# 2019-202 Pay and Benefits, Delayed Army Communications and Information Systems Specialist Pay Review, Specialist pay

Case summary

F&R Date: 2020-05-18

The grievor argued that the amalgamation of his occupation with two others to form the Army Communications Information System Specialist (ACISS) occupation was fraught with confusion and miscommunications concerning entitlement to specialist pay. As a result of the maladministration, the grievor had erroneously been granted specialist pay earlier than he should have and subsequently faced a recovery of an $18,000 overpayment. The grievor contended that his specialist pay should be backdated to the original date such that the overpayment would be negated.

The Committee noted that it had previously commented on the poor manner in which the amalgamation had been implemented and that it had resulted in 192 grievances from ACISS members since 2011. Nonetheless, the Committee found that the correction to the grievor's specialist pay date was in accordance with the most recent Chief of the Defence Staff Order. Consequently, the Committee concluded that the grievor had been overpaid due to the error and that the overpayment was subject to recovery. The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) not afford the grievor redress.

FA decision summary

The FA found that the grievor had been treated fairly and was entitled to specialist pay only as of October 2015. The FA agreed with the Committee that the ACISS pay review had not gone well, with detrimental results for many of the Canadian Armed Forces members who were compulsorily transferred into the occupation. However, he stated that implementation of the new pay structure was planned for "this summer" and therefore that he was satisfied that proper mitigation measures were ongoing. (It is unclear whether the FA meant summer 2020 or summer 2021, given that his decision was dated 25 September 2020.)