INFORMATION BULLETIN
For Immediate Release 2002MSER0011-001101 Dec. 16, 2002		Ministry of Management Services
PAYROLL PROCESS MODERNIZATION TO SAVE B.C. $3.5 MILLION

VICTORIA – The B.C. government is changing the payroll process for its full- and part-time employees starting February 2003. This reform, including pay period realignment, will save taxpayers $3.5 million by fiscal 2004-05 and result in a more streamlined payroll operation.

 

To set up this new process, the province must introduce a mandatory one-week shift in the payroll cycle for all full- and part-time employees, including union and management staff. During the February transition pay period, employees will be paid for one week’s work. To reduce the impact of this adjustment, government is advancing employees the equivalent of one week’s pay so they will receive an amount equal to their regular two-week paycheque. The advance will be recovered during the remainder of the year through a number of options, including payroll deduction and the use of various vacation banks.

 

While pay periods will be shifted by one week, employees will not lose any pay. During an employee’s career with the B.C. government, he or she will be paid for every week worked.

 

Modernizing the province’s payroll process will result in government employees being paid one week after the work has been completed. Paydays will not change. Under the current process, an employee’s bi-weekly paycheque is based on one week actually worked and the estimated pay for one week not yet worked. This often results in inaccurate cheques that require later adjustments because they do not reflect days missed, overtime worked or holidays taken during that second week. There are currently overpayments of approximately $650,000 that require time-consuming, labour-intensive administrative adjustments.

 

By the end of 2003, further changes to the payroll system will also provide employees with secure self-service Web-site access to up-to-date personnel information. 

 

Adopting pay period realignment brings B.C. in line with accepted practice in some other provinces, private-sector organizations, and B.C. public sector employers such as provincial health authorities and the British Columbia Buildings Corporation. The payroll changes are part of the government’s work to implement process enhancements and streamlined business practices that will result in significant efficiencies and costs savings for taxpayers.

 

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Media contact:	Ministry of Management Services Public Affairs Bureau 250 356-9869