Earlier this year, Treasury Board announced it would be implementing a “pay in arrears” system for federal government employees as part of their Pay Modernization Initiative.
Public service employees are paid on a “current” basis. They receive their pay on a Wednesday for the 10 day pay period that ends on that same day. As the pay needs to be processed several days in advance, any changes to an individual’s pay in those last few days (such as leaves or acting pay) is not accounted for immediately, but requires pay adjustments in subsequent paycheques.