G-749 - Travel

Between July 29 and August 28, 2011, the Grievor was on travel status performing relief duties. Some time following his return, he learned of a document prepared after a staff relations representative (SRR) caucus that took place on or around October 18, 2012. This document noted that since January 2010, the RCMP had refused to pay the private non-commercial accommodation allowance (PNAA) to members conducting investigations or providing relief at isolated posts. The document encouraged members to file a grievance if they had been denied the PNAA under similar circumstances.

On October 29, 2012, the Grievor submitted a claim to his supervisor requesting payment of the PNAA for each night he had spent performing relief duties. On his 1393 form (PNAA claim), the Grievor did not provide any details about the nature of his accommodation. The claim was denied on February 8, 2013.

On February 14, 2013, the Grievor filed a grievance in relation to his claim being denied. The Grievor attached, among other things, the summaries of grievance cases 3500-07-001 (G-496), 2400-07-002 (G-497) and 2400-10-001 (G-498).

The grievance was denied at Level I. In support of the decision, the Adjudicator specified that cases G-496, G-497 and G-498 did not apply to the Grievor's situation as they all involved members having lived in Crown-owned houses that were normally occupied by other members, which had justified the PNAA being granted. In this respect, the Adjudicator observed that the Grievor had not discharged his burden as he had not provided any information or details about where he had stayed while performing relief duties. Consequently, the Adjudicator found that it was impossible to determine whether the Grievor's circumstances justified his being paid the PNAA.

In his Level II submissions, the Grievor revealed for the first time that he had stayed in government housing normally occupied by another member of the RCMP.

The ERC found that the new evidence presented by the Grievor was inadmissible at Level II as it was known to him at the time the case was at Level I. It follows that the Grievor reasonably could have presented the information when his grievance was being considered at Level I. It was also found that the Grievor's argument that his accommodation situation became clear when he attached grievance case summaries G-496, G-497 and G-498 to his grievance form was without merit.

Having found that the new evidence presented by the Grievor was inadmissible at Level II, the ERC stated that the evidence on file did not enable it to determine if the Grievor had, in fact, stayed in private non-commercial accommodation. Consequently, the ERC found that granting the PNAA could not be justified under the circumstances.

The ERC recommended that the Commissioner deny the grievance.

[Translation]

The Grievor was on travel status, performing relief duties.  He claimed a private non-commercial accommodation allowance (PNAA) of $50 per night.  He filed a grievance challenging the decision of the Non-Commissioned Officer of “X” Division denying his PNAA claim.  The Level I Adjudicator found that the Grievor did not meet his burden of proof on the merits.  The Royal Canadian Mounted Police External Review Committee reiterated the Level I Adjudicator’s reasons for denying the grievance.  The Commissioner agrees that the Grievor stayed in a Crown housing rented by another member, thereby creating an entitlement to the PNAA.  The grievance is allowed.