The federal Pay Equity Act was passed nearly two years ago, yet it has not been implemented.
This act is meant to proactively guarantee that workers in woman-dominated jobs receive equal pay for equal work, when compared to man-dominated jobs. The creation of this legislation in 2018 was a historic moment in the fight against systemic gender-based discrimination and pay disparity between men and women.
While the implementation acts were being passed, we developed recommendations to improve the Pay Equity Act and ensure the timely implementation of this important legislation. We want to see improved transparency, clarity of application requirements, and improved salary adjustment calculations, among other recommendations.
On January 13, 2021, PIPSC President Debi Daviau submitted our position to the Consultation on Pay Equity Regulations.
Our recommendations are based on our knowledge of the specific challenges that provincial pay equity regimes face, as well as our strong desire to ensure the successful implementation of pay equity at the federal level. Those recommendations were shared and improved through discussion with the other unions under the leadership of Canadian Labour Congress.
In solidarity, we have also raised our concern about the ability of non-unionized women workers in small organizations to access pay equity protections. Many of these workers are in precarious and part-time jobs and are known to face discrimination in terms of pay equity and benefits. The current regulations on pay equity do not include any specific provision to protect these workers or guarantee them equal pay for work of equal value.
President Daviau speaks about NAV CANADA at parliamentary committee
On January 26, 2021, PIPSC President Debi Daviau appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. She presented our members’ concerns about the situation at NAV CANADA and how to best ensure its continued viability.
If you were underpaid by Phoenix and were unable to pay bills on time, and subsequently incurred costs such as interest charges or administrative fees, these are out-of-pocket expenses that may be eligible for a reimbursement.
Your claims officer will be able to update you on the status of your claim.
Unfortunately, PIPSC is unable to see the status of your claim. If your claim is rejected, fill out our Phoenix help form and include a copy of your claim as well as a copy of the denial letter, along with any other relevant supporting documentation.
Make a claim for financial costs and lost investment income
The claims process for severe financial cost or loss caused by Phoenix is now available.
We encourage you to look carefully at your situation to see if you are eligible to make a claim.
You should make a claim for this type of compensation as a result of Phoenix if you have experienced anyof the following:
your pay, severance or pension was delayed
you cashed in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, interest-bearing accounts or GICs
you withdrew money early from your RRSP
We signed a compensation agreement with the Treasury Board in June 2019. All current members paid by Phoenix have received general compensation of additional leave days and a process for former members to claim equivalent compensation has been launched.
Now the claims process is available to provide compensation for your specific financial losses. We have worked hard to ensure you are repaid every cent you are owed.
This claims process for financial compensation as a result of Phoenix is administered directly by the Treasury Board. If you are submitting a claim for compensation, it is not necessary to file a grievance as well. If you have already filed a grievance, it is important that you also submit a claim to receive your compensation.
For further information about Phoenix compensation generally, please read our FAQs.
If you have questions or need support filing your claim, please contact:
This claims process for financial compensation as a result of Phoenix is administered directly by the Treasury Board. If you are submitting a claim for compensation, it is not necessary to file a grievance as well. If you have already filed a grievance, it is important that you also submit a claim to receive your compensation.
For further information about Phoenix compensation generally, please read our FAQs.
If you have questions or need support filing your claim, please contact:
The compensation agreement that we negotiated also includes a claims process for people who experienced severe hardship or were required to take leave as a result of Phoenix.
