Madam Speaker, I want to be very clear from the outset that the ongoing public service pay problems are completely unacceptable. I want to also assure the House that our government is as committed as ever to making sure that public servants are being paid for the work they do.
Every pay period, nearly 300,000 public servants from 101 departments and agencies receive more than $500 million in payments through the Phoenix payroll system. Representatives from our department are working hard to ensure that every employee is getting paid what they are owed.
Representatives from my department are working hard to ensure that every employee is getting paid what they are owed. Temporary satellite pay offices were set up this summer to help resolve the pay problems while allowing the ongoing processing of regular transactions. The system is being improved and efforts are being made to streamline the process and increase efficiency.
The steps our government is taking to make an impact in reducing the backlog and improving the system include the following.
For example, we were able to process approximately 100,000 transactions a month in September and October, compared to the 40,000 cases that were processed in May when employees were adjusting to the new system.
Compensation employees are working day and night, seven days a week, to clear the backlog and ensure that each and every Government of Canada employee is paid accurately.
Two weeks ago, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement went to Miramichi to thank the employees for their hard work. While she was there, she delivered a message that we would continue to support them and to keep all satellite offices open as long as needed.
To date, we have ensured that 64,000 employees have had their cases resolved. Currently, there are approximately 18,000 employees with some form of outstanding pay transactions remaining in the backlog.
Most new pay requests are expected to be processed within 20 days. However, we are only meeting our service standards 20% to 30% of the time. Because of this slowdown in processing, the number of transactions in the system has expanded so that we now have more than two months of additional work representing 200,000 transactions. We will progressively return to normal processing over the next few months.
The Government of Canada has established a reimbursement process that will ensure that employees who have received overpayments because of payroll problems are treated fairly. A number of repayment options will be made available to them that will take into account their needs and reduce the associated financial burden as much as possible.
The important thing to remember is that we are committed to helping every employee who is having pay problems. That is a priority for us, and we are taking this situation very seriously.