Federal employee returns to work after stabbing but paycheque mess leaves her struggling
Winnipeg employee among 80,000 federal government employees affected by Phoenix payroll glitches
A Winnipeg-based federal public servant is still waiting for a full paycheque after returning to work 10 weeks ago, following her recovery from a stabbing incident.
Jenah Klassen, 37, was stabbed three times in a robbery — twice to her stomach, once to her chest — on Christmas Day in 2015. Klassen also broke her thumb trying to defend herself.
The attack occurred just after 9:15 p.m. near Bannerman Avenue and Powers Street in Winnipeg, police confirmed. Klassen said the attackers stole her mp3 player.
After a leave of absence to recover from her injuries, Klassen returned to work May 10. She's been waiting for a full paycheque from the government ever since.
"It's reached that breaking point where, it's like, the stress — of course there's always stress around money — but this just intensifies it all," she said.
"It's just, the system itself, isn't working. And it's creating frustration."
Klassen is one of the tens of thousands of federal government employees affected by issues relating to the problem-plagued Phoenix payroll system, designed by IBM.
The automated system was introduced in early 2016 for some departments. Since then, many public servants like Klassen have come forward to CBC with stories about missing paycheques and even cases of being overpaid.
According to Marie Lemay, deputy minister for Public Services and Procurement, about 720 public servants have not received pay. Another 1,100 have not received parental, long-term disability or severance payments, while more than 80,000 employees entitled to supplementary pay for extra duties, over-time or pay adjustments have had problem.
Klassen, who works as a Service Canada benefits officer with Canada Pensions, said in her small Winnipeg office, five workers have had issues receiving pay since the switch to Phoenix.
"It seems like the people that are being penalized are the people who had a break in service," she said. "You just don't exist on the Phoenix pay system."
After waiting four weeks for money from her employer, Klassen said she applied for emergency pay which offers up to 66 per cent of her regular pay. It kicked in two weeks later.
Meanwhile, she continues to receive a small amount from victim services because Klassen is still on gradual return to work and not yet full time.
"Thank God I'm still on a gradual return to work because victim services is still partially compensating me…. It's not a lot...I have $300 every two weeks basically is what I'd get," she said.
Klassen said she is still waiting for answers as to why she isn't being fully compensated for her work. She estimates she's being underpaid by approximately $1,200 per month.
Hours spent waiting on hold
"It's hard enough living paycheque to paycheque when you're a single income and have a house. But when you're not even getting your full pay — it's a lot of stress," she said.
"I spent an hour and 22 minutes trying to get through the pay centre. Finally got through to the pay centre, then I waited an hour and six minutes on hold to talk to a guy who basically implied that because I'm on a gradual return to work, it's not necessarily a priority."
After explaining the financial hardships, Klassen said the pay centre agent flagged her account as needing urgent attention.
A dozen unions representing federal workers have already filed a notice of application in Federal Court to force the government to pay its employees properly and on time.
Public Services and Procurement said it will try to resolve the payroll issues as quickly as possible.
with files from Katerina Georgieva