Commissioner's directive 234: Claims for staff personal effects and inmate personal effects and the offender accident compensation program

Authorities

Purpose

  • To provide direction for fairly and expeditiously resolving:
    • ex gratia payment requests
    • claims for damage to, or loss of, effects belonging to inmates and to employees of the Correctional Service of Canada
    • offender accident compensation claims

Application


Commissioner's Directive

Correctional Service Canada badge

Number: 234

In Effect: 2016-02-29

Related Links

Contents

Responsibilities

  1. The Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Services, is responsible for:
    1. establishing and updating Guidelines 234-1 - Claims Administration Instructions
    2. monitoring the resolution of inmate and employee claims on an ongoing basis
    3. ensuring that there is a person assigned to:
      1. provide assistance in relation to claims and the Offender Accident Compensation Program
      2. fulfill the Service's responsibilities under the Offender Accident Compensation Program.
  2. The Regional Deputy Commissioner is responsible for ensuring that:
    1. the National Claims Coordinator is provided, within five working days of the end of each fiscal quarter, with the following:
      1. the region's report concerning any claim for which a decision was not sent to a claimant, in writing, within 90 calendar days of the claim's initial receipt by the Service
      2. the reasons for the delay in processing a claim
      3. the region's recommendations for addressing problems in sending decisions on claims within the 90‑day timeframe
    2. the concerned sites develop action plans to address the recommendations.
  3. The Institutional Head must ensure that the Guide to Accident Compensation for Federal Offenders is available in the institution's library and Health Care Centre.
  4. With the exception of offender accident compensation claims, the Regional Deputy Commissioner, Institutional Head and District Director must monitor on an ongoing basis, as applicable:
    1. the resolution of claims
    2. the quality of the decisions rendered on claims
    3. the quality of the responses provided to claimants regarding the decisions rendered on their claims
    4. the quality of the investigation reports prepared on claims
    5. the implementation of the action plans that are developed by sites in response to the Regional or National Headquarters' recommendations for addressing problems in sending a decision on a claim to a claimant, in writing, within 90 calendar days of a claim's initial receipt by the Service
    6. the effectiveness of the action plans for ensuring full compliance with the 90‑day claim processing timeframe
    7. the compliance with the requirements of this directive, Guidelines 234-1 - Claims Administration Instructions, and other internal and central regulatory instruments concerning claims.

Ex Gratia Payment Requests

Legal Opinion

  1. Decision-makers must request a legal opinion, from Correctional Service of Canada's (CSC) Legal Services Unit before making an ex gratia payment.

Employee Personal Effects

  1. Employee claims for lost or damaged personal effects must be treated as claims and not as ex gratia payments.

Inmate Personal Effects

  1. Where the Service is not legally liable for the loss or damage to an inmate's effects, compensation may, in exceptional circumstances, be considered on an ex gratia basis (e.g. for effects reasonably related to the inmate's work program at the time of the loss or damage).

Exclusions

  1. In no case will an ex gratia payment be made:
    1. to an inmate for effects damaged or lost as the result of a riot and major disturbances
    2. for work-related articles (e.g. books and tools) which are made available free of charge to an inmate
    3. when the Service is legally liable for the damages (in this case, the claim must be processed as a claim against the Crown)
    4. when there are other possible sources of compensation
    5. when the payment would circumvent, or expand on, the provisions of a governing instrument (e.g. an act, regulation or Treasury Board policy).

Claims - Inmate and Employee Effects

Timeframes for Responding to a Claim

  1. The Service must send the claimant a decision on the claim, in writing:
    1. within 60 calendar days from the day following the date of initial receipt of the claim, unless there are exceptional circumstances
    2. within 90 calendar days from the day following the date of initial receipt of the claim, unless:
      1. there remain exceptional circumstances that are out of the control of the Service
      2. a required legal opinion could not be requested prior to the 60-day timeframe or could not be provided in time to meet the 90-day timeframe, or
      3. the subject of the claim is also being processed through outside legal proceedings, and the results of these proceedings were not provided to a decision-maker in time to meet the 90-day timeframe.
  2. Where the decision on a claim is not sent within 90 calendar days, the head of the CSC site responsible for processing the claim must inform the claimant, in writing, of:
    1. the reasons for the delay
    2. the tentative date by which a decision on the claim is expected.

