# 2024-244 Pay and Benefits, Recruitment Allowance

Case summary

F&R Date: 2024-10-31

The grievor contested the Canadian Armed Forces decision that he was ineligible for a Recruitment Allowance (RA) when he commissioned from the ranks (CFR) into the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) occupation in 2022.

Director General Compensation and Benefits, acting as the initial authority, denied the grievance, concluding that the grievor did not enrol or component transfer into the EME occupation.

The grievor argued that CFR should be considered the same as an enrolment or component transfer (CT) when determining eligibility for a RA. He contended that the net effect is the same: an addition to an understrength occupation. The Committee found that the grievor was not wrong on this point and that his perspective should be considered in future negotiations with the Treasury Board (TB). However, the Committee concluded that the CFR and Special Commissioning Plan are neither considered an enrolment or a CT, which are the only two scenarios authorized by TB to be eligible for a RA.

The Committee found that according to Compensation Benefits Instructions 205.525(2), a member may be eligible to receive an RA only if, amongst other things, he/she is assigned to a military occupation that is on the understrength military occupation list either on the date of application for enrolment or component transfer, or on the date of enrolment or component transfer. The Committee found that neither of these scenarios applied to the grievor and concluded that the grievor was not eligible to receive a RA.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority not afford the grievor redress.