Is GSK’s pay system fraught with the same problems as Phoenix?

Are the 800 employees of GSK, a multinational pharmaceutical company located in Quebec City, experiencing the same nightmare as thousands of federal public servants, whose lives have been disrupted by the problems of the Phoenix pay system?

Their union firmly believes so. The affected employees who are working, in particular, on producing flu vaccines have begun to notice several errors on their paycheques since Dayforce, the new pay management platform, was implemented. The problem stems from the fact that the human resources department has been split into three different units with one at the production site in Quebec City, one in Laval and one in Toronto.

This platform has caused many headaches for employees since it was introduced. For example, some are not being paid at all, and others are receiving overpayments of several thousands of dollars, which will have to be reimbursed. Though the union has taken up this issue many times with the employer, errors on pay stubs continue to pile up, and no adequate information is being provided so that the data can be accurately verified.

“Our members are dedicated professionals committed to ensuring the health of the Canadian public. They do not deserve to be deprived of their most basic right, which is to be paid their full salary on time. This places them on shaky financial ground, and it’s totally unacceptable,” declared Pascal Bolduc, president of CUPE 3783.

To make matters worse, the company has decided to contract out several of its human resources services in North America and Europe as well is its procurement and IT departments in Quebec to call centres located in India, Costa Rica and Poland, in particular.

“What consequences will this contracting out to foreign countries have aside from undermining the relationship of trust between GSK and its employees, which has already been shaken by the implementation of the Dayforce pay system?” asks Bolduc.

The union is asking GSK to reverse its decision and establish reliable pay and human resources systems at the Sainte-Foy site. Among other things, this will make it possible to find solutions to the major pay-related problems affecting many employees and to create jobs in the region. These employees would therefore have access to resource persons who have extensive knowledge of the collective agreement and the specificities relating to language and labour law in Quebec.