RADAR - Issue 13, August 2021

NEXTGEN

WHAT IS NEXT FOR THE PAY SYSTEM?
DFO is participating in a Next Gen pilot

Since early 2018, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) has been exploring a “NextGen” HR and pay solution which must be digital, mobile, accessible, and based on users’ needs.

In an initial exploratory phase, the NextGen Team worked with Canadian Heritage, a less complex department, to determine how well the SAP system would meet the needs of the GoC and to identify potential challenges. At the same time, the DFO-Coast Guard Pay Team participated in 11 different interdepartmental working groups to ensure that the HR and pay requirements of our department were understood and remained at the forefront of any new system configuration.

Now, the project is entering a design and experimentation phase in which the proposed solution will be tested against the real complexities of highly operational departments like ours.

As DFO participates in this pilot aimed at tackling more complex transactions and technicalities, your Pay Team will again be working closely with TBS and Shared Services Canada (SSC) to ensure that the eventual HR and Pay solution that will be developed will address the needs of the diverse employees of our department - including biologists, hatcheries employees, radio operators, Fleet, and everyone in between!

The government is using an agile process so that any gaps to meeting our requirements are identified early in this phase and can be addressed before moving to the next phase of development.

See the TBS and SSC NextGen websites for more information about the project.

NEXTGEN DESIGN PHASE Q&A

Will my pay be affected?
No. Pay will continue to be calculated for payment by Phoenix during this pilot phase. This new project will run in parallel and will not impact Phoenix operations in any way.
How will DFO be involved?
The SAP vendor’s solution will be tested against real-world HR and pay scenarios from DFO. Subject matter experts from the DFO-Coast Guard Pay Team will be working closely with SSC and TBS to ensure that the proposed solution will work for all DFO-Coast Guard employees, adhere to collective agreement requirements, and ensure that all of the HR-to-Pay needs at DFO are met.
Do I have to do anything?
No, the NextGen HR to Pay project will all be “behind the scenes.” Users’ feedback from “user expos” held in 2019 were incorporated into developing the options for a new pay system. If you have further thoughts to share, you can join the conversation using #NextGenHRPay.

PHOENIX 101
Employee Records*
*only applies to employees who do not have an assigned timekeeper

Phoenix creates an employee record for each position you hold—one for your substantive position, and one for each acting you take. It contains the information about your group, level and increment step in that position so that it can calculate your pay correctly.

It is critical that:

any time you change position, you verify the section 34 manager selection and the work schedule on the newly created record.
you make sure that any time entries** are made on the correct employee record.

Each section of the Employee Reference Guide will help you ensure you are taking action on the right employee record. See also the relevant videos on the Let’s Talk Pay YouTube Channel.

** “Time” includes overtime, entitlements or leave without pay of 5 consecutive days or less, except for “As and When Required” employees or employees on approved rehab, for whom it includes all time worked.

SENDING A PAR

Let’s get this right so we can make sure it is accepted by the Pay Centre!

DO: Ensure that your PAR is completed electronically, uses the current version of the form, is legible, includes all necessary documentation and is sent in an editable format.

The Trusted Source must be able to add their certification. Any PAR that is not editable and does not have all necessary documents attached and signed will be returned to the submitter.

DO: Always send your PAR to the DFO Centralized Trusted Source for processing at the Pay Centre.

The Trusted Source will authenticate the Section 34 delegation of the manager, ensure that all supporting documents are included and signed, and forward to the Pay Centre for processing. The most common reason for rejection is no Trusted Source.

DON’T: CC the Pay Centre when submitting your PAR to the Trusted Source.

The third most common reason PARs are rejected is that the Pay Centre is included in cc.

For more information, see Pay Action Requests (PAR).

USEFUL LINKS

PAR Quick Reference Guide: find out what documentation you require for your PAR
Manager Toolbox: check out the new pages about staffing actions
MyPay: MyPay can help with pay questions and issues, but did you know that you can also put “Time and Labour” in the subject line for help whenever Phoenix doesn’t behave as expected?

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RADAR - Issue 13, August 2021