# 2023-168 Careers, Promotion

Case summary

F&R Date: 2025-07-22

The grievor contested the deferral of her Acting Lacking (A/L) promotion arguing that the decision was not in keeping with the intent of the Canadian Forces General Message (CANFORGEN) 012/17- Delinking of Medical Condition from Promotion Criteria. She argued that she had been merit listed for promotion in the previous year, received a rank change instruction and was promoted in a public ceremony. She argued that her posting to the Transition Centre (TC) to address her medical employment limitations (MELs) should not interfere with her promotion and failure to honour the original promotion date would constitute a rank reversion.

The Director General Military Careers, acting as the Initial Authority (IA), denied the grievance. The IA clarified that CANFORGEN 012/17 allows for a member's potential promotion while on MELs provided they can fulfill a minimal acceptable level of the duties of the higher ranked position without impacting the function or effectiveness of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), stating that promotions are subject to the needs of the service above all else. The IA found that the grievor had been offered an A/L promotion, located at her then-current base, on the condition that she carries out the duties of the higher rank where there was a service requirement. Following this offer, the grievor was posted to the TC at a different base where no positions at the higher rank were available. Consequently, she was unable to fulfill the conditions of her A/L promotion offer, and the decision to cancel the promotion and defer to a later date was reasonable. 

The Committee assessed CANFORGEN 012/17 within the regulatory framework of promotions for Regular Force (Reg F) non-commissioned members (NCM) and found that when read with the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces article 11.02, the promotion of a Reg F NCM with MELs must still fulfill the needs of the service by being posted to a vacant position at the next rank in a manner that does not negatively affect the position or CAF but takes their MELs into account with reasonable accommodations.

The Committee found that the grievors posting to the TC prohibited her from physically reporting for duty in the A/L position detailed in her promotion offer thereby rendering her unable to fulfil any duties associated with that position. In addition, since there were no positions at the higher rank available at the TC, the service requirement only existed at the grievor's former base. The Committee found that despite having placed sufficiently high on the merit list for promotion and having received a rank change instruction, she was still required to meet the conditions of her offer for it to be formalized, and she did not. Finally, since she did not meet the necessary criteria, she was not administratively promoted and therefore the cancellation and deferral could not be considered a rank reversion. As such, the Committee found the grievor not aggrieved.

The Committee recommended the Final Authority not afford redress.