#2017-168 Pay and Benefits, Compulsory Occupational Transfer, Occupational Transfer, Pay

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2018–04–26

The grievor contended that he was not given the correct rank and pay when he underwent a compulsory occupational transfer (COT) from an officer classification to a non-commissioned member occupation. The Committee found that the grievor had been assigned the correct rank; however, given that his COT was due to medical reasons, the grievor should have been pay-protected at his former rank pursuant to Compensation and Benefits Instruction 204.03. 

FA Decision Summary

The Director Canadian Forces Grievance Authority (DCFGA) agreed with the Committee's recommendation that the grievance be partially upheld so that the grievor’s COT-Untrained (COT-U) Relinquishment to Non-Commissioned Member be amended so that he get pay protection.  The DCFGA noted that the grievor was COT-U because his Medical Employment Limitations were in breach of his occupational requirements. Therefore, he found that the grievor should have been pay protected upon transfer into his new occupation, as per Compensation Benefits Instructions 204.03(2)(b), and directed the Director General Military Careers to ensure that his occupational transfer instructions are amended accordingly. The DCFGA stated that the Primary Leadership Qualification completed by the grievor was not equivalent to the Qualification Level 3 (Infantry) “since the former focusses on leadership and the latter on initial occupation training”. He found that the grievor was not eligible for an acting lacking promotion before completion of his initial occupational training in his new occupation.