Author Archives: Pierre St-Jacques

Phoenix general damages finally open to retired and former members

After months of waiting, retired and former PSAC members finally have access to Phoenix general damages.

Any former member, legal representative of a former member or estate of a deceased member who worked for the federal public service between 2016 and 2020, and is eligible, can now claim the maximum lump sum of $2,500. This includes compensation for the late implementation of collective agreements during those years due to the Phoenix pay system. Entitlement to compensation is as follows:

2016–17	$1,000
2017–18	$500
2018–19	$500
2019–20	$500

These damages were negotiated in October 2020 by PSAC under the Phoenix pay system damages agreement.

To be eligible to claim each year of the financial compensation, a worker must have been a PSAC member, had their pay processed by Phoenix, and been on strength for at least one day in the applicable fiscal year. To clarify, “on strength” means an employee who was actively working, on leave, on assignment, on long-term disability or otherwise not active, but remained employed.

To receive the amount you are entitled to, you must submit a claim, either online or by mail. Once the claim is evaluated, and you have agreed the government’s calculation of monies owed is correct, the amounts will be paid in one instalment. Please note that general damages payments are subject to overpayment recovery.

Submit your claim online

Submit your claim by mail

If you have questions or need help with the claim process, contact your departmental claims officer. If you have other concerns, please contact the Client Contact Centre.

For more information on Phoenix general damages for retired and former PSAC members please see our FAQs.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

Treasury Board members: Moratorium lifted on automatic leave cash-out

PSAC and Treasury Board have reached an agreement to lift the moratorium on the automatic cash-out of vacation and compensatory leave for the PA, TC, EB, SV and FB groups.

In previous years, in order to address the shortcomings of the Phoenix pay system and allow compensation advisors to focus on fixing outstanding pay issues, PSAC and Treasury Board had agreed to suspend the automatic cash-out of vacation and compensatory leave permitted under PSAC’s collective agreement until March 31, 2022.

Under most of PSAC collective agreements, leave that is earned in a fiscal year and remains outstanding on September 30 of the following fiscal year is subject to an automatic cash-out provision.

Payment of outstanding vacation and compensatory leave credits will resume on March 31, 2022. However, in order to return to the carry-over levels allowed in the collective agreements, PSAC and Treasury Board have agreed on a transition process.

This means that each year, for a five-year period, 20 per cent of the vacation and compensatory leave balances above the annual carry-over limit will be cashed out.

Members with a balance above allowable limits remaining on March 31, 2026, will receive a cash-out for the portion in excess, in its entirety, with respect to the applicable collective agreement provisions.

PSAC acknowledges that many members prefer paid time off over a cash payment in lieu. Members will continue to be allowed to use their vacation and compensatory time or to request a cash-out of their vacation or compensatory leave balances during the year, in the amounts and manner described in their collective agreement.

If a member is having ongoing issues with their leave balance, for example in situations regarding a dispute about the balance due to the Phoenix pay system or a pending transfer situation, in consultation with the employee, the mandatory leave cash-out can be paused by the employer.

For more information on the automatic leave cash-out, members can consult the Memorandum of Understanding.

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

Response to the Montreal Gazette

The following was sent by the CIU National President to the Montreal Gazette’s Editor in response to the article ‘Confusion swirls around ArriveCAN app and its use at the Canadian-U.S. border’, published Dec. 7, 2021.

In a perplexing article, the Montreal Gazette was recently reporting that the federal government was “reining in overzealous border guards” who had “ordered fully vaccinated Canadian travellers to spend 14 days in quarantine for failing to properly fill out the ArriveCAN application.”

Border Officers, who are expected to perform their duties according to the appropriate directives, do not draft public safety or public health policies, do not issue Emergency Orders in Council, and certainly do not design applications for travellers.

That is not to say that the process of entering Canada, made more complex by new policies issued in response to the ever-evolving pandemic, won’t be a source of confusion for some travellers. But it would be woefully misguided to blame Border Officers for a situation they have ultimately no control over, and to do so is to miss the target.

