# 2018-081 Pay and Benefits, Maternal/Parental Leave, Maternity and Parental Allowance

Case summary

F&R Date: 2018-12-12

Four months after enrolling in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the grievor's girlfriend, who was residing in another country, bore the grievor's son. It was almost a year later when the grievor provided his son's birth certificate to his unit to have his personnel records updated. After another year, when he enquired about medical benefits for his son, who still resided outside Canada, the grievor discovered that he could have been entitled to parental benefits at the time his son was born, but that he was now too late to apply for those benefits. The grievor argued that the CAF had failed to inform him of his entitlements and submitted a grievance.

The Initial Authority found that the grievor did not meet the eligibility requirements to receive parental allowance and denied the grievor redress.

The Committee found that the grievor would have had an entitlement to parental leave but that his entitled had long since expired. The Committee found that, in accordance with the policy, as the grievor had only served in the CAF for four months prior to the birth of his son, he had no entitlement to parental allowance. Furthermore, the CAF had no control over the grievor's entitlement to Employment Insurance benefits as the onus was on the grievor to apply for these benefits through Employment and Social Development Canada. The Committee concluded that it was the grievor's responsibility to seek out information concerning his benefits and he had not done so. The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) not provide the grievor redress.

The Committee also made a systemic recommendation concerning the eligibility criteria for parental allowance.

FA decision summary

The Chief of the Defence Staff, the FA, determined that the grievor had been treated in accordance with the applicable policies and did not grant the redress sought. The FA agreed with the Committee that the grievor's chain of command did not fail to properly support him.

Regarding the systemic issue raised by the Committee on the subject of requirements to be met to receive parental leave benefits, the FA agreed with the Committee that there was a discrepancy between the requirements for CAF members and the requirements for public servants. The FA directed the Chief of Military Personnel to negotiate with Treasury Board to minimize the discrepancy.