Emails and spreadsheets are created, saved, and deleted with such ease that, for many, they are regarded as inconsequential records. The “big idea” in this blog is that poor management of emails and spreadsheets in a British Columbia payroll system is leaving public-sector workers open to potential loss of pay, as well as costing the taxpayer more in resolving pay disputes. The author will argue that the attitude towards the proper retention of emails and spreadsheets has to change. The public-service sector that this relates to will remain anonymous throughout the blog.
From the Government of Alberta’s missing 800,000 emails, to the deletion of two years’ worth of the Governor’s emails in South Carolina, controversies surrounding records of electronic communication are endless. Spreadsheet controversies may not be making the same headlines as emails have in recent times; however, the risks of failing to correctly handle spreadsheets can have serious consequences.
Victoria Lemieux suggests in her article that the neglect of spreadsheet archiving is more common than we think. This appears to be an accurate reflection. Public sector payroll systems have been centralized in many provinces. The Phoenix system, a federal payroll system, is facing particular scrutiny at this time. The system being used in one particular sector here in British Columbia relies on employees submitting their pay on spreadsheets via email.
A number of years ago this public-service sector faced issues similar to the issues that federal workers are currently facing with the Phoenix payroll system. A new centralized pay system was rolled out that adopted a software program used for both scheduling and paying certain categories of BC public workers. For the best part of a year after its roll-out, public servants were underpaid, overpaid, or not paid at all.
These issues were in large part due to the increased volume of paperwork being submitted. The new system relied on Excel forms and emails; this meant that each individual worker was responsible for filling out their daily payroll on a spreadsheet and submitting it to payroll via email. Previously, this work had been the sole responsibility of the manager in their unit. The volume of paperwork arriving into the centralized office in Vancouver for the first 12 months could simply not be entered into the software program quickly or accurately enough for workers to be paid correctly, if at all.
Thankfully, the volume issue has mostly been addressed by hiring more data entry clerks and improved software training. However, the public servants are potentially still at risk because there is no proper records management system in place for these payroll emails. Once the employee submits their pay, this is entered by an office clerk. The email is stamped by the clerk with the date the submission was keyed, and after the bi-weekly payroll cut-off, this email and spreadsheet form is “archived” in Outlook. This means that the original email is moved from the inbox to another location on the server; the email is not duplicated or backed up.
There are a number of issues to highlight with this process. First of all, not all clerks follow the correct naming convention when stamping emails, so emails may be difficult to locate later on. Also, there are only two clerks in the office who have access to the Outlook “archive”. If one of these clerks is absent, responses to pay queries are often delayed. Moreover, there are no retention schedules for these records.
Frequently, spreadsheets or emails cannot be located in the Outlook “archive”. If a pay discrepancy arises for an employee, the centralized office may not be able to locate the original email. If the employee has not kept a record of the transaction themselves, this pay discrepancy will be extremely slow to resolve and may not be resolved at all.
So, we can see there are risks to public servants that stem from a poor records management system. If an employee does not retain their pay submission—which is a regular occurrence—and if payroll is unable to locate the submission, this creates issues when a pay discrepancy arises. Pay issues are often slow to resolve, cause immense frustration to the employee, and cost the employer and taxpayer time and resources to resolve.
A temporary solution is that these workers need to be trained to realize the importance of the spreadsheet record and email submissions that they are creating. This can be done simply by explaining that there is no appropriate records management system in place. It would mean more employees taking responsibility for their own records, which is by no means an ideal solution.
Lemieux argues that organizations need to introduce procedures for the retention of spreadsheets as poor archiving only contributes to operating risk. The payroll system in this government sector highlights problems with the poor management of emails and spreadsheets. The money spent on an electronic records management system would save the employer and taxpayer a lot of money and time, and the employees a great deal of frustration.
Dawn of a new era
If nothing else, technology has done a terrific job of making certain generations feel the age gap more than others in terms of several types of word processors becoming obsolete within one lifetime. However, the next shift in the digital era could mean the end of paper, the reigning medium since roughly AD 105, ultimately altering how records and history and created, consumed and conserved.
