March 1, 2005
The National Joint Council (NJC) is pleased to announce that consultations led by the NJC Government Travel Committee (GTC) have resulted in a revised NJC Commuting Assistance Directive. The NJC–GTC is composed of representatives from Federal Public Service Bargaining Agents, the Treasury Board, Departments and Agencies.
Implementation Date
The revised NJC Commuting Assistance Directive is effective on April 1, 2005. To allow all interested parties an opportunity to become familiar with the changes contained therein, the document is being made available in advance of that date.
Changes
Trust, flexibility, respect and transparency are significant cornerstone principles that have been added and defined in the revised Directive. The employer and bargaining agent side representatives jointly developed these principles to guide all parties in establishing fair and reasonable commuting assistance practices across the public service.
This Directive has been re-structured and re-organized to better rationalize its layout and improve user-friendliness.
The definitions section has been updated to reflect the current structure of the public service, including wording to allow Schedule 1 – Part II employers, who are members of the National Joint Council, to be parties to the Commuting Assistance Directive.
Vacant lots are now excluded when determining the vacancy rate at a suitable residential community.
New language has been added to emphasize the requirement to consult with "designated representatives" of the bargaining agents on matters related to the authorization, modification or revocation of Commuting Assistance.
The employee contribution where a Crown-owned/leased vehicle service is provided is increased from $1.30 to $1.75, if no local public transportation system exists. If there is a local transportation system, the employee contribution is the lower of $1.75 and the regular fare of the local public transportation system
Two (2) new appendices have been added: Appendix 'A' – Lower Kilometric Rates; and Appendix 'B' – Qualified Worksites and Designated Suitable Residential Communities.
Information
The complete new Directive is available at: http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/cad-datq/index-eng.php.
A series of Questions and Answers have been developed and are also posted to the web page (http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/doc.php?lang=en&did=231).
Conclusion
The NJC Executive Committee acknowledges and thanks the bargaining agent side and the employer side members of the NJC Government Travel Committee for their commitment and their outstanding work involved in the review of this directive.