Message to employees and pensioners regarding salary overpayments as a result of the implementation of Phoenix

The pay issues currently being experienced are unacceptable and the Government of Canada is working very hard to resolve them.

Ensuring all employees are paid the money that they have earned remains our priority. Recently, some employees who have been overpaid have expressed a desire to repay these overpayments before December 31, 2016 to avoid any potential tax implications.

The Government of Canada has established a repayment process that will ensure that those who have been overpaid as a result of pay administration issues are treated fairly, and have multiple repayment options to suit their needs and minimize financial hardship.

The Process

When an employee has received a salary overpayment of more than 10% of their gross bi-weekly pay, they can either repay those amounts in one lump sum or in installments. These can be deducted from payroll or submitted by cheque.

If you are paid through the Pay Centre in Miramichi and are in an overpayment situation, you can contact the Call Centre at 1-855-686-4729 to make arrangements for the recovery of overpayments. If you are not receiving pay services from the Pay Centre, you can contact your department directly to make these arrangements.

If you choose to not make arrangements with the Call Centre, the Pay Centre will send you a letter in the coming weeks that will provide you with options available to repay the amounts owing.  You will be contacted only when the correct salary and allowance payments owed have been received, and your regular pay has resumed.

Please note that emergency salary advances and priority payments are not overpayments; these funds will be recovered once your situation has been resolved and you have received your full salary owed. Recovery will be made over the same length of time in which you received the advances.

Detailed information about the overpayment recovery process and your options can be found on our website.

We know how frustrating this situation is and we are working tirelessly to resolve all outstanding pay issues and help those who have suffered financial stress.

Yaprak Baltacıoğlu,
Secretary of the Treasury Board

Marie Lemay, P.Eng., ing.
Deputy Minister
Public Services and Procurement Canada