Phoenix payroll backlog drops as officials scramble to clear emerging cases
OTTAWA — The head of the federal department overseeing the effort to fix the Phoenix civil-servant payroll system says the government isn’t contemplating legal action, even though at least one other country has gone down that path.
Tech giant IBM created the Phoenix pay system, basing it on the PeopleSoft program that is used worldwide and tailoring it to the needs of the federal civil service.
The state government in Queensland, Australia, unsuccessfully tried to sue IBM for a similar pay-system problem in a case that wrapped up earlier this year. That case was getting started just as the Canadian government went to tender for its new pay system.
Now, the federal Liberal government has budgeted an extra $50 million to handle issues related to Phoenix, including millions to IBM to make fixes to the system.