Hundreds of Government of Alberta workers experiencing payment issues

EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) says thousands of Government of Alberta workers are missing payment after issues with a new payroll system.

“A new system called 1GX introduced in December is causing chaos,” said Susan Slade, vice-president of AUPE in a release.

“I know the UCP government likes to blame the federal government for all its woes, but this time it seems to have decided to mimic the problems created by Ottawa’s Phoenix payroll system.”

She says about 5,000 workers may be experiencing issues with their pay.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for Service Alberta says so far they have received approximately 531 reports of payroll issues.

“Our members are angry and rightly so,” she wrote.

“This system was introduced before it was ready and there was inadequate training for workers or managers. It is clearly incapable of handling the complexity of a large, complex workforce with members working a vast variety of different jobs and different shifts.”

“It’s a slap in the face to all these employees who are working on the front lines of a pandemic and economic crisis. They should not have to fight to get the money they are owed. They have bills to pay and need the money.”

The problems are currently being worked on, but AUPE members want the solutions now before the problems grow.

However, a response to an email stated that there was no time estimate and there was nothing they could due to hurry the solution.

“This is unacceptable. It’s bad enough that these dedicated workers have to go to work every day enduring attacks from the government, facing thousands of job losses and attempts to slash their wages, but to not pay them for their work is insulting. It’s par for the course for a government that can’t seem to get anything right.”

In a response to 660 NEWS, the Government of Alberta says they are working to fix the issues.

“We understand the concerns that staff have on this, we are resolving these concerns as soon as possible, and are confident that the issues experienced will not be a long-term concern.”

“In the meantime, payments are being made available to impacted staff. Supporting Alberta Public Service staff is our top priority. Affected staff will be paid appropriately. They have been contacted by their managers and are working together with Service Alberta to resolve the issue.”