Question Period Note: Increase in the backlog

This note focuses on the efforts and progress to stabilize the administration of pay, manage intake of pay transactions, and the ongoing reduction of the backlog.

Note: All questions related to Next Generation Human Resources and Pay solution are in a separate question period card developed by Shared Services Canada

• Canada’s public servants deserve to be paid accurately and on time, every time
  • Due to changes in the public service and many priorities affecting pay, the Pay Centre experienced a significant increase in the number of transactions to process in 2021, and this increase continues in 2022
  • The Government of Canada remains committed to resolving pay issues for public servants, reducing the number of outstanding transactions and continuing to implement numerous measures to improve and support pay stabilization

If pressed on the recent increases in the overall queue and backlog:

• Progress in addressing outstanding transactions has slowed as a result of increases in transactions received at the Pay Centre, and we are working hard to manage new transactions within service standards to minimize and prevent the creation of new backlog transactions
• Many outstanding transactions are highly complex and require specialized review by experienced staff
• We are ensuring that the most complex cases are assigned to our most experienced staff, and we are fast tracking hiring efforts to fill vacancies
• We remain committed to processing the most critical outstanding transactions first, prioritized by transaction age and impact on the employee
• I would note that significant staffing efforts are underway to build capacity within the Pay Centre, with a goal of 525 new hires this fiscal year

Queue and backlog

Since January 2018, PSPC has made significant progress in reducing the overall queue and backlog of pay transactions, however, our progress has slowed somewhat.

Intake and workload at the Pay Centre has grown. Net intake as of November for the 2022 calendar year is now over one million cases (1.14 million), closing in on the total intake for 2019 (1.15 million), surpassing 2020’s total intake (1.03 million), and on track to exceed 2021’s total intake of 1.23 million by 21%.

PSPC continues to make progress on older cases, but that progress has slowed as intake, and therefore the overall queue of work, has grown. These outstanding transactions, both intake and backlog, are not errors – they represent the normal pay administration work we do to support our client population.

In March 2021 the backlog of financial transactions beyond the normal workload was 94,000 cases (a decrease of 76% since the peak of January 2018). As of November 23, 2022, it has grown to 200,000 cases (an increase of 113% since March 2021).

In March 2021 the overall queue of transactions waiting to be processed at the Pay Centre included 261,000 cases (a decrease of 59% since the peak), but as of November 23, 2022, there are 402,000 cases (an increase of 54% since March 2021).

The upward trend is a reflection of the persistent intake pressures at the Pay Centre.

The number of transactions processed each month varies based on a number of factors, such as the complexity of cases, collective agreement implementation and seasonal trends. Intake also shows seasonal trends, with peaks at the end of the calendar year, the end of the fiscal year, and the end of summer, which marks the completion of many casual and student work terms.

Although the Pay Centre processed 55,000 more transactions in 2021 compared to 2020, the increase in output was outpaced by an increase in intake, with 178,000 more transactions received in 2021 compared to 2020. This trend has continued in 2022. As of November 23, 2022, the Pay Centre has processed 125,000 more transactions compared to the same period in 2021. The volume of intake in Q2 2022-23 was 28% higher than Q2 2021-22. The growth in intake is driven by the increase in the population of departments served by the Pay Centre as well as changes in per capita intake trends. Per capita intake is now higher than it was in 2019, having fully rebounded from the dip that began in March 2020.

Improved automation has helped mitigate some of intake's growth. Between 2019 and 2022, intake (i.e., the number of transactions received) has increased by 22%, but workload (i.e., the number of transactions requiring manual processing) has only increased by 7%.

In addition, new challenges have been affecting progress to eliminate outstanding transactions and keep up with new intake since March 2021. These challenges include the high complexity of transactions that remain in the backlog, as well government-wide operational and HR policy priorities which have contributed to workload increases. Examples include critical system upgrades during the summer of 2021, as well as classification conversion, implementation of the mandatory vaccination policy and leave without pay processing, vacation/compensatory leave cash-out, and others.

We continue to focus on addressing outstanding transactions while also working towards processing new transactions within service standards 95% of the time. For example, from December 2020 to August 2022, pre-2020 outstanding transactions decreased from 117,000 to 59,000 (50%).

To date in 2022, the Pay Centre has processed 125,000 (13%) more transactions compared to the same period last year, all the while receiving 183,000 more transactions; a 19% increase from the previous year

In addition, we are increasingly meeting service standards. To date in 2022, the Pay Centre has met service standards 83% of the time on average, compared to 80% in 2021, and 72% in 2020

Latest Public Service Pay Centre dashboard figures

As of November 23, 2022, there are 402,000 transactions ready to be processed for Pay Centre client department and agencies, including:

• 200,000 transactions with financial impact, which include: 177,000 beyond Pay Centre’s normal workload, and 23,000 repatriated to home departments and agencies for processing and closure
• 80,000 financial transactions that are part of Pay Centre’s normal workload
• 63,000 transactions with no financial impact, or general inquiries
• 5,000 collective agreement transactions
• 54,000 transactions waiting to be closed for which employees have already received payment

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