Privacy breach under review as T4 tax forms go astray

The provincial government is scrambling for answers after some public servants had their T4 tax forms sent to other employees.

The machine that stuffs the slips — more than 8,000 of them — into envelopes is located at Confederation Building.

But the machine recently messed up and inserted two different T4s into one envelope, resulting in some employees receiving their own T4 slip, as well as someone else's.

The Finance department prepares the T4s, but the Department of Transportation and Works is responsible for the mailroom and the machine.

Transportation and Works Minister David Brazil said government workers have been notified of the snafu. So has the information and privacy commissioner.

Brazil said it's understandable if workers want to raise concerns with the commissioner.

"I understand. I wouldn't want my information, it's privileged information, to be shared with anybody else," he said.

He said officials are assessing the extent of the problem, but he doesn't believe a large number of employees were affected.

That said, Brazil said one mix-up is one too many.

"We've brought in the company that owns this piece of equipment, we've looked at it internally ourselves, we are reassuring ourselves that this won't happen again," said Brazil.

"And we are going to have safeguards in place to make sure that it doesn't."

T4s are provided to all salaried employees, and provide a summary of your earnings, tax deductions and other contributions from the previous year.

They are essential in the preparation of yearly tax filings.

Brazil said officials in his department became aware of the problem on Monday.

He is encouraging any government worker who received someone else's T4, or anyone who hasn't yet received one, to immediately call their employer.