# 2016-013 - Delayed Army Communications and Information Systems Specialist (ACISS) Pay Review, Pay

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2016–05–31

The grievor's occupation, Land Communication and Information System Technician (LCIS TECH), was amalgamated with two others to form a new occupation, Army Communications and Information Systems Specialist (ACISS). As part of the amalgamation process, the grievor was subject to a Compulsory Occupational Transfer (COT) to the new ACISS occupation. Former LCIS members who had been receiving specialist pay prior to the 1 October 2011 date of amalgamation were granted vested rights to specialist pay. Because the grievor had not yet achieved the rank of Corporal (Cpl) as a LCIS TECH on 1 October 2011, he was not receiving specialist pay at the stand-up of the ACISS occupation and therefore not granted vested pay rights to specialist pay. The grievor sought specialist pay retroactive to the date of his promotion to Cpl and pay protection.

The Initial Authority (IA), the Director General Compensation and Benefits, explained that pursuant to Compensation and Benefits Instructions (CBI) 204.03(2), upon COT to the ACISS occupation, those LCIS TECHs, Cpl or higher, who were QL5 qualified and who were already in receipt of specialist pay Level kept their former pay level. The IA stated that the new ACISS occupation was allocated to the Standard Trade Pay Group pending completion of a pay evaluation by the Director Pay Policy and Development (DPPD) to determine the appropriate scale, and that there is no entitlement to specialist pay for those members who were not granted vested rights on 1 October 2011. The IA found that the grievor was not a substantive Cpl on the date of COT and therefore was not entitled to specialist pay nor vested pay rights.

The Committee found that although the grievor was QL5A qualified, he was not promoted to Cpl until after his COT to the ACISS occupation. Therefore, he was not receiving specialist pay on the day prior to the COT and, under CBI 204.03(2), the grievor could not be paid specialist pay following the COT. For this reason, the Committee recommended that the grievance be denied.

The Committee then observed that it was unfair for the CAF to amalgamate three military trades into one without first having sorted out the resulting pay issues. The Committee noted that the DPPD pay study should have been completed in 2013 and, as of May 2016, had yet to start. The Committee found that there could be no acceptable reason for the CAF to take five or more years to complete a pay study after an occupational merger has already been implemented.

The Committee made a Systemic Recommendation that the CDS direct the Chief of Military Personnel (CMP) to personally oversee the completion of the ACISS Pay Review in an expedient manner and, if the review results in one or more sub-occupations receiving specialist pay, that it be implemented retroactively effective the date of the amalgamation, 1 October 2011.

FA Decision Summary

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) determined that the grievor had been aggrieved. Although the CDS did not disagree with the Committee's findings that the policy had been applied correctly in the grievor's case, he noted that subsequent to the Committee issuing its findings, a second MESIP was issued on 9 August 2017, which included an LCIS Tech subdivision within the ACISS occupation.

The CDS found that the grievor, and others like him in the occupation, were considered to be qualified as journeymen after obtaining their QL 5 qualification (code AIXP) and were employed as such. The CDS further found that there was no significance to the selection of 1 October 2011 as the cut-off date for QL5 qualified Corporals (Cpl) to retain their Specialist Pay Group compensation in the amalgamation. The CDS concluded that because the grievor held the required qualification prior to the 1 October 2011 amalgamation of his LCIS occupation into the ACISS occupation, he should have been grandfathered to receive Specialist Pay Group compensation on the date of his promotion to Cpl even though that occurred after the 1 October 2011 date.

The CDS directed the CMP to ensure that the grievor receives the Specialist 1 Pay Group effective the date of his promotion to Cpl. He also directed that the pay accounts of “the other concerned CAF members' files are assessed in light of my findings and that their pay accounts reflect the Specialist 1 Pay Group, effective the date of their respective promotions to Cpl”.

The CDS did not address the Committee's Systemic Recommendation to expedite the completion of the ACISS pay review which remains outstanding since the 1 October 2011 date of amalgamation.