There’s a new wrinkle in the federal government’s Phoenix pay crisis: growing demands from Canada’s public servants for damages to compensate them for nearly two years of pay errors.

Robyn Benson, president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said the government has an obligation to pay employees properly and the union wants compensation for its failure to do so since Phoenix first went live in February 2016.

It is now estimated that more than half of all public servants are facing some kind of pay problem.

“The government has an obligation to pay its employees and, if not, they have to make them whole,” said Benson.

“There will be, in the end, some sort of damages paid to our members … I think the government will seriously look at how to compensate people for not paying them on time.”

The writing has been on the wall for more than a year. Unions have filed various legal actions and grievances against the government seeking damages for employees.

Union and senior management officials also have held meetings to privately discuss damages, haggling over whether employees should be compensated in time, money or a combination of both — and who should be entitled to damages.

Benson said discussions have included a range of options, from a one-size-fits all approach to damages targeted at those who faced financial hardship or ruin.

She said the circumstances faced by employees vary wildly, with some people getting overpaid, underpaid or not at all over a wide range of time periods, from just a few paycheques to several months. As a result, Benson prefers damages tailored to employees’ individual situations rather than a blanket settlement for everyone.

All damage costs would come on top of the more than $400 million the government has already spent on trying to fix Phoenix, the second phase of a $309 million overhaul of the federal pay system launched by the previous Conservative government.

“Quite frankly, taxpayers have to understand we deserve to get paid,” Benson said.

“I don’t know anyone, other than public servants, who go to work day in and day out without a paycheque. If this was any other company, members wouldn’t go to work. I appreciate it costs taxpayers money and I am a taxpayer too, but the government made these errors, not my members.”

The government is legally bound to pay people properly under the Financial Administration Act and the directive on terms and conditions of employment. Employees have staged lots of protests and marches over Phoenix but there have been no calls for job action, such as wildcat strikes. Public servants have dutifully gone to work, trusting that Phoenix would be fixed.

The government also has fully acknowledged its obligation to pay employees and has even apologized.

PSAC also is waging a battle for compensation on another front at the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board.

PSAC filed a complaint in June 2016 alleging Phoenix glitches amounted to unfair labour practices because they effectively changed the terms and conditions of employment for public servants during a period of collective bargaining.

The union sought various remedies — including an order that public servants should be paid accurately and on time and compensated for the damages they suffered because of Phoenix. The board has yet to release a decision.

Since then, however, PSAC and Treasury Board reached a contract settlement; the union has now filed another complaint with the board and is seeking damages because Phoenix was unable to implement the new collective agreements for more than 100,000 PSAC members by the agreed deadline.

The government has acknowledged it missed the November 2017 deadline to implement the raises and retroactive payments called for under the new contract. It has asked the labour board for an extension and a hearing on the matter because of the “significant complexities” in implementing the collective agreements.

The union, however, wants to settle and has asked for mediation to work out a solution.

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) also has filed policy grievances against Treasury Board for failing to implement new collective agreements within the promised deadlines and wants employees compensated for all “losses, financial or otherwise,” resulting from breaching the agreements.

PIPSC also is calling for its members to inundate the government with individual grievances over pay problems — which could be significant, given that the backlog has grown to more than 619,000 cases waiting to be processed.

A big problem in determining damages is that it’s not clear how long it will be before Phoenix is working properly. The closest the government came to setting a deadline was when Public Services Minister Carla Qualtrough said she is hopeful Phoenix can be stabilized by the end of 2018. A growing number of public servants don’t think it can be fixed by the end of 2018, if at all.

PIPSC President Debi Daviau says 2018 will be the “make-or-break-year” for the government’s credibility on Phoenix.

“That’s still too late, but it at least provides us with a date by when to expect fixes to some major problems,” she said.

“While I’m doubtful, based on their track record, that the government will meet this new deadline, we will continue to do everything we can to assist fixes, while at the same time demanding that a new system that works be built by our members. We’ll also continue to press the government to either hire more staff to assist our members facing Phoenix problems, or expect more grievances.”