New Stat Pay Feature

I discovered the issue myself last night when I went to run a payroll for one of my clients. I have the same concerns - how does the average stat pay get translated into insurable hours, and do I really have to go and calculate the average pay for each employee...isn't this what we use payroll software for??

After reading this thread I did exactly what was suggested by the Quickbooks Team commenters on here and contacted customer support for help. Here's what happened in a 1 hour phone call:

• Customer service agent (who was friendly, and trying his best to help) thought I needed to edit the stat pay type for each employee. When he walked me through how to edit the pay type he found out it is a locked pay type that can not be turned off. (I didn't want it turned off, just an explanation on how it will record insurable hours and if/why I have to calculate out the average dollar amount for each of the aprox 45 employees that need to be paid this week.)
• I was put on hold. Then he came back and said it was a known issue and that the engineering team was working on it. There is no ETA on when it will be fixed, but they will email me when it is. I asked if it was likely to be fixed today as I have to get the payrolls submitted in time for the direct deposit cut off, and today was the only day my schedule would allow for it. He said there was no ETA, but they would let me know when it was fixed...
• I asked what I should do if it was not fixed in time for the direct deposit cut off. He said they would email me when it was fixed. 
• I said that this didn't really help me, but it looked like he was only able to give me that as an answer, so could I please speak to a manager. I was not mean, and acknowledged that I could tell he was doing what he could to help. He said he would get a manager and put me on hold
• He came back and asked when would be a good time for me to get a callback. I said any time today. He said the callback would be in 24-48 hours. I explained that that won't help if it's in 48 hours because the direct deposit deadline is tomorrow and my schedule requires me to do the payroll today.
• He was sympathetic and put me on hold. He came back and sent me an article explaining the new stat pay types (I had read it last night). I asked him how the stat average pay works - if I enter it as a dollar amount, will it figure out the insurable hours. Also, why do I have to calculate out the average pay when I used to just enter the average hours. He explained that the stat pay had been updated and I could look at my provincial employment standards to see how to calculate it. I said that I knew how to calculate it (have been doing payroll for 15 years) and that I just wanted my questions answered. He put me on hold.
• He came back and said the engineers were working on it and they would let me know when it was fixed.
• I said that I had been on this call for 45 min at this point, and that all I was getting was a repetition of the same answers, which if they didn't help me 45 min ago, they weren't helping me now. I said I'd like to speak to his manager
• He said he would schedule me a callback for 24-48 hours. I said no, that will not be in time to address my concern, who could he put me on the phone with right now. He said his supervisor would be happy to talk to me...you guessed it, in 24/48 hours (maybe sooner, no promises)
• I asked him how that would help me get all the employees I am responsible for this week paid on time. (Per the deadlines set by the same Employment standards he had referred me to in order to calculate the stat.) He said the engineers were working on it and they would let me know when it was fixed.
• I decided that an hour of unbillable time was all I was willing to throw at this, and said that I would still like to be contacted by his manager so I could leave some feedback. As I was saying goodbye, he asked if he had answered my questions today, and did I know I would be getting a survey about my experience....

I don't even know how to process the experience, it felt like I was in an alternate reality where if you tell someone the same non-helpful information enough times it will suddenly help. I also began to wonder if he was trying to stall long enough for the engineers to fix the problem ??! 

I definitely do not recommend the usually decent customer service route on this one, unless you have time to kill, or just want to experience an alternate reality for kicks.

Since, after that phone call, I have zero faith in a fix coming through on time for the direct deposit deadline, I'm working on Plan B which is to switch the entire lot of employees over to paper cheque, and paying those that are physically too remote for a cheque by etransfer. Also working on plan C in case the problem is not fixed by payday, which is to estimate the payroll and issue advances, then enter a retroactive payroll and clean it all up once the engineers are finished.

If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!