You may be able to submit a claim if you experienced one or more of the following situations:
You are a current or former employee who has a documented use of paid or unpaid leave (including sick leave) caused by illness, stemming from issues with your pay attributed to the Phoenix Pay System (the $1,500 threshold does not apply)
You are a current or former employee who began maternity or parental leave or disability insurance and experienced a pay issue attributed to the Phoenix Pay System that led to the disruption in receipt of pay or associated benefit/entitlement (the $1,500 threshold does not apply)
You are a current or former employee who experienced an adverse impact due to an issue with your pay stemming from the Phoenix Pay System and are alleging a discriminatory practice as defined under the Canadian Human Rights Act (the $1,500 threshold applies)
You are a current or former employee who has a claim as a consequence of:
your loss of occupational capacity
your loss of required security clearance
a significant credit rating impact
bankruptcy which is directly attributable, in whole or in part, to the Phoenix Pay problems you experienced (the $1,500 threshold applies)
You are a former employee who has a claim related to having resigned from the public service as a consequence of a loss of income leading to financial hardship caused by the Phoenix Pay System (the $1,500 threshold applies)
You are a current or former employee who experienced mental anguish or trauma, which interfered with your ability, to a profound degree, to lead a normal life, and which went beyond the normal distress, annoyance and anxiety suffered in the circumstances, caused in whole or in part by the Phoenix Pay System (the $1,500 threshold applies)
You are a current or former employee who experienced other damages which disclose comparable personal hardship or impact caused in whole or in part by the Phoenix Pay System (the $1,500 threshold applies)
Ensure that your expenses meet the necessary $1500 threshold if the threshold applies to your claim. (Remember that you may already have met this $1500 threshold if you have previously submitted a successful claim under the process for financial costs or investment losses.)
We must continue to work together, in solidarity, to advocate for professionals in our workplaces, build on the strength and influence of our union, and push for the Canada we believe in.
"I hope our members know that we are working to ensure their health and safety, protecting their rights and that we’re here to listen if they do have concerns.”
Simone Zobatar has devoted years of her volunteer time to our union. Like many of us, she began contributing as a union steward after being encouraged by a member of her group’s executive.
She was then quickly appointed to the group executive as a member at large. Over the years, her confidence, skill and experience grew as she took on roles as Treasurer, Vice-President and in April 2018 was elected AFS Penticton sub group President.
A path that many PIPSC members follow, there is a place for everyone in our union’s leadership.
“Since becoming a steward, I have had the opportunity to learn from some of our great leaders, in our regional office, our AFS group President, our national President. Collectively, I know they work countless hours for our members across the country and it’s rewarding to be a part of that. It’s rewarding to help our members find solutions for issues that may come up for them.”
Simone knows that this hard work pays off, pointing to the work and life balance that our union work has ensured. She values being able to take leave if her children are sick or have an appointment or to care for an elderly parent.
Beyond this, in the last round of bargaining PIPSC won a new leave for a “person who stands in place.” This means that members can now access leave to care for a close friend or family member who wouldn’t have previously met the definition of family. Simone knows so many people who don’t have access to these kinds of paid leave and can’t care for the ones who mean so much to them.
As a union leader, Simone has worked hard to build strong relationships with management. These relationships allow for productive collaboration that prevent many of the issues that could arise in her workplace. Even while working from home, she will continue to prioritize this strategic approach to labour relations.
Simone is so proud to help local members find resolution to workplace issues. The most important thing for her is to make sure that members know that we are here for them.
A Chartered Professional Accountant, Simone, works for CRA as an auditor. Her workdays are spent auditing high net worth individuals and their related entities to make sure they pay their fair share of taxes.
She says, “an incredible amount of money leaves this country because people are avoiding paying taxes.”
Simone follows the money to figure out tax avoidance schemes. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Simone and her colleagues retrieve are used to provide the infrastructure, health care and public services Canadians deserve.
“When you see people working hard, making a decent salary, paying more taxes than these companies that make hundreds of millions of dollars, that’s the frustrating part. We bring in hundreds of millions of tax dollars when we uncover these tax schemes. And this has a substantial impact on all Canadians,” Simone explains.
Canadians benefit from the work of public servants, Simone reminds us.
“For example, the systems that our CS Group was able to implement in order to administer pandemic benefits on such a timely basis, is second to none. They were able to get money out to people that really needed it,” she shared proudly.
Public servants have a great impact on our economy, our social programs, our health and well-being. And that impacts the lives of everyone in our country.
