Phoenix payroll glitch leaves Kentville woman in the red

Carolyn MacLellan says she has yet to be paid for six weeks of work due to an ongoing issue with the Phoenix payroll system, the automated payroll system that the federal government uses to pay public serviceemployees.

MacLellanworks in the kitchen at Canadian Forces Camp Aldershot and says she is owed 190 hours worthof pay, $2,900. When she looked at her bank account Wednesday, the money still isn't there.

"Unfortunately there was no money, no funds in there at all," said MacLellan."I wasn't prepared for that because I was led to believe that it was going to be in there and everything was going to be worked out."

Falling behind onbills

This marks the third time MacLellan said she was told the money would be deposited.

She said she and her husband haven't been able to keep up with their bills.

"I owe my brother some money," said MacLellan. "He was nice enough to lend me some money to tide me over until this gets settled and we do have a credit card we want to get resolved and paid for."

'We inherited the mess, but we're fixing it'

MacLellan is one of many Canadians who have had their payroll scheduledisrupted as a result of the Pheonix payroll system, a system that was introduced last winter.

Treasury Board president and MacLellan's MP Scott Brison said his Liberal party cannot be blamed for the problems. He said a new call centre will be set up to handle the large volumes of calls around the problem.

"The pay system deteriorated under the previous government and when they finally acted there was a flawed implementation of the new Phoenix system so we inherited a mess but we're fixing it," said Brison.

MacLellan said that may be too little too late.

"It's been a strain on me mentally and physically, we're both diabetic and there's only so much a person can take. I can't even get my record of employment because I can't get a record of the hours that I did work," said MacLellan.