# 2019-215 Pay and Benefits, Separation expense

Case summary

F&R Date: 2020-06-29

The grievor's spouse was unable to leave the area they resided in due to a shared custody arrangement he had with his previous spouse. Therefore, upon posting to a new location, the grievor's spouse did not relocate with her, but she chose to take her young child with her to her new place of duty. The grievor argued that because she was separated from her spouse, and had to maintain two residences, she should be entitled to an imposed restriction and separation expense (SE).

The Committee found that, in accordance with article 209.997 of the Compensation and Benefits Instructions for the Canadian Forces, the grievor was disqualified from receiving SE if a dependent resided with her for more than 90 days in any 365-day period. As the grievor's child would be living with her full-time, the Committee found that the grievor was not entitled to receive SE and recommended that the Final Authority (FA) not afford her redress.

FA decision summary

The FA agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendation. She agreed with the Committee's observation that despite improvement to the SE policy in 2017, it still lacked the flexibility to support all Canadian Armed Forces members, and she included the Director General Compensation and Benefits as an information addressee to consider this during the policy review process.