# 2019-102 Pay and Benefits, Meal expenses

Case summary

F&R Date: 2019-08-13

The grievor contended that he should be entitled to a meal allowance for the duration of his posting to Latvia. The grievor had been receiving the meal allowance initially, but after being relocated to an apartment hotel, his meal allowance was ceased. He submitted that the meal preparation facilities in the hotel were not “adequate cooking facilities” for a stay of nine months.

The Initial Authority (IA) denied the grievance on the basis that the Compensation and Benefit Instructions for the Canadian Forces (CBI) only authorizes payment of a meal allowance to Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members without dependants when they are not entitled to ship or store household goods and effects (HG&E) at public expense. As the grievor had been entitled to store his HG&E, he had no entitlement to a meal allowance. The IA noted that the Treasury Board (TB) had authorized a temporary policy exception to pay the meal allowance only for the period before the grievor moved to the apartment hotel.

The Committee found that there was no evidence that the TB had actually authorized an exception to the policy contained in the CBI; and that, in accordance with the CBI, the grievor had no entitlement to a meal allowance during his posting to Latvia. However, recognizing the unique circumstances of the Latvia mission, the Committee recommended that the CAF seek TB authority for an exception to the CBI and that any recovery of payments made without authority be deferred until the matter was resolved with the TB. The Committee also recommended that if TB authorized the exception, the grievor should receive the meal allowance for the duration of his stay in Latvia, as the apartment hotel he was eventually moved to did not contain adequate cooking facilities.

FA decision summary

The Acting Chief of the Defence Staff, acting as Final Authority (FA), disagreed with the Committee's finding that the evidence did not show that the TB had authorized an exception to the CBI. He stated that subsequent to the 24 August 2017 email communication from the Treasury Board Secretariat analyst stating that authorization had not been granted, the analyst sought and received a special exemption from within his organization, and that in this matter, the analyst spoke on behalf of the TB.

The FA agreed with the Committee that the apartment hotel’s small cooking area with a sink, microwave, hot plate, and fridge, but no oven, did not constitute adequate meal preparation facilities over an extended time, and that the cessation of meal allowance was not justified.

The FA directed that the grievor's case be submitted to TB to request meal allowance benefits for the duration of his time in Latvia or until he was moved to accommodations with adequate meal preparation facilities.