The Australian Taxation Office will have a pay offer for staff "soon" while offers at the Murray Darling Basin Authority and CASA have been delayed.
The promises and postponements continue a mass tango between departments and tens of thousands of federal bureaucrats who want to know exactly how much cash they will be paid in the future.
Already the Defence Department left 20,000 staff in limbo earlier this week after it postponed detailing its pay offer, although the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has broken its silence to put forward an offer.
While the Murray Darling Basin Authority and CASA will not put forward offers next week as scheduled, ATO management has told 20,000 employees it was receiving approvals for its pay offer.
The news comes as the Australian Services Union alleges the ATO has breached good faith bargaining requirements set out in legislation.
The union says ATO management has refused to attend and participate in meetings at reasonable times - a claim rejected by the Tax Office.
"The ATO says it wants to have discussions on February 12 in case it has approval to discuss remuneration," ASU tax representative Jeff Lapidos said.
"The ASU is not able to meet on February 12 ... w
"We have advised the ATO that we are prepared to meet for two consecutive days from Monday, February 16 or Tuesday, February 17 for our next bargaining round, and we are prepared to discuss any ATO remuneration proposal at this time."
The ASU was one of the unions representing staff at the ATO.
A response to Mr Lapidos from ATO assistant commissioner Christine Dacey said: "We offered to you, and all other bargaining representatives, a full and frank face-to-face discussion about the ATO pay offer after we receive the necessary approvals.
"We proposed to schedule the three days from Tuesday February 10.
"You emphatically rejected this proposal on the basis that you were not available for any time whatsoever next week, and that our suggestion to hold such a meeting was a breach of good faith obligations.
"In an effort to advise you as soon as practicable about the pay offer, and to address your lack of availability next week, the ATO suggested an alternative of meeting via phone next Thursday for two hours.
"This was simply an option put forward after our initial proposal (of face to face meetings from next Tuesday February 10) was vigorously opposed by you.
"I reject your statement that the ATO was unreasonably insisting that bargaining representatives meet at this time.
"We made it clear to you that this meeting was merely the start of a longer discussion about the remuneration proposal."