Article 203.04 of the Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces (QR&O) imposes an unrealistic and unfair duty on Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members

Topic

Article 203.04 of the Queen’s Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces (QR&O) imposes an unrealistic and unfair duty on Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members

Case number

• 2015-228 (F&R date: 2016-02-29)

Description

Article 203.04 of the QR&O reads as follows:

203.04 - OVERPAYMENTS

(1) It is the duty of every officer or non-commissioned member to be acquainted with the rates of pay, allowances and other financial benefits and reimbursable expenses to which that officer or non-commissioned member may be entitled, and the conditions governing their issue.

(2) If an officer or non-commissioned member accepts a payment in excess of the entitlement due, the officer or non-commissioned member shall report and refund the amount of the overpayment to the accounting officer of the base or other unit or element where the officer or non-commissioned member is present.

The Committee found that QR&O 203.04(1) imposes on every CAF member the duty to be acquainted with an extremely large body of rules and practices governing compensation, benefits and their administration to which they may be entitled. Further, CAF authorities often rely on this regulation to hold military members accountable for errors made by those responsible for the administration of pay and benefits. 

The Committee found the duty placed upon CAF members in this regulation to be overly broad, uncertain and generally beyond the capacity of CAF members to fulfill. Furthermore, it does not reflect the reality of service life as personnel regularly rely on the expertise of those responsible for the administration of pay and benefits, due to the complexity of the regulations, policies and procedures surrounding such matters. 

The Committee also found that QR&O 203.04(2) is regarded in CAF administrative practice as the foundation for recovery of overpayments of pay and financial benefits. However, paragraph (2) prescribes no explicit requirement for a payee to know that a payment in excess of entitlement is received and, in the Committee’s view, this paragraph cannot function without the element of knowledge being read in. With that in mind, paragraph (2) should be read as if the text stated: “If an officer or non-commissioned member knowingly accepts a payment in excess of the entitlement due … the officer or non-commissioned member shall report and refund the amount of the overpayment…”.  In other words, a CAF member cannot be expected to report an overpayment, or be responsible for that overpayment, if he or she is not aware that they have received a payment in excess of their entitlements.

Recommendation

The Committee recommended that the Chief of the Defence Staff seek an amendment to QR&O 203.04 to clarify the intended application of paragraphs (1) and (2).