# 2013-007 Careers, Acting While So Employed (AWSE), Cadet Instructor Cadre (CIC), Cadet Summer Training Centre (CSTC)

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2013–04–26

The grievor challenged the decision not to submit his request for an Acting While So Employed (AWSE) promotion to the approving authority, the Director General Reserves and Cadets (DGRC).

The Initial Authority (IA), the DGRC, stated that there was no evidence in the grievor's file indicating that the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Regional Cadet Support Unit (RCSU) supported the request. He found that there was no requirement for the request to be submitted for his review and that if the request had been received without the CO RCSU's support, he would not have approved it. He indicated that he could see no exceptional circumstances in the grievor's case that would warrant the granting of an AWSE promotion.

The Board observed that the first of two AWSE requests submitted on behalf of the grievor had been supported by the grievor's unit CO and forwarded to the RCSU by email for further consideration, and that the RCSU had staffed it onwards for consideration at the DGRC level contrary to the IA's finding. The Board concluded that the first request was effectively rejected by staff at the Directorate of Cadets (D Cadets) without having been seen by either the DGRC or the CO RCSU. A second request was later submitted by the grievor's CO but was rejected by the CO RCSU based on a lack of supporting reasons as had been previously noted by D Cadet staff in their review of the first request. The Board noted that the reasons for the second denial were not passed on to the grievor.

The Board found that the grievor's CO should have created a properly substantiated AWSE promotion request citing the exceptional circumstances and service reasons that did in fact exist but that were not mentioned in either request. Specifically, that there were not enough suitable applicants to staff all positions at the appropriate rank level and that employing the grievor in a Captain's position allowed the CO to use his remaining available Captains to fill other essential positions for which he also had a service need.

The Board noted that, pursuant to Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces, article 3.05, a member may be granted acting rank where the member is filling a position on an establishment for which a rank higher than the member's substantive rank is authorized. The Board found that the grievor was eligible to be promoted AWSE since he was filling a position that required a higher rank. The Board also found that the grievor was selected by the CO to fill a service need in a senior, difficult and demanding position and that he performed well. The Board concluded that it would be unfair to place the grievor in such a demanding position for an extended period of time without adequate compensation. Accordingly, the Board recommended that the grievor be promoted AWSE for the summer in question. Further, since the grievor had also been employed in the same position the previous summer, the Board applied Section 29(5) of the National Defence Act (allowing for the correction of any error discovered in the process of investigating a grievance) and recommended that the grievor also be promoted AWSE for this period of service.

CDS Decision Summary

CDS Decision Date: 2015–02–26

The FA did not agree with the Committee's findings and recommendations. The FA found that the grievor performed the tasks as described in the statement of duties for the ADJT position. Also, the FA did not find that exceptional circumstances arose from the secondary duty the grievor performed as camp PAO. Therefore, the FA did not grant the grievor AWSE Capt.