1. The purpose of this email is to provide an update on the way forward with regards to discrepancies in the payment of specific benefits and allowances.
2. As previously communicated, the periodic review of various financial transactions identified discrepancies in the administration of Maternity and Parental benefits (MATA/PATA), Post Living Differential (PLD) and payment of environmental allowances to many serving and released Regular Force and Reserve Force Class C members. These errors have resulted in both underpayments and overpayments of MATA/PATA and overpayments only of PLD and/or environmental allowances. Where there have been underpayments, those payments will be made to the affected members shortly after the release of the Admin AIG in the coming weeks. Where there have been overpayments, there is no intent to recover these funds. The Department and the CAF are seeking the required financial approvals and mechanisms to make such intent a reality in these three specific cases identified in the review.
3. With regard to issue #1 - Maternity and Parental Benefits (MATA/PATA): Modifications to the calculation of MATA/PATA benefits for the Regular Force were implemented in the Central Computation Pay System (CCPS) effective 1 Oct 13. As a result, members affected by MATA/PATA pay discrepancies have had a credit or debit balance appear on their pay guides at the end of each month. Since 1 Oct 13, pay clerks have been required to manually intervene in order to stop the capture or credit of funds to individual members. Technical direction concerning these transactions will be published by AIG message to pay offices in the coming weeks. Pay clerks will no longer need to manually intervene in affected members’ pay guides following the CCPS system change on 20 Jun 14 which will reverse the debit balances for all members affected by the MATA/PATA pay discrepancy. This system change will not affect MATA/PATA credits posted into members’ accounts as these credits will be paid to affected members.
4. With regard to issue #2 - Post Living differential (PLD), as of 1 Jul 07, for locations where the amount of PLD was under 50 dollars a month, PLD was no longer to be paid. However, payments continued for those located in Kingston, London, and North Bay, Ontario; Nanaimo, British Columbia; and St-Hyacinthe, Quebec. Consequently, 3,250 personnel were overpaid an average of 362 dollars and there is no intent to recover.
5. With regard to issue #3 - Land Duty Allowance (LDA), Paratroop Allowance (PARATPA) and Rescue Specialist Allowance (RESSPECA) were erroneously and simultaneously paid with hardship allowance (HA) and/or risk allowance (RA) since. These errors were discovered in 2013. Contrary to regulations, these benefits cannot be paid concurrently. As a result, 1,197 personnel were overpaid an average of 231 dollars and the majority of these overpayments occurred while personnel were deployed to Afghanistan. There is no intent to recover this money.
WAY FORWARD
6. An AIG message for MATA/PATA will be released shortly to provide Pay Offices with administrative instructions which will include directions for Pay Accounting Officers regarding the return of amounts that may have been collected from affected members. During the summer, a second AIG message will be released advising how to obtain the list of personnel affected by PLD and environmental allowance overpayments and describing the action required by pay staff to correct these errors. As stated above, these overpayments will not be recovered from individuals as the CAF is seeking the required financial approvals via a remission order. This exceptional course of action will not become the norm when addressing overpayments. For all other current overpayments not covered in this email, if a member receives a payment in excess of the entitlement due, the amount of the overpayment shall be refunded.
7. The DND and CAF are committed to the effective and efficient management of public money as well as to the care of our people. CAF members continue to be supported by a robust compensation and benefits framework reflecting the unique nature and demands placed on them and their families. These pay discrepancies have been thoroughly researched and were found to be systemic and due to the misinterpretation or the misapplication of policy. As such, we have sought a fiscally and legally responsible mechanism to apply so that individual members' pay would not be affected. Furthermore, to reduce the chance of such errors occurring again, compliance with applicable policies are verified across the CAF, pay reports are being scrutinized to correct errors more rapidly, and pay clerk training is being adjusted as required. Your continued patience as we work to resolve these issues is appreciated.
8. Request you ensure the above information is disseminated through your respective chains of command.
CMP