# 2023-013 Pay and Benefits, Land Duty Allowance, Overpayment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2024-04-25

The grievor ceased to be eligible for the Land Duty Allowance (LDA) as of day 181 under a temporary medical category (TCat). The LDA was overpaid for a period of 21 days while the interruption of payment took effect, and it was subsequently recovered from a subsequent pay. The grievor filed a claim contesting the recovery of the overpayment, which was denied. The grievor explained that he had been misled when signing the interruption of payment form and that, for this reason, the interruption was delayed, resulting in an overpayment. For that reason, the grievor believed that he did not have to repay the overpayment. 

The initial authority (IA) found that the grievor had not been aggrieved because, although he had been misled, the cessation of payment was inevitable and the grievor was not entitled to the sum paid to him. The IA explained that no mechanism existed for writing off this amount, and the grievor was responsible for repaying the overpayment.  

The Committee determined that paragraph 205.15(2) of the Compensation and Benefits Instructions (CBI) did apply to the grievor's situation and that the LDA should indeed be discontinued on the 181st day following his TCat. The Committee considered that, in an organization as large and complex as the Canadian Armed Forces, a certain amount of time was needed to implement and apply decisions. In the grievor's case, the Committee considered that a one-month period to cease compensation was reasonable.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority not grant the redress requested.