Pay Bulletins

• Income tax slips for 2020 (T4 or Relevé 1)
• Quebec taxable benefits: 2021 rates
• PSAC - Phoenix general compensation damages payments
• New claims process for severe personal or financial impacts due to Phoenix

ESDC employees will have access to their tax slips as of Wednesday February 24, 2021. To avoid network access issues, employees should not log in to retrieve their tax slips ahead of this date.

On or after February 24, 2021, employees can access 2020 tax slips through Compensation Web Applications, MyGCPay (under the Pay cheque tab) or Phoenix Employee Self Service using the menu paths:

• Main Menu > Self Service > Payroll and Compensation > View T4/T4A Slips
• Main Menu > Self Service > Payroll and Compensation > View RL-1/RL-2 Slips

The 2020 tax slips will also be available on the Canada Revenue Agency and the Revenu Québec websites by week of February 22, 2021, for individuals registered with My Account.

Paper copies will be mailed to former employees and employees who are on leave and do not have access to Phoenix Self-Service by February 28, 2021.

After March 8, 2021, former employees or current employees on leave who have not received their 2020 tax slips can contact the Client Contact Centre at 1-855-686-4729 to request a copy.

Please take note of the following tax-related reminders for employees who were working remotely in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic:

• The "province of employment" reported in box 10 on the T4 is the employee's normal work location. The province of work, for taxation purposes, will not change.
• Employees will still receive a Relevé 1 where their province of employment is recorded as being located in Quebec.
• CRA has waived the requirement for employers to ensure their employees have access to a secure printer from which to print their T4 slips. As such, employees are responsible to print their tax slips through personal means, if required.

For more information on taxes, consult Tax slips for employees and How do I find more information on tax slips and the tax filing process?

Please refer to the Information Notice posted on Canada.ca/pension-benefits for more information regarding the 2021 rates for the Quebec Taxable Benefits.

Following the signing of the Phoenix damages agreement with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) in October 2020, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) will be starting to provide lump-sum payments, as provided for in the agreement, to eligible employees.

Employees that have been represented by PSAC or have been in an excluded PSAC position can expect to receive an additional lump-sum payment of up to $2,500 with their March 3, 2021 pay

Employees may receive up to $2,500 ($1,000 for 2016-17 and $500 for each of the following three fiscal years) for general compensation for damages incurred by the Phoenix pay system and compensation for the late implementation of the 2014 collective agreements.

More detailed information will be shared once available about how changes to employee work situations and the leave credits employees may have received under the 2019 damages agreement may affect lump sum payment amounts.

A new claims process has been launched by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to compensate eligible current and former employees who have experienced severe personal or financial impacts as a result of issues with the Phoenix pay system. This latest claims process is another element of the 2019 Phoenix Damages Agreement. Additional information with regards to this agreement will be communicated at a later date.

Claims for severe personal or financial impacts could include financial losses, mental anguish or other impacts attributed to Phoenix pay issues. Employees who took sick leave or other types of paid or unpaid leave because of an illness stemming from pay issues may also be eligible to apply for compensation through this new process.

This new claims process is in addition to existing claims processes for expenses, financial costs and lost investment income, as well as general compensation for former employees, which continue to be available.

For information on "How to submit a claim" refer to the Claim damages caused by Phoenix: compensation for severe impacts procedure.

For additional information, consult: Claims and Compensation: Phoenix pay system.

Please note that processing times may be longer given the complex nature of these types of claims.