessible via the self-service option), retroactive and overtime pay information includes the earnings description, the code and the amount paid.
Retroactive pay and overtime pay More information
Accessing and interpreting mass retroactive pay statements
In this section, find out where to access detailed information about your mass retroactive pay in the Phoenix pay system, and how to interpret it.
Due to technical difficulties, the Phoenix pay stub and mass retroactive pay statements are currently unavailable.
About retroactive payments
Retroactive pay is a payment made in the current pay period for any increase in wages or salary earned during a past period.
This payment is calculated based on the amount of time employees were active in the affected position. This starts with the effective date of the revision in rates of pay and ends on the last day of the pay period prior to when the new rates of pay were entered in the Phoenix Pay System.
This payment may also include payment for allowances which have been implemented or modified with the signing of the new collective agreement or the arbitral award.
Eligibility for retroactive payments
Employees, former employees, or in the case of death, the estates of former employees who were employees in the retroactive period, are all entitled to a retroactive revision. Casual, term and seasonal employees are also entitled to the revised salary rates. Students are not.
Where to find this information in Phoenix
Log in to Phoenix. To view retroactive (or retro) details for a specific paycheque, follow these steps:
- follow the menu path Self Service / Payroll and Compensation / View Mass Retro Payments
- under Search Criteria enter the Paycheck Issue Date or the Paycheck Number
Note: If you do not enter search criteria, all confirmed cheques with mass retro payments will appear.
How to read the mass retroactive payments page
This page displays information in a total of 9 columns. Each row relates to a specific retroactive pay period.
Column 1: earnings code and column 2: description
Column 1 refers to the type of earning and column 2 describes the code. The description also appears on your Phoenix pay stub.
| Earning code | Description | Earning code overview |
|---|---|---|
| 210 | Adjustment of regular pay, retroactive revision, current fiscal year | Adjustment of regular pay from the effective date in the current fiscal year or April 1, whichever is later, to the date prior to the signing of the collective agreement |
| 211 | Adjustment of regular pay, retroactive revision, prior fiscal year | Adjustment of regular pay from the effective date to the date prior to the signing date of the collective agreement in the previous fiscal year |
| 212 | Adjustment of regular pay, retroactive revision, prior fiscal year 2 | Adjustment of regular pay from the effective date to the date prior to the signing date of the collective agreement in the second previous fiscal year |
| 213 | Adjustment of regular pay, retroactive revision, prior fiscal year 3 | Adjustment of regular pay from the effective date to the date prior to the signing date of the collective agreement in the third, fourth or fifth previous fiscal years |
| 220 | Retroactive overtime, current fiscal year | Adjustment of overtime from the effective date in the current fiscal year or April 1, whichever is later, to the date prior to the signing of the collective agreement |
| 221 | Retroactive overtime, prior fiscal year 1 | Adjustment of overtime pay from the effective date to the date prior to the signing date of the collective agreement in the previous fiscal year |
| 222 | Retroactive overtime, prior fiscal year 2 | Adjustment of overtime pay from the effective date to the date prior to the signing date of the collective agreement in the second previous fiscal year |
| 223 | Retroactive overtime, prior fiscal year 3 | Adjustment of overtime pay from the effective date to the date prior to the signing date of the collective agreement in the third, fourth or fifth previous fiscal years |
Column 3: begin date and column 4: end date
The start and end of the mass retroactive pay period.
Column 5: former annual/hourly rate
The rate of pay before the mass retroactive pay period. Information available from before the conversion to the Phoenix pay system will display your annual rate of pay while information post-conversion will display your hourly rate of pay. This rate also appears on Compensation Web Applications / View Phoenix paycheque.
Column 6: new annual/hourly rate
The new rate of pay following the wage increase. Information available from before the conversion to the Phoenix pay system will display your annual rate of pay while information post-conversion will display your hourly rate of pay. This rate also appears on Compensation Web Applications / View Phoenix paycheque.
Column 7: days/hours worked
The number of hours you worked during the pay period. Information available from before the conversion to the Phoenix pay system will display the number of days worked while information post-conversion will display the number of hours worked. The number of hours worked also appears on Compensation Web Applications / View Phoenix paycheque
Column 8: total amount per earnings code
The total amount of retroactive pay you are entitled to, based on the new rate and the period worked. This amount also appears on your Phoenix pay stub.
How to report errors in your pay
If you believe there is a mistake on your pay stub, visit Get help with Phoenix-related pay issues and follow the process outlined there.
Related links
- How public service pay works
- Phoenix for employees (accessible only on the Government of Canada network)