Departments are in the process of reviewing job descriptions. The review and update of job descriptions is part of a regular classification cycle aimed at reflecting the evolution of work in a position.
The Premier of New Brunswick wants a one-year wage freeze and three years with only a 1% annual increase for public servants.
Wages and salaries should be determined through a process of good-faith bargaining. Imposing unilateral salary rates through the legislature is a violation of our members’ Charter rights. We will work with all other bargaining agents to push back against any such attempt.
Public service workers have worked hard to see the province through this pandemic. They deserve respect and a fair deal, not a unilateral imposition of new rates of pay by the Premier.
Premier Higgs has said these cuts are in preparation for cuts in funding from the federal government however federal funding remains stable at this time. Federal leaders have repeatedly stated publicly that austerity is not the solution to COVID-19 related economic downturns.
The provincial opposition members have suggested that Premier Higgs is taking this opportunity to forward his own agenda and implement unnecessary cuts to public service wages.
A wage freeze and years with only a 1% wage increase mean that our members will be earning less over time as their incomes will not even keep up with the cost of living.
This one-year salary freeze has already been implemented for non-unionized public servants in New Brunswick.
We are working with all other bargaining agents to push back against this wage freeze.
Consultation Team President Doreen Weatherbie and PIPSC Atlantic Regional Office Manager Paul Hartigan testified before the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs about staffing and workload issues at the department.
During the first wave of the pandemic, asymptomatic hospital employees who were required to self-isolate because of a suspected COVID-19 exposure were provided leave with pay.
Now, these same hospital staff are being forced to take leave without pay or other forms of leave, like vacation.
It is abhorrent to penalize essential service workers required to self-isolate to protect the hospital workforce and their patients during a global pandemic.
PIPSC President Daviau has written to the Ontario Minister of Health, the Ontario Hospital Association and the Chief Executive Officers of the provincial health care institutions where our members work – making clear that this change in leave with pay provisions is unacceptable.
If you are an Ontario hospital worker required to self-isolate due to possible COVID-19 exposure and you are not being provided leave with pay please get in touch with us now for support.
At this time, leave is being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. This type of management discretion guarantees inconsistencies and inequity, adding another layer of distress for thousands of workers, mainly women, who are Canada’s first-line responders to the pandemic crisis.
This is an unacceptable way to treat essential hospital workers.
We are calling on the government to reverse this decision and find a suitable solution allowing paid leave to continue to be used by our members in these exceptionally difficult circumstances.
We will provide more information to our members as we receive responses from the Minister of Health and hospital managers.
A number of present and former Black federal public servants have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Treasury Board for anti-Black discrimination.
We stand in solidarity with these Black workers and all Black public servants.
“We know that Black public service professionals experience discrimination at work and that’s why we support the objectives of this lawsuit and any other action that seeks justice and equity for Black federal public servants” said PIPSC President Debi Daviau. “I have instructed our legal counsel to reach out to the counsel for this lawsuit and explore how our union may be able to support this effort to end systemic anti-Black discrimination in the Federal public service.”
The class-action lawsuit argues that Black federal public servants experience systemic discrimination and specifically are excluded from career advancement and promotions.
The lawsuit seeks damages, the implementation of a Diversity and Promotional Plan for Black Public Service Employees related to the hiring and promotion of Black employees within the public service and new policy that would require the number of Black employees to reflect the percentage of Black people in the population, at a minimum. The lawsuit also asks for a compensation fund to address the psychological suffering and financial losses of past and present Black employees.
In 2017, the federal government released “Building a Diverse and Inclusive Public Service,” the final report of the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion. PIPSC actively participated in the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, which consulted with over 12,000 public servants and invested over a year in drafting its report. The government has yet to implement the recommendations of the task force.
“The federal government has acknowledged that systemic racism is prevalent in Canadian society and within government institutions, but it has yet to take action on the recommendations of the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion,” said Daviau. “It’s time to end anti-Black discrimination in the government’s own hiring and promoting practices.”
