# 2022-266 Pay and Benefits, Pay

Case summary

F&R Date: 2024-02-15

The grievor argued that the administration and approval of his application for remote work while accompanying his spouse to her posting outside of Canada (OUTCAN) was unreasonably complicated and delayed. The grievor argued that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) had to honour the Remote Employment Agreement (REA) between himself and his unit as he considered it to be a contractual agreement that he would work remotely as of 1 September 2021. The grievor stated that the delay caused undue hardship on his family and deprived him of remuneration for seven months on Leave Without Pay (LWOP) while OUTCAN as he could not secure employment or collect Employment Insurance (EI) due to his contractual obligation under the REA.

There was no Initial Authority decision for this matter. As the grievor was grieving the administrative delays in a program under the authority of the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS), the matter was referred directly to the Final Authority.

The Committee found that the signing of a REA did not authorize the ending of the grievor's LWOP nor did the grievor's unit  have the authority to approve the grievor to work remotely OUTCAN as this authority rests with the VCDS. The Committee found that the necessary authorization did not occur until 18 March 2022 and the posting message that returned the grievor from LWOP was not issued until 23 March 2022. Notwithstanding, the Committee found that the CAF did not administer the grievor's LWOP, particularly the issuance of his Record of Employment (ROE), in accordance with policy. Due to the successive administrative errors the Committee found that the CAF shared the responsibility in reinforcing the grievor's erroneous perceptions which influenced his decision to forgo an EI application as he believed that it would be illegal to apply due to the signing of the REA and he was not issued an ROE. The Committee recommended that the CAF take steps to ensure that CAF administrative staff are aware that members must receive an ROE whenever they proceed on work/pay interruptions in accordance with Canadian Forces Administrative Order 56-38.