# 2018-045 Careers, Career progression

Case summary

F&R Date: 2019-04-12

The grievor, a legal officer, was scheduled to attend the Legal Officer Qualification Course (LOQC). After some candidates had stated their preference for the course to be held in French, the Office of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) decided to cancel the LOQC session in question. The grievor maintained that the postponement of the LOQC contravened official languages legislation and directives, as the decision was made after the request to have the course offered in French. The grievor also stated that the postponement unduly delayed his promotion, which, in addition to causing him financial harm, prevented him from carrying out his duties. He asked that the course be given as planned and that, alternatively, financial compensation be granted for the additional delay in his promotion to the rank of major.

According to the Office of the JAG, there was no obligation to offer the LOQC on an annual basis and it was a lack of available resources, specifically, the lack of staff, which resulted in the need to postpone the course. There was no initial authority decision rendered in this file.

The Committee found that the decision to cancel the LOQC session violated the Official Languages Act and the related Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) policies. The Committee also found that the approved sequence of the legal officer training provides that not only can the practical modules be completed before the LOQC, but that they are considered a prerequisite. Therefore, had the course not been cancelled, the grievor would have been eligible for a promotion at the end of the LOQC in question. The Committee therefore found that the grievor's promotion had been unduly delayed and recommended that the effective date of his promotion be adjusted to the scheduled end date of the LOQC serial in question.

FA decision summary

The Final Authority (FA), the Director Canadian Forces Grievance Authority (DCFGA), disagreed with the Committee's recommendation to retroactively adjust the grievor's promotion date to compensate him for the cancellation of his mandatory training. DCFGA stated that the grievor had not reached his operationally functional point (OFP), did not meet all the promotion criteria and other conditions set for the Military Occupational Structure Identification Code. DCFGA indicated that he considers “[translation] achieving the OFP essential for a substantive promotion to the first rank that requires it.”

After a lengthy analysis of the issue of “acting while so employed” (AWSE) within the CAF, DCFGA found that the grievor had been employed in a position associated with the rank of major for more than 90 days, and he had assumed all the responsibilities of the position. DCFGA granted an AWSE to the grievor from the start of his transfer to the position of Basic Training List Captain (which had not been requested by the grievor) and for the period following the cancellation of the course that is the subject of the grievance. DCFGA agreed with the Committee's finding that the reasons given for the cancellation of the course were not consistent with the spirit of the Official Languages Act and Defence Administrative Orders and Directives 5039-6. DCFGA also agreed with the Committee's finding that the course's cancellation had in all likelihood delayed the grievor's promotion by a year as it was the only criteria he was lacking.