# 2013-029 Pay and Benefits, Allowances and Benefits, Attach Posting Benefits, Canadian Forces Temporary Duty Travel Instruction (CFTDTI), Class B Reserve Service, Overpayment, Recovery of Overpayment/Debt Write-Off, Reserve Force, Temporary Duty Benefits

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2013–08–19

The grievor accepted a nine-month Class B Reserve Service offer in another province. At the time, it was erroneously assumed that the grievor was on Temporary Duty (TD) status. As a result, she received free rations and quarters (R&Q) as well as incidental expense allowances. In January 2009, the Director Compensation and Benefits Administration determined that the grievor was not entitled to TD benefits and recovery action commenced for the R&Q and incidentals the grievor received. The grievor contested the recovery action and requested the reimbursement of all monies recovered by the Canadian Forces (CF).

The Initial Authority (IA), the Director General Compensation and Benefits, found that the grievor's status should have been Attached Posting vice TD and that pursuant to the Aide-Memoire used by the CF in 2008, the grievor would have received TD benefits. However, the IA explained that in February 2011, Canadian Forces General (CANFORGEN) message 033/11 cancelled the use of the Aide-Memoire as the CF had not received expenditure authority by the Treasury Board. The IA further explained that the grievor's claim had to be treated in accordance with the Canadian Forces Temporary Duty Travel Instructions and that the only benefits she was entitled to receive were limited to her travel to and from her home to her new place of duty. The IA concluded that notwithstanding the CF error concerning the grievor's status, she could not be granted TD benefits in arrears.

The Committee found that, through no fault of her own, the grievor's status was wrongly identified in 2008 and she was the victim of a CF administrative error. The Committee agreed with the IA that due to the issuance of CANFORGEN 033/11, TD benefits could not be granted to the grievor in arrears based on a flawed policy that has since been revoked. The Committee found that the grievor had been treated differently than her peers who, unlike her, received the TD benefits while on Attached Posting status in accordance with the Aide-Memoire but faced no recovery action. The Committee recommended the Chief of the Defence Staff grant partial redress and remit the R&Q charges paid to the grievor in error by exercising the discretion found in article 208.52 of the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces.

CDS Decision Summary

CDS Decision Date: 2015–10–09

The FA agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendation and partially upheld the grievance.