Indeed, officers do not have any leeway or discretionary powers when it comes to applying Orders in Council, and the order issued prior to December 7 essentially boiled down to: Travellers had to complete the ArriveCAN app prior to entering Canada via a land border port of entry, or they would need to quarantine for 14 days.

The above is not due to any ‘overzealousness’ on the part of officers. It is an order issued by the Canadian government, to be applied to all travellers, regardless of vaccination status. Moreover, while this can lead to frustrating situations, the order was phrased in a way that left no room for officers to accommodate travellers. This is of course compounded by the chronic understaffing of border services in general, meaning ports are not as efficient as they could be.

So, where does this leave travellers arriving in Canada? At time of writing, following updated directives issued earlier this week, the situation remains the following:

Travellers are still expected to fill the ArriveCAN app ahead of arrival. This is still mandatory.
As was previously the case, travellers who have not filled out ArriveCAN ahead of time can return to the U.S. to do so, and then re-enter Canada.
Conditions permitting, travellers can now fill out ArriveCAN once at a land border port, although that may not always be operationally feasible.
Travellers who proceed beyond the port of entry without completing the ArriveCAN app will still be required to quarantine.

National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women: Time for concrete action to end gender-based violence

On December 6, 1989, 14 young women were killed at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal simply for being women.

Since then, we have made gains in addressing gender-based violence, but almost 40 per cent of working women in Canada still experience violence in their homes, with ripple effects reaching the workplace and putting their jobs and co-workers at risk. Young, racialized and immigrant women, lesbian and bisexual women, trans and non-binary people, and women with disabilities experience higher rates of harassment and violence, and face more barriers in accessing services and support. Meanwhile, Indigenous women are still waiting for the federal government to take action in response to the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

All of this continues to be amplified by repeated lockdowns and isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paid universal domestic violence leave

Unions have successfully won paid domestic violence leave for federal employees across several provinces and territories, but more needs to be done for survivors working in other vulnerable sectors like health care, education and the hotel and service industry. PSAC also continues to fight for 10 paid days of universal domestic violence leave, so that all working people can access the support they need from their employers when they are trying to leave an abusive situation.

Sexual violence, harassment and misconduct in the federal workplace

Gender-based violence can also happen directly in the workplace. PSAC has been supporting and participating in the class-action lawsuit and ongoing external review on sexual misconduct and sexual harassment (including sexual violence) in Canada’s military. More than 18,000 people have already submitted claims to the class action, and current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of Defence who experienced sexual harassment, assault, or discrimination can still submit their claim until January 24, 2022, under exceptional circumstances.

In honour of the 14 women whose lives were stolen on December 6, 1989, and the thousands of other women, girls, LGBTQ2+ and gender-diverse people who deserve safety and justice, it is time to take concrete action to end gender-based violence once and for all.

What you can do:

If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse anywhere in Canada, visit ShelterSafe to find a shelter nearby and its 24-hour emergency phone number, including those that have formal inclusivity policies around sexual orientations and gender identities;
Attend a webinar to learn more about International Labour Convention C-190, the first global treaty to recognize everyone’s right to work free from violence and harassment, and the impacts of gender-based harassment and violence on Canadian workers;
Demand that the federal government launch a National Action Plan on Violence Against Women
Join the call for 10 paid days of universal domestic violence leave;
Support the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s campaign to #AnswerTheCalls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls;
Learn more through our fact-sheet on domestic violence and COVID-19.

In memory of

Geneviève Bergeron

Hélène Colgan

Nathalie Croteau

Barbara Daigneault

Anne-Marie Edward

Maud Haviernick

Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz

Maryse Laganière

Maryse Leclair

Anne-Marie Lemay

Sonia Pelletier

Michèle Richard

Annie St-Arneault

Annie Turcotte

This article was first posted on the PSAC website.

To commemorate the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, the Canadian flag flying at the CIU National Office, in Ottawa, will be flown at half-mast from sunrise to sunset on December 6.