# 2012-056 Pay and Benefits, Component Transfer (CT), Direct Entry Officer, Pay, Special Commissioning Plan (SCP)

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2012–10–11

The grievor was a Private (Pte) in the Primary Reserve (P Res) who was accepted for a component transfer (CT) to the Regular Force (Reg F). His written terms of service (TOS) offer, and the subsequent Enrolment / Transfer / Posting Instruction (ETP Instr), stated that the grievor’s CT would be as a Direct Entry Officer (DEO) at the rank of Officer Cadet (OCdt). The rate of pay was specified as being in accordance with Compensation and Benefits Instruction (CBI) 204.211(9)(2)(ii) Table B Pay level D (DEO OCdt with former service).

Over the two years following his CT, the grievor’s ETP Instr was unilaterally amended on five different occasions, ultimately indicating a CT under the Special Commissioning Program – Component Transfer (SCP-CT) as set out in the Canadian Forces Military Personnel Instruction 03/08 (Canadian Forces Component Transfer and Component Transfer Career Programs) (CF Mil Pers Instr 03/08). These changes resulted in a rate of pay that was in accordance with CBI 204.211(4)(A) Table B Level A (Reg F Special Commissioning Plan (SCP) appointed as an OCdt from the rank of Pte, a pay reduction of approximately $400 per month.

The grievor complained that he was offered, and accepted, a DEO entry plan which was consistent with his being a Pte with a degree. He argued that the SCP did not apply to him because he did not have the Qualification Level (QL) 3 required by the policy.

As redress, the grievor requested that his CT be restored to the DEO entry plan.

The initial authority (IA), the Director General Military Careers, denied the grievance stating that the Reg F DEO entry plan was for the enrolment of civilians and that the grievor had been correctly transferred under the SCP and was correctly paid according to his rank on transfer. In his decision, the IA also referred to the SCP-CT, confusing the two.

Therefore, the issues to be determined by the Board were whether the grievor was ultimately transferred under the appropriate CT program and whether he was paid appropriately.

The Board found that, under CF Mil Pers Instr 03/08, the SCP-CT is the only plan directly applicable to the grievor; all the other CT plans refer to P Res members without a degree or those who were officers in the P Res. The Board concluded that the grievor was, ultimately, correctly transferred under the only CT program applicable to him, the SCP-CT.

The IA determined that the grievor had been correctly paid in accordance with CBI 204.211 (4) Table B Level A, the rate of pay applicable to the SCP. However, the Board found that the SCP pay rate did not apply to the grievor since he was transferred under the SCP-CT, and that the rate applicable to the grievor was in accordance with CBI 204.211(10)(b)(i) which provides the rate of pay for a CT to the Reg F as a non-commissioned member.

The Board observed that the grievor was effectively being paid less than his skills and experience would have entitled him to as a civilian DEO applicant with former service as a Pte, and found it inequitable that the grievor should have to take a release and re-enrol as a DEO simply to be paid fairly.

Consultation between the Board and staff at the Director Military Careers Policies and Grievances (DMCPG) confirmed that the intent of the SCP-CT was to transfer reservists to the Reg F in a manner that was financially comparable to a DEO with the same qualifications. Further, DMCPG staff advised that formal approval was being sought to amend the SCP-CT policy in order to address this inequity.

Notwithstanding, the Board could not rely on a review yet to be concluded in order to redress the injustice experienced by the grievor who was promised at the time of his transfer that he would be paid the pay rate that a DEO would receive. The Board has previously observed that the CF considers its members to be bound by their commitments on enrolment or transfer and that, where the CF has broken a promise, CF authorities should provide relief by any means available to them. Therefore, the Board found that the grievor should be entitled to the same pay rate as a DEO with prior NCM service.

Consequently, the Board found that the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) could remedy the injustice by directing the grievor’s release from the P Res effective the day prior to his CT and directing his re-enrolment into the Reg F as a DEO, effective the following day, thus bringing the grievor’s pay in line with what was intended upon the creation of the SCP-CT, and what was promised to the grievor at the time of his transfer.

The Board recommended that the CDS uphold the grievance by directing that the grievor be released from the P Res effective the day prior to his CT and be re-enrolled into the Reg F as a DEO the next day.

CDS Decision Summary

CDS Decision Date: 2013–03–19

The CDS agreed with the Board's reommendation that the grievance be upheld. However, the CDS did not agree with the Board's solution that the grievor be released from the Primary reserve and be re-enroled as a Direct entry officer to correct the inequity. The CDS rather concluded that the grievor should have been transferred as a Direct entry officer instead of Special Commissioning Plan-Component Transfer and, consequently, he should have been paid under CBI 204.211(9)(2)(ii) as originally offered.