Policy Change Implementation

Topic

Policy Change Implementation

Case Number

• 2020-184 (F&R date: 2021-02-17)

Description

The Committee expressed concern regarding the way in which the 19 April 2018 CFIRP revision was announced to CAF members. Officially, the policy amendments were announced through Canadian Forces General message (CANFORGEN) 073/18, on 26 April 2018. This was seven days after the changes came into effect. The Committee noted that the CFIRP Directive has a significant impact on the posting benefits of CAF members from one year to the next, and that publishing key changes to those benefits without providing adequate notice to CAF members can be financially harmful to those members.

The Committee observed how policy change implemented during a relocation can unfairly and severely impact CAF members. Moreover, asking CAF members to interpret a new policy with little or no guidance available from the relocation advisors can also lead to misinformed decisions costing CAF members significant sums of money.

The Committee looked at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), an organization similar to the CAF in terms of Public Service relocation benefits. The RCMP has addressed the transition of policy changes from one year to the next in their RCMP IRP Directive as follows:

“Each year on April 1st, the RCMP IRP transitions to a new governing policy year. The IRP that is in effect on the date the Member is registered with the Contracted Relocation Service Provider (CRSP) is applicable for the duration of that relocation”.

The Committee found the RCMP policy on this matter to be entirely practical, simple and fair, and was unable to understand why the CFIRP Directive contains no similar clause to clearly lock-in a member’s right to have their relocation administrated under the same policy provisions from start to completion. This would allow members to make fully informed relocation decisions with the knowledge and security that their benefits will not change mid-course during their relocation, as has regrettably happened to a number of CAF members recently.

The Committee concluded that expecting a CAF member to understand their relocation benefits and make timely and informed decisions while facing the risk of financial consequences for mistakes requires that a similar onus be placed on the CAF to provide a stable policy that will not change in the midst of that member’s relocation. In the Committee’s view, the CAF is failing to live up to this obligation at present.

Recommendation

(Not Available)

Final Authority Decision

(Not Available)