This dramatic transition is set to take place within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which happens to be the repository for all United States governmental records from various agencies. The goal of NARA is to require all agencies to submit their records exclusively in electronic format by 2022. In our technologically savvy world, it should be as simple as the push of a button, right? Well, not exactly. Read More »
As capitalist, he is only capital personified. His soul is the soul of capital. – Karl Marx
On the 5th of November, 2017 the Toronto Star published an article titled “Massive leak pulls back the curtain on offshore tax havens – again.” The article is a quick run down of the latest leak of records from a law firm, Appleby, focused on facilitating “offshore activities that keep billions of tax income beyond the reach of governments around the world.” This leak has been named the Paradise Papers which is made up of 13.4 million records, 1.4 terabytes of “detailed corporate records, including emails, memos, spreadsheets, correspondence, and meeting minutes.”
“There is a direct relationship between good records and information management and the ability of a public body to meet its responsibilities under either the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act or the Health Information Act.”
NWT Information and Privacy Commissioner’s Report , 2016-2017, p. 44
Recently, on Oct. 3, 2017, to be precise, Elaine Keenan Bengts, the Northwest Territories’ Information and Privacy Commissioner, tabled her latest annual report in the Northwest Territories legislative assembly [link1]. Her report – and the subsequent news coverage about it [link2] – highlight the important role that good records management plays in the efficient and effective engagement of Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy. However, the report also makes clear that records management still faces an uphill battle as it tries to strike a balance between making sure people can access and control data about themselves, and keeping that information out of the hands of people who don’t need or shouldn’t have access to it. One of the biggest obstacles in the Northwest Territories (and probably in many, if not most, other jurisdictions) is in the technologies used to manage and transmit the records and in people’s willingness to use them.
The Trump administration has become infamous for their blatant disregard for presidential decorum. However, they are particularly bad at proper records management. In her article, “Are Jared and Ivanka erasing history,” Sarada Peri discusses Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s use of private email servers for official White House business. These practices violate the Presidential Records Act, which was created to protect all presidential records. The article focuses on the parallels between Nixon’s misuse of presidential records to that of the current administration. Peri argues “Presidential recordkeeping is as much about remembering our leaders’ missteps as it is about memorializing their triumphs.” She highlights the importance of the Presidential Records Act through discussing the act’s origins, the issues with modern technology, and the role of presidential recordkeeping.
In a world where nearly everything we do generates some kind of paper trail, the mismanagement of the documentary evidence of our actions can be devastating and costly. Losing records, or being found to have inappropriately disposed of them, can result in costly fines and can damage a company or individual’s reputation. And these consequences also apply to the largest “corporations” of all: governments.
It is interesting how often governments are guilty of sloppy record keeping and how often it takes a crisis to remind people of how important it is to be able to prove what did or didn’t happen. Trustworthy records create a space for a more accountable government and yet so often records management is an afterthought.
Note to readers: I am writing about this topic as a non-Métis person. I am a settler living in unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory. I have tried to center the work of Métis scholars in my research and cite many of their works here.
For the past twenty years, Métis people have disputed Statistics Canada’s census counts of their population. This year was no exception, with debate breaking out as soon as the latest data was released. But why is this topic so contentious, and how does it relate to records management?
Statistics Canada’s data is used throughout the government to inform policy decisions. Archives Canada describes census returns as “an invaluable source of information”. If Statistics Canada’s data is compromised, the effects will be widespread.
Lydia Huey (Author Provided)
An ‘F’ for the Canadian Government’s ATI System
This fall 2017, Canada’s Liberal federal government’s access-to-information (ATI) system was audited by News Media Canada. This national association, which represents Canada’s news media industry, gave the federal government’s ATI system an ‘F’.
The Alberta Privacy Commissioner is investigating the Government of Alberta for deleting 800,000 government emails. The investigation is at the request of the official opposition, who discovered the mass deletion following a freedom of information request. The request revealed sparse inboxes and sent email folders among high-level government staff, including then Chief of Staff, Brian Topp.
Four ministries are under investigation: Transportation, Education, Service Alberta, and the Executive Council Ministries (connected to the Premier’s office).