Pay Bulletins
February 2020 Issue
What’s new?
Preparation for Tax Season
Although 2019 tax slips are not yet available in Phoenix, tax season is right around the corner. On that note, employees are encouraged to follow the instructions outlined in the 2019 Tax Season Checklist, which will ensure they are prepared for the upcoming tax season. Additionally, Section 34 Managers should review the instructions outlined in the 2019 Tax Season Section 34 Checklist, in order to fully support their employees during tax time.
Don’t forget to register for Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) My Account for Individuals or Revenu Québec’s My Account for Individuals (if you are a Québec resident) to view your personal income tax and benefit information online (including T4 tax slips, refunds and Registered Retirement Savings Plan limits). Consult the Preparation for the Upcoming Tax Season Infographic to learn more.
Keep in mind that overpayments can have an effect on your tax slip if the overpayment is not reported in the same year it occurred. If you think that you have been overpaid in 2019, you can verify whether an overpayment was recorded in Phoenix Self-Service. See the Important information about overpayments and taxes article for more information.
If there is an error in your tax slip, an amended one will be produced and sent directly to the CRA or Revenu Québec or both. You should regularly monitor your account in Phoenix or Compensation Web Applications (CWA) in case any amendments are made to you tax slips. Amended tax slips will be available electronically by logging into CWA, as well as through the CRA and Revenu Québec websites. Refer to Accessing and managing your tax slips for more information.
Vacation and Compensatory Leave Cash-out for 2020
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will continue to postpone the automatic cash-out of vacation and compensatory leave in 2020. Although employees are encouraged to take vacation to maintain a healthy work/life balance, those who would like their vacation leave and/or compensatory leave cashed out need to make an official request. The process for making this request is outlined below:
Step 1: The employee must fill out a hard copy of the Leave Application and Absence Report [GC-178] form and submit it to their Section 34 Manager for approval and signature.
- Specific codes required for the form can be found in the Compensation Glossary under the topic Voluntary Liquidation of Vacation Leave and/or Compensatory Leave.
Step 2: Managers must then submit the signed form to the Human Resources Service Centre in the following manner:
- Under I am a Manager, select Pay Related Action
- Use the Category of Leave and Sub-Category of Voluntary Leave Payout – Manual Input
- Upload the completed GC-178 form
The next automatic cash-out date of excess hours will be, in most cases, on March 31, 2021, or as stipulated in the relevant collective agreement.
Spotlight On...
The Launch of MyGCPay
Don’t just take our word for it, try this new tool today! MyGCPay was recently launched in an effort to help employees better understand their pay, as well as related inquires and cases. MyGCPay is a single-window view of your pay and benefits information, including pay rates, job records (e.g. actings), enquiries and much more. If you haven’t yet, check out MyGCPay to learn how it can benefit you.
If you are having trouble accessing MyGCPay, and clicking on the link is leading you to CWA rather than MyGCPay, please ensure to clear the cache memory and browsing history in Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer. See below for instructions:
- Microsoft Edge: Click on “Settings and more” (the three dots in the top right corner), choose “Settings”, in the “Clear browsing data” section click on “Choose what to clear”, all relevant boxes are pre-checked, and then click “Clear”.
- Internet Explorer: click on “Tools”, choose “Delete Browsing History”, all relevant boxes are pre-checked, and then click “Delete”.
Timeliness – Reminder for Extensions and Student Hiring
If you are planning to do an initial hire – or an extension – of a student employee, this is a reminder to begin the staffing process as soon as possible.
In order to get your request processed in a timely manner, and mitigate the risk of your employees experiencing pay issues, please ensure that you:
- Request the staffing action, through the Human Resources Service Centre and your HR Advisor, at least 27 business days in advance of the start date, in accordance with the Staffing Timeliness Infographic; and,
- Upload, through the Human Resources Service Centre, all ready-for-pay documentation (including the signed letter of offer and any supporting pay forms) at least 15 business days in advance of the start date.
Respecting these timelines will decrease the likelihood of your employees experiencing pay issues. For more information regarding HR Action Timelines, please consult the Staffing Timeliness Infographic.
Pension Booklets
The Government of Canada regularly issues an annual Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement to all active public service pension plan members. The statement data is drawn from both the PenFax pension and Phoenix pay systems. This year, due to ongoing issues with the Phoenix pay system, some statements may not be accurate. As a result, the Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement will not be issued in either print or electronic format.
Pension and insurance benefits and options are not impacted by the cancellation of the issued statements. As such, employees who are planning to retire should not put those plans on hold as a result.
Until the issues with the Pension and Insurance Benefits Statements have been resolved, employees can access information from the Government of Canada Pension Centre directly.
- Please note that plan members should contact the Pension Centre if:
- They are retiring within six months and need a pension estimate.
- They are leaving the public service and need a pension estimate.
- They are experiencing a change in relationship status and are dividing their pension.
- They are seeking information about a service buyback.
Next Bulletin
ESDC’s Compensation Services Directorate is committed to providing you with monthly updates to help you with your pay. The next edition of ESDC’s Pay Bulletin will be released in March 2020.