Outside Legal Proceedings

  1. When the subject matter of a claim for lost or damaged effects is also being processed through outside legal proceedings, the response to the claim must be deferred until the decision on the court proceedings is rendered or the proceedings are abandoned.
  2. The head of the CSC site responsible for processing the claim must inform the claimant, in writing, of the decision to defer the response to the claim.
  3. Once advised by the claimant that the outside decision has been made, or upon receipt of documentary evidence that the court proceedings have been abandoned, the Service's decision-maker must respond to the claim while taking into account the decision made through the outside legal proceedings.

Employee Claims for Personal Effects Related to the Performance of Duties

Personal Effects Kept at the Work Site

  1. Employee claims for lost or damaged personal effects must be treated as claims and not as ex gratia payments. Compensation for the effects could be authorized when the decision-maker considers that the effects are reasonably related to the performance of the employee's duties at the time of the loss or damage.
  2. The personal effects that may be compensated include:
    1. clothing
    2. prescription eyeglasses and safety glasses
    3. non-prescription sunglasses (compensation not to exceed $150)
    4. watches (compensation not to exceed $200, inclusive of the watchband)
    5. footwear:
      1. excluding protective footwear as that term is understood in Guidelines 254-1 - Occupational Health and Safety Program (compensation for loss of, or damage to, protective footwear must be considered in accordance with Guidelines 254-1)
      2. the annual footwear allowance, indicated in Guidelines 351-1 - CSC Uniforms, Dress Code and Scale of Issue, must not be deducted from the compensation payment
      3. the amount received, or that could be received, from other sources must be deducted from the compensation payment (e.g. from the Public Service Health Care Plan for orthopaedic footwear)
    6. work-related articles (e.g. books and tools) which are not made available free of charge to the employee
    7. wallets and purses, as well as their contents, if held by the employee or if kept in the most secure location available to the employee when it was not practical for the employee to carry these items. However, compensation for the contents, including cash, should not exceed $200.

Exclusions

  1. In no case will a claim payment be made:
    1. when there are other possible sources of compensation
    2. when the payment would circumvent, or expand on, the provisions of a governing instrument (e.g. an act, regulation or Treasury Board policy).
  2. Specifically excluded from compensation are jewelry, electronic equipment, electrical or battery-operated appliances, ornaments and decorations, and housewares. Employees are responsible for ensuring that these items are covered under their private insurance policies.

Exception

  1. A decision-maker may authorize a payment for an excluded item when CSC's Legal Services Unit is of the view that the item was reasonably related to the performance of an employee's duties at the time of the loss or damage.

Claims Against the Crown

Offender Claims

  1. An inmate is responsible for the safekeeping of the effects in his or her possession.
  2. When the Service is responsible for the safekeeping of an offender's effects, the Service must demonstrate that:
    1. it took all reasonable steps to protect the offender's effects
    2. it returned the effects to the offender or explained why they were not returned
    3. it cannot be held liable for effects that were already damaged when the Service received them for safekeeping.

Discretionary Decision-Making

  1. Where the liability of the Service for the loss of, or damage to, an offender's personal effects cannot be clearly ascertained, the offender's claim must be accepted when:
    1. the claimed effects are recorded on the offender's property record, or
    2. it would have been reasonable for the offender to own the claimed effects that were not required to be recorded on a property record (e.g. canteen items).

Perishable and Consumable Effects

  1. Claims regarding perishable and consumable effects are not normally accepted. A settlement offer may only be made for these items when the circumstances of the loss or damage justify the payment of compensation (e.g. the items could not have been consumed or used prior to their loss or damage).

Claims from Offenders at Community Residential Facilities

  1. When a claim has been submitted by an offender who resides in a community residential facility (CRF) or following the suspension of his or her release, the Service must deny the claim when it cannot be held liable for the effects' loss or damage, and inform the claimant of:
    1. the reasons for denying the claim
    2. his or her right to submit a claim to the CRF operator
    3. his or her right to submit a first level grievance - concerning the decision rendered by the CRF operator - to the District Director of the parole office supervising the offender at the time of the incident that gave rise to the claim.

Settlement Offers for Accepted Claims

Ex Gratia Payments

  1. Where a proposed ex gratia payment exceeds the authority limitation ($2000) indicated in CSC's Financial Signing Authorities Delegation Instrument, the Regional Deputy Commissioner must forward the claim, together with the required legal opinion and all other related documents, to the Commissioner for a decision.

