Single mom calls Phoenix payroll claims mess a 'vicious circle'

Ottawa resident Claire Lavallee was separating from her husbandwhen shegot caughtin the federal government's Phoenix payroll fiasco.

The combination of events put her in such a dire financial situation,she says, she had no choice but to sell her family home.

"It was absolutely terrible. It was one of the worst things I've ever had to do," the public servanttold CBC News during aninterview in her new apartment.

• 10,000 cases remain in Phoenix backlog, cost could rise above $50M
• All Parks Canada student workers caught in Phoenix pay fiasco

More than 80,000 public servants have been underpaid, overpaid, or not paid at all since Ottawa rolled out its new Phoenix payrollprogram.

Lavallee, 28, saidher problems began when she returned to work in Aprilfollowing a year-long maternity leave.

The mother of two said she went a month with no paybefore getting a partial emergency salary advance.

The sporadic pay continuedfor aboutthree months, and included another two emergency advances. But the help wasn't enoughand she found herself unable to keep upwith her bills, including the mortgage. She says she alsomaxed out her credit cards.

Making the situation even more complicated, Lavalleewas supposed to buyout her ex-husband's half of the family home.

She realized that wasn't going to be possiblewhen she was filling out paperwork to complete the deal.

Claire Lavallee had to give up her house because of Phoenix pay problems

8 years ago

Duration 1:22

The 28-year-old mother has a message for the minister and bureaucrats responsible for issues with the pay system

"I arrive at the notary and they say, 'You need to pay us $3,000,' and I wasn't able to because I hadn't been paid in 10weeks," Lavallee said.

She became even more frustratedwhen she couldn't get answers from the government pay centre about when hercase would be resolved.

"I'm sitting at my work, sitting at my desk at work crying, because no one can give me an answer."

Lavallee said her problems were eventually sorted out, and she was paidwhat she was owed by September, five months after her return to work.

Backlog of 10,000 cases remains

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has been working to resolveissues with Phoenix,after launching the system earlier this year. But it doesn't release informationon what happened in individual cases.

The government has hired more than 200 compensation advisors for satellite offices across the country to clear the backlog. It has also opened a call centre in Toronto with more than 100 agents to assist public servants.

During a briefing held on Dec.14, PSPCconfirmed 95 per cent of the backlog had been cleared, with about 10,000 cases left to be resolved.

Marie Lemay, the deputy minister of PSPC, admits progress has been "slow,"and blames delays on the complex nature of the outstandingcases in the backlog.

The department has said the remaining problems are taking so long to deal with, because the cases existed before Phoenix was launched.

Mom says there aremore challenges

Lavallee says she now is facing a new Phoenix-related challenge.

In September, she says, she submitted an out-of-pocket expense claimfor the interest fees and penalty charges she racked up when she wasn't able to pay her bills.

The government has promised to reimburse public servants for those kinds of expenses.

"I followed the guidelines.I gathered all of my information and submitted it all at once," Lavallee said.

But the statements she was given by her bank to use as proof of hardship were not enough for the government to approve her claim of more than $1,000.

"So it's like I'm stuck in this vicious circle, where I can't get any more information, [and] the information I have isn't good enough."

Lavallee said thatas a single mom, $1,000 makes a significant difference in her budget, especially around the holidays.

"It's the difference between like, having a stocking for my kids for Christmas, and having the toys that they would like."