As you are aware, the work done by our Compensation staff is considered a critical service and very important to CRA employees so they continue to be paid and are able to support their families and loved ones during this time. Since March 16, the compensation program has focused their efforts on priority critical services with a limited number of 35 operational staff working from home.

As this situation continues to evolve, we are increasing our staff and capacity to expand the types of transactions they are currently processing.

Since April 1, we equipped an additional 75 Compensation Client Service Centre (CCSC) agents to work from home. These agents are dedicated to performing critical functions and you can now expect the following actions to be completed:

• Regular pay: issuing regular pay and entering and approving timesheets for those working irregular hours (7A) on behalf of employees and managers, including emergency salary advances for no pay or low pay situations.
• New hires: starting pay, income tax and direct deposit for new hires.
• Term extensions: ensuring that pay continues until managers can process extension in the Integrated Staffing System.
• Termination of employment: stopping pay for resignations and retirements (including informing the Pension Centre), and for end of terms where the CCSC has received notice, processing final pay and issuing the record of employment.
• Leave without pay and return from leave: stopping pay to ensure there is no overpayment, issuing record of employment, consultation for certain leaves, working with the insurers to send disability applications and reporting monthly earnings, processing maternity and parental allowance and starting pay upon return.

Our National Enquiries Services call centre is not open at this time. If you have questions on upcoming life event changes and are connected, you can refer to the Employee and Work Support – Pay and Benefits webpage and KnowHow. Additionally, you can contact your manager, send an email to the Compensation Client Service Centre or submit a general enquiries webform.

As we continue to increase staff and services, we will communicate again to keep CRA employees informed and manage expectations during this difficult time. We appreciate your understanding and your co-operation, and we hope that you and your families are staying safe.