# 2021-327 Pay and Benefits, Eligibility to collect Hardship Allowance and Sea Duty Allowance concurrently, Hardship allowance

Case summary

F&R Date: 2022-11-28

The grievor deployed on named international operations onboard one of Her Majesty's Canadian Ships from February 2019 to August 2019, collecting Sea Duty Allowance (SDA), Risk Allowance and Operations Foreign Service Premium. On 19 June 2019, it was announced that the Treasury Board (TB) had confirmed entitlements to concurrent payment of SDA and Hardship Allowance (HA) for personnel deployed between 23 July 2003 and 1 August 2019. Having not yet received HA for their 2019 deployment, in August 2020 the grievor submitted a grievance disputing the delayed payment of HA, arguing that the delay of payment was unreasonable.

The Director General Compensation and Benefits (DGCB), acting as the Initial Authority, acknowledged that the grievor's 2019 deployment satisfied the TB prescribed conditions for concurrent payment of SDA and HA. The DGCB explained that HA payment to the grievor would not occur until their pay account was reviewed by a multi-year SDA/HA audit project led by the Director Military Pay and Allowances Processing.

The Committee noted that a letter authored by the Chief of Military Personnel on 10 April 2019 outlined the history of the concurrent payment of HA and SDA. This letter also explained that the Office of the Judge Advocate General had advised the DGCB in November 2018 that there was no authority to restrict concurrent payment of these allowances. The Committee found that absent TB direction, the DGCB did not have authority to restrict payment of an entitlement and that, therefore, the delayed payment of HA was not justified. The Committee noted that since the grievor's entitlement had already been determined, there was no compelling reason to withhold payment. The Director Military Pay and Allowances Processing project would later audit the grievor's pay account to confirm the payment was correct. The Committee recommended that the Final Authority direct the immediate payment of the grievor's HA entitlement.