Home » Directives » First Aid to the General Public - Allowance for Employees

First Aid to the General Public - Allowance for Employees

First Aid to the General Public - Allowance for Employees

General

Collective Agreement

This directive is deemed to be part of collective agreements between the parties to the National Joint Council and employees are to be afforded ready access to this directive.

Effective Date

This directive is effective March 1, 2022.

Purpose

As a result of a recommendation made by the National Joint Council of the Federal Public Service of Canada, the Treasury Board considered and approved (TB 766604) the payment of a first aid allowance for certain employees required to be available to render first-aid to the general public.

A direct allowance will be paid to eligible employees designated by departmental management to be available on a regular basis to provide, in addition to their regular duties, first aid to the general public.

The intent of this directive is to provide an allowance to certain employees required to provide, in addition to their regular duties, first aid to the general public. The intent of this directive is not to provide an allowance to employees voluntarily rendering first aid to fellow employees.

Grievance Procedure

In cases of alleged misinterpretation or misapplication arising out of this directive, the grievance procedure, for all represented employees within the meaning of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act, will be in accordance with section 15.0 of the National Joint Council By-Laws. For unrepresented employees the departmental grievance procedure applies.

Definitions

General Public (grand public): individuals forming the bulk or major part of the public excluding anyone with whom the employee has a working relationship in a formal or informal capacity because of the department’s mandate, mission or legislated requirements. For greater certainty, “general public” does not include co-workers, colleagues, managers, subordinates, or individuals detained in any enforcement capacity.

The First Aid Allowance (indemnité de premiers soins): is a flat amount of $300 per annum, determined monthly and paid on a bi-weekly basis.

1 Administration

1.1 Responsibilities

1.1.1 The responsibility of the Treasury Board Secretariat is to evaluate and audit the administration of this directive in departments and agencies.

1.1.2 The responsibilities of the departments are as follows:

  1. To identify locations under federal jurisdiction where emergency first aid services not otherwise available to the general public are warranted;
  2. Where the federal government is leasing a property, to determine whether the responsibility for the provision of first aid belongs to the federal government as lessor or to the lessee;
  3. To identify the positions which require first-aid trained employees and to establish the means by which such accepted responsibility will be carried out; and
  4. To seek the approval of the Treasury Board Secretariat for the provision of the allowance for a newly designated position or group of positions.

1.1.3 Departments shall maintain records pertaining to the first aid allowance. The information recorded shall include the position number, the employment status, location of employees receiving the allowance, and the total cost per annum.

1.2 Eligible employees

1.2.1 To qualify for the first aid allowance, employees must meet the following four requirements:

  1. be Public Service employees within the meaning of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act;
  2. be formally required by the department to be available on a regular basis to provide, in addition to their regular duties, first aid to the general public;
  3. be employed at a location where there is a lack of readily available emergency medical treatment facilities in the immediate area (a radius of 10 kilometres); and
  4. be required by, and at the expense of, the department to undertake and complete first aid training (St‑John Ambulance Standard Certificate); and maintain such level of first aid capability.

1.3 Excluded personnel

1.3.1 The first aid allowance shall not be paid to:

  1. employees who are available on a voluntary basis to render first aid to fellow employees, pursuant to the Part XVII - First Aid of the Occupational Health and Safety Directive; and
  2. employees where the provision of first aid is an inherent requirement of their position, e.g., doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc..

1.4 Pay considerations

1.4.1 An eligible employee shall be entitled to receive the monthly amount of the first aid allowance for any month in which the employee has earned a minimum of ten (10) days