Fort Franklin (July 10/06) - Susan Williamson, a former teacher in Deline, at ?Ehtseo Ayha School, has two choices. She can pay the Financial Management Board Secretariat (FMBS) $16,507.05 or pay the slightly lower amount of $15,942.08 without a pension fee.

Either way, Williamson said she is going to pay through the nose because the FMBS made the mistake of overpaying her.

“I think the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing,” said Williamson, describing her situation.

She said the FMBS, the board responsible for teachers’ payroll and benefits, made several mistakes when paying her.

Deputy minister in charge of the FMBS Lynn Elkin said she could not comment on Williamson’s claims, but said mistakes do happen.

“Every two weeks we pay over 5,000 individuals. Are we on 100 per cent of the time? No we aren’t,” said Elkin.

But Amanda Mallon, president of the NWT Teachers’ Association (NWTTA), said these kind of mistakes are unacceptable.

“Throughout the year, we’ve had a number of problems with individuals’ pay cheques,” said Mallon, referring to similar cases as Williamson’s.

Williamson said the overpayment incident affected her emotionally and financially. It all started 14 months ago when she went on maternity leave in May 2005.

She said she didn’t receive her cheque. When she investigated the matter, she found the FMBS had lost it.

That December, Williamson received a phone call from FMBS saying she had been overpaid by $6,000. She was told her wages would be garnished as a result, but was not told by how much.

By this time, Williamson was caring for her daughter. She was a single parent after leaving an abusive relationship.

It wasn’t until March 2006 that the FMBS sent her a letter saying she could opt for a five or 10 per cent wage garnish.

Williamson, now on sick leave after being diagnosed with post-partum depression, said the percentage was never taken off her cheques during her medical or maternity leave.

Williamson sent a letter requesting the full amount she owed the FMBS that month, but said she received no reply. May wasn’t any easier when Williamson said she received more bad news. She said the FMBS had apparently underpaid her by $1,700 in 2005, but overpaid her by $700 in March 2006.

Williamson said she was also told she couldn’t get the $1,400 owed to her for her daughter’s medical treatment at Stanton Territorial Hospital, which was supposedly covered by Williamson’s benefits.

Williamson said she owes the FMBS so much because it doesn’t want to pay what’s owed for her medical leave because her illness isn’t permanent.

But Williamson said she deserves the money because her doctor told her she would suffer emotional problems requiring medication if she stayed in the North.

“I don’t think I owe them a cent,” said Williamson, adding, “It’s another costly mistake every time I pick up the phone.”

Williamson has enlisted the aide of the NWT TA to deal with the issue. She said she is not sure how it will be resolved, or whether she’ll have to pay the amount the FMBS asked for.

She now lives in Alberta with her family.