Province's AIMS payroll software relaunched two months ago
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) recently noted that is addressing all pay issues in its relaunched payroll system, claiming that all missing pay have been delivered to workers.
That’s just not true, according to one health-care worker.
A Weyburn health-care worker is still missing about $900 from her July 5 paycheque, and half of her workplace colleagues are dealing with similar shortfalls, according to a report from the Regina Leader-Post.
“We are still waiting on the remainder of our pay,” said Samantha Dixon, a medical lab technologist, in the report. “I know there are still errors for my co-workers during that second pay period.”
The issue stems from the province’s Administrative Information Management System (AIMS) payroll software, which the provincial government relaunched for the SHA two months ago.
“It’s not a great system,” said Samantha Dixon, a medical lab technologist, in the Regina Leader-Post report. “It’s not user friendly and just doesn’t work.”
Recently, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 5430 raised concerns over the AIMS payroll system, saying that workers are missing “hundreds, even upwards of a thousand dollars in some cases, on their paycheques” because of it.
“The system is set up in such a way that when there’s a problem with your pay, you create a ticket,” said Bashir Jalloh, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 5430 health-care workers president, in a Global News report.
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“Sometimes they respond — but it’s usually two weeks, three weeks and people are not getting paid and they’re not getting any response. There is a real apprehension from our members.”
In response to the Saskatchewan government’s claim that the pay issues have been address, the union said.
“What I would say is that it does appear to be a minimization of the issue, which has been very hard on our members,” according to the Regina Leader-Post report. “We’re seeing staff missing regular pay, callback, overtime and mileage.”
Cost-of-living woes
One of the problems is around issues with compensation for on-call shifts, which has been a major challenge, said Dixon. She added that she did not take any on-call shifts during the second pay period because she hasn’t been compensated for the first one, according to the report.
“That’s primarily what people are having trouble with. That and overtime,” said Dixon.
This comes at a time when many Canadians are struggling financially, she said.
“I still have debt. I still have things I’m paying off and I have to pay interest on everything that I owe,” she said. “There are a lot of people suffering more than me … Those are people that are choosing between gas, groceries or whatever.”
Financial compensation is the top priority for professionals in different fields, according to a previous report. However, amid the rising cost of living, Canadians are struggling to save up for retirement, according to another report.