Employee Effects

  1. The employee must, conditional to limits established in this directive and deducting any amounts reimbursed by another source, be compensated in whichever of the following manner is more appropriate:
    1. the full cost to replace the personal effect with an effect of the same or equivalent quality (e.g. on the basis of a purchase receipt for a lost or damaged effect and/or a retail or catalogue price quotation together with original copies of documents confirming all disbursements), or
    2. the reasonable cost to repair the personal effect.

Offender Effects

  1. The total amount of compensation offered to an offender must not exceed the dollar limits indicated in Commissioner's Directive 566-12 - Personal Property of Offenders, for the specified effects. The dollar limits must not be combined to increase the amount of a settlement offer to a claimant.
  2. The Service may, instead of offering monetary compensation, consider repairing the claimed effect or replacing it with an identical one. Where an identical item is not available, an item of equivalent quality may be offered if the offender agrees, in writing, to accept the substitute item in lieu of money. The full cost to repair or replace the effect should not exceed the monetary settlement offer that would be made for the item.
  3. The property record used for determining a settlement offer for a claimed item must be the one that indicated the value that was assigned to the item prior to the time of the loss or damage occurred.
  4. Damaged effects that cannot be repaired, and for which a claimant has received the allowable maximum compensation, normally become the property of the Crown. They should be disposed of in accordance with the Treasury Board Secretariat Directive on Disposal of Surplus Materiel.
  5. An offender should not be compensated for effects that are not listed on his or her property record, unless:
    1. the effects were not required to be recorded on a property record in accordance with Commissioner's Directive 566‑12 - Personal Property of Offenders, or
    2. the offender can demonstrate that efforts were made to have the item recorded.
  6. The offender should be compensated on the basis of the lesser of the following amounts, as applicable:
    1. the amount claimed in the Inmate Claim for Lost or Damaged Effects (CSC/SCC 0561)
    2. the value that was assigned in property records such as the following:
      1. - Inmate Personal Property Record (Cell and Stored Effects) (CSC/SCC 0514)
      2. - Inmate Personal Property Record (Valuables and Important Documents) (CSC/SCC 0513)
      3. - Offender Personal Property Record (Money and Securities) (CSC/SCC 0502)
      4. - the hobby craft permit
      5. - the record of tools, equipment and goods resulting from the operation of the business, in accordance with Commissioner's Directive 737 - Inmate-Operated Business Enterprises
    3. the cost of repairing the effect (except completed hobby craft items), including shipping and handling costs and taxes
    4. the cost of repairing a completed hobby craft item, including shipping and handling costs and taxes, on the condition that the offender agrees, in writing, to the repairs
    5. the maximum dollar value allowed for the item in a Commissioner's Directive or other policy documents, or
    6. the full cost to replace the effect with another of the same or equivalent quality, including shipping and handling costs and taxes.
  7. Where an offender's property record clearly indicates that no value was assigned to a claimed item, no settlement offer will be made for the item.
  8. Where the offender's property record does not clearly indicate an assigned value for a claimed item (e.g. a blank entry or a pen stroke in the property record's "Total Value" column), the claimed item's value is to be determined on the basis of the following:
    1. For effects other than hobby craft, the lesser of the following:
      1. the amount claimed in the Inmate Claim for Lost or Damaged Effects (CSC/SCC 0561)
      2. the cost of repairing the effect, including shipping and handling costs and taxes
      3. the maximum dollar value allowed for the item in a Commissioner's Directive or related direction, or
      4. the full cost to replace the effect with another of the same or equivalent quality, including shipping and handling costs and taxes.
    2. The settlement offer for completed hobby craft items should not exceed the lesser of the following amounts, as applicable:
      1. the selling price of the item that was established in accordance with the procedures stated in a Commissioner's Directive or related direction, or
      2. where no selling price has been established, the greater of the following, as applicable:
        1. - the appraised value of the completed item
        2. - the actual sale price (not the asking price) of a similar item produced by the offender, or
        3. - the cost of the material used in the item's construction plus 25%.
    3. The settlement offer for uncompleted hobby craft projects should not exceed the greater of the following amounts, as applicable:
      1. a percentage of the appraised potential value of the item, had it been completed, which corresponds to the extent the item is completed (e.g. for a painting that is 75% completed, a settlement offer of 75% of the painting's potential selling price would be allowed)
      2. a percentage, equivalent to the extent the item was completed, of the actual selling price (not the asking price) of a similar item produced by the offender, or
      3. the cost of the material used in the item's construction plus 25%.
    4. The settlement offer for hobby craft raw materials and tools should not exceed the lesser of the following amounts:
      1. the amount claimed in the Inmate Claim for Lost or Damaged Effects (CSC/SCC 0561)
      2. the purchase price of the raw materials and tools, or
      3. the replacement cost of the raw materials and tools.
  9. The extent to which a hobby craft item is completed must be determined on the basis of statements obtained from the offender, the Hobby Craft Officer and witnesses. The offender's statement must be accepted if the degree of the item's completion cannot be ascertained from alternate sources.
  10. An appraisal, for the purpose of establishing the value of hobby craft items, must be made by a qualified third party from inside or outside the institution. This appraisal must be arranged and paid for as follows:
    1. by the offender if it is requested prior to the submission of the claim (the cost must be reimbursed, as part of the claim's settlement, if the claim is accepted and if the appraisal cost was claimed by the offender), or
    2. by the institution that processed the claim if an appraisal is required, after a claim is accepted, to determine a settlement offer.

