Grievance Case Summary - G-408

The Grievor joined a unit in December 2003 which required that he travel in Canada and the United States. He stated that when he first joined his unit, he was instructed by Supervisors to claim $15.00 for dinner when travelling to the United States, and other parts of Canada, on "same day travel". After a Divisional Staff Relations Representative told him that the $15.00 dinner claim policy was invalid, the Grievor asked the Officer Commanding (OC) for clarification. On August 12, 2004, the OC told the Grievor that the $15.00 dinner claim policy would be maintained, and he gave the Grievor a copy of an email originating from unit management in December 2003 which established a dinner claims policy requiring receipts for meals taken in excess of $15.00.

The Grievor presented a grievance which was received on August 30, 2004. He stated that he learned of the decision that was the subject of the grievance on August 12, 2004. He requested reimbursement for the difference between the Treasury Board dinner allowance and the amounts he received for "same day travel" dinner claims made from January 14, 2004 to August 1, 2004. The Level I Adjudicator ruled that the Grievor had not respected the 30 day time limit set out in the Act. He found that the Grievor should have presented the grievance within 30 days of being told about the $15.00 dinner claim policy in December 2003.

According to section 31(2) of the Act, a grievance must be presented to Level I "within thirty days after the day on which the aggrieved member knew or reasonably ought to have known of the decision, act or omission giving rise to the grievance". The Grievor was told in December 2003 to limit his dinner claims to $15.00. The Treasury Board Travel Directive ("TBTD") requires that travellers become familiar with the provisions of this directive. If the December 2003 instructions from his Supervisors did not comply with the TBTD, the Grievor should have known this in December 2003. However, the Committee was of the view that the Commissioner should retroactively extend the time limit pursuant to section 47.4.(1) of the Act. RCMP travel of less than one day is governed by a number of confusing and sometimes conflicting policies, and it would have been difficult for him to inform himself as to his entitlements in December 2003. As well, the Grievor was not properly informed about the $15.00 dinner claim policy when joining the unit, and he did not receive written notice of it until August 2004.

As for the merits of the matter, the Committee found that Section 3.2, Module 2 of the TBTD, "Travel Outside Headquarters Area - No overnight stay", applied. It allowed for reimbursement at the Appendix C allowance rate with no receipts required. Further, Treasury Board Minute ("TBM") no. 704761, section 4(2)(d) applied to the Grievor's situation. It stated that for travel of less than one day "where the round trip journey takes place on the same day", members were to be paid a meal allowance, and an unnumbered section of TBM no. 704761 stated that receipts were not required for meals for members. The Committee concluded that on the basis of section 4(2)(d) of TBM no. 704761 and module 3.2. of the TBTD, the Grievor should have received the applicable TBTD, Appendix C, allowance for the dinners claimed, and he was normally not required to give receipts unless he was claiming for more than the allowance rate.

The Committee recommended that the Commissioner of the RCMP allow the grievance and order that the Grievor's claims be reassessed using the TB allowance rates as per the applicable Appendix C of the Treasury Board Travel Directive, effective October 1, 2002.

The Commissioner has rendered a decision in this matter, as summarized by his office:

On December 29, 2009, Acting Commissioner W. Sweeney found that the grievance was presented at Level I outside the 30-day time limit prescribed by paragraph 31(2)(a) of the Act; however, he agreed with the ERC and used the authority granted by section 47.4 of the Act to extend the time limit.

In a decision dated October 6, 2011, Commissioner Elliott allowed the grievance. He pointed to subsection 22(1) of the Act and section 74 of the Regulations, and agreed with the ERC that the Treasury Board Travel Directive (TBTD) prevails over the RCMP’s Travel Directive (AM VI.I) or local RCMP policy in case of inconsistency.

The Commissioner found that the Grievor was entitled to the full dinner allowance provided under Appendix C of the TBTD, without having to submit receipts, despite restrictions being placed in RCMP policy and local policy. The Commissioner followed his decision in G-376 and found that the Grievor was entitled to the difference between the amount he had already received (based on the local practice of reimbursing $15.00 for dinner claims without receipts), and the amount he should have received pursuant to the TBTD for meal allowances.

The Commissioner found that the meal claims should be provided in Canadian funds, and that the Grievor could not claim the Appendix C amount in US funds. A member could request payment in US currency only up to the amount equivalent to the Appendix C amount in Canadian funds.

As he had already directed the policy review recommended by the ERC in G-376, and the RCMP travel policy was revised and came into effect on January 1, 2010, the Commissioner found that a review was no longer necessary.