Since its launch in 2016, the Phoenix pay system has incorrectly interpreted overtime rules, resulting in many cases of Defence Scientists (DS) in the RE Group being underpaid.
We want to hear about your experiences with overtime claims so we can ensure you are paid correctly going forward.
The Pay Centre implemented what they have said will be a fix for overtime payment errors from January 2 forward, however they have not provided us with enough detail to confirm that what is implemented matches our interpretation of the collective agreement.
To ensure that you and other members are properly compensated, we need the following information from you:
- If you claimed overtime as cash after January 2, 2025, we would like to confirm how your payment was calculated to ensure Phoenix pay corrections abide by our collective agreement.
- If you claimed overtime through Phoenix any time before January 2, 2025 (dating back to February 2016), we would like to collect your information in case DRDC is not willing to address retroactive pay issues voluntarily.
If DRDC is not willing to address retroactive pay issues voluntarily, then we may need to pursue individual or group grievances to ensure impacted members receive compensation. Even if you are not interested in participating in a group grievance, it would be useful for us to know how many people are affected.
Please submit this information to Matthew MacLeod at mmacleod@pipsc.ca, and feel free to reach out should you have any questions.
Please note: Overtime claimed as compensatory time is calculated by departmental staff and has generally been calculated correctly as per our understanding of the RE Group collective agreement.
Our main concern is with overtime paid out as cash through Phoenix.
Additional background information
Until January 2, 2025, the pay system treated all DS overtime as fieldwork by default. Management at DRDC consistently told PIPSC and employees not to attempt adjusting overtime claims in Phoenix because the claims would eventually be corrected retroactively.
Incorrect application of fieldwork rules in the pay system could explain many of the pay issues we’ve seen. We believe the Pay Centre’s fix will likely resolve many of these issues, but we’re not convinced it will be a complete solution.
The change could also cause calculation errors for DS claiming compensation for genuine fieldwork time. The Pay Centre advised that overtime in those situations may need to be submitted manually, however, we are not aware of DRDC communicating this to employees and managers.
We will email members with any updates.