Decisions on Claims

  1. Decision-makers must ensure that the information upon which they act is reliable and persuasive. Wherever information or evidence is presented to a decision-maker, he or she must make a determination concerning the source of that information, and decide whether or not it would be fair to allow the information to affect his or her decision.
  2. The Service must record the rationale for the decision taken on the claim, and preserve the claim and all the evidence gathered during the investigation. The documents concerning the claim must only be disposed of in accordance with the government's policies.
  3. The Service's written response to the claimant must:
    1. provide relevant and complete information explaining the compensation being offered or why the claim was denied
    2. indicate the claimant's right to consult an independent legal counsel, at his or her expense, for advice or to make representations with respect to the claim
    3. where a claim has been accepted, include a completed Release document (CSC/SCC 0536) for the claimant's review and signature, except when not required by Guidelines 234-1 - Claims Administration Instructions.

Disciplinary Offence

  1. The Institutional Head may impose disciplinary sanctions in accordance with Commissioner's Directive 580 - Discipline of Inmates if the inmate has been found guilty of knowingly making a false claim for compensation from the Crown.

Payment of Claims

  1. The responsibility for the claim's payment usually rests with the site(s) that rendered the decision to accept the claim. However, when a decision to accept a claim is made at Regional or National Headquarters in relation to an incident occurring at, or sponsored by, another site, the responsibility for the payment rests with the CSC site(s) responsible for investigating the claim's circumstances.
  2. Where a claimant's grievance of the decision rendered on a claim is upheld, any required payment must be made by the CSC site(s) responsible for investigating the claim's circumstances.

Reopening of Claims

  1. Where a claimant wishes to reopen a claim for which he or she has previously signed a Release document (CSC/SCC 0536), the Service must:
    1. refuse the request when the claim decision had been grieved
    2. consider the request when:
      1. the claim decision was not grieved
      2. any of the following conditions apply:
        1. - there are humanitarian reasons for reopening the claim
        2. - the claimant was illiterate and was not advised of the consequences of signing the Release document, or
        3. - the claimant had more than one claim under process by the Service and the Release document did not clearly identify the claim that was being addressed.
  2. The authority to reopen a claim for consideration rests with the decision-maker that made the initial decision on the claim.
  3. Where a petition to reopen a claim is accepted, the Service must request that the claimant submit any additional evidence in support of the claim prior to rendering a decision.

Abandoned Claims

  1. A claim may be considered abandoned when the claim decision cannot be remitted to the claimant (or to the claimant's next-of-kin or legal representative) two years after the Service's last communication with the claimant. When an offender claimant is unlawfully at large, the claim decision should be placed on the offender's claim file.

Offender Accident Compensation Claims

Inmate Injuries Sustained During an Approved Program

  1. Upon receiving a completed copy of the Health Services Classification of Inmate Injuries form (CSC/SCC 1375) for an injury sustained during participation in an approved program, the Chief, Administrative Services, or other designated official, must:
    1. write to the injured inmate to provide a copy of the Inmate's Workplace / Approved Program Injury Report (CSC/SCC 1398) and request its completion
    2. place a copy of the letter to the injured inmate and, as applicable, the completed Inmate's Workplace / Approved Program Injury Report (CSC/SCC 1398) on the inmate's Case Management file.
  2. Where an inmate is physically or mentally incapacitated or dies due to an injury sustained while participating in an approved program, the Chief, Administrative Services, or other designated official, must:
    1. send, in writing, a copy of the Guide to Accident Compensation for Federal Offenders to:
      1. the person the inmate indicated to the Service in writing was to be notified
      2. where the inmate has not indicated the name of a person to be notified, his/her next of kin
    2. place a copy of the letter on the inmate's Case Management file.

Application for Compensation

  1. Following an injury, an inmate who wishes to submit an application for compensation should ask the Chief, Administrative Services, or other designated official, to provide him or her with the following documents, as applicable:
    1. the Inmate's Application for Compensation (LAB 1076)
    2. the Inmate's Workplace / Approved Program Injury Report (CSC/SCC 1398), if not already completed and returned to the Chief, Administrative Services, or other designated official
    3. the Guide to Accident Compensation for Federal Offenders by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

Redirecting Claim Submissions

  1. If the completed Inmate's Application for Compensation (LAB 1076) is submitted to the Service instead of ESDC, the Service must immediately redirect it to ESDC.

Documenting the Claim

  1. The Chief, Administrative Services, or other designated official, must at the earliest opportunity, respond to ESDC's or the National Claims Coordinator's requests for:
    1. the Classification of Inmate Injuries form (CSC/SCC 1375)
    2. the Supervisor's Workplace / Approved Program Accident Report (CSC/SCC 1397) and/or other records on the accident
    3. the Inmate's Workplace / Approved Program Injury Report (CSC/SCC 1398)
    4. the original completed ESDC's Attending Physician's Report of Accident (LAB 1073)
    5. medical information, on the condition that the claimant provides an authorization, in writing, for the information disclosure
    6. information that is required for the purpose of assessing whether the claimant meets the accident compensation program's admissibility requirements for the consideration of the payment of compensation
    7. a copy of any Officer's Statement/Observation Report (refer to Commissioner's Directive 568‑1 - Recording and Reporting of Security Incidents).

Medical Assessments from Independent Medical Practitioners

  1. When ESDC submits a request to an institution for an independent medical assessment of an offender, for determining a disability, the following steps must be taken:
    1. the institution or ESDC must make the appointment with the medical practitioner
    2. the institution must, at its cost, make all necessary arrangements with respect to security and must transport the offender to and from the appointment
    3. where an appointment must be cancelled, the responsible institutional official must:
      1. when the Service scheduled the appointment, inform the medical practitioner and ESDC of the cancellation
      2. when ESDC scheduled the appointment, inform that department of the necessity of cancelling the appointment.

Commissioner,

Original signed by:

Don Head

Annex A: Cross-References and Definitions

Cross-References

Definitions

Approved program: has the same meaning as in section 121 of the CCRR.

Claim: means the amount due, or alleged to be due, or the action taken regarding damages to effects sustained by a claimant. It also means a request for compensation to cover losses, expenditures or damages to effects sustained by a claimant, including requests or suggestions that the Crown make an ex gratia payment. It does not include the following:

  1. claims, or ex gratia payment requests, in relation to circumstances that are addressed in another government instrument
  2. claims submitted under the provisions of the CCRR relating to compensation for death or disability.

Claimant: refers to an employee and an offender/inmate, except for the purposes of offender accident compensation claims where it has the same meaning as in the provisions of the CCRR relating to compensation for death or disability.

Claims Administrator: means the person responsible for coordinating claims.

Employee: has the same meaning as servant in the Treasury Board Secretariat Directive on Claims and Ex Gratia Payments. It does not include volunteers or persons engaged under contract for services.

Ex gratia payment: is a benevolent payment made by the Crown. The payment is made in the public interest for loss or expenditure incurred where the Crown has no obligation of any kind or has no legal liability or where the claimant has no right of payment or is not entitled to relief in any form. An ex gratia payment is used only when there is no other statutory, regulatory or policy vehicle to make the payment.

Employment and Social Development Canada: means the person who is responsible for the Federal Workers' Compensation Service in the Department of Employment and Social Development or a person who is designated by that person.

Inmate: has the same meaning as in section 2 of the CCRA, and, for the purpose of this CD, also includes:

  1. in some circumstances, a person released to a community residential facility
  2. an offender who resided in a community residential facility as a condition of release and is readmitted to a penitentiary following the suspension of a release.

Offender: has the same meaning as in section 2 of the CCRA, and, for the purpose of this CD, also includes an offender whose warrant has expired.


For more information

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit the Canada Gazette and Consulting with Canadians websites.

Page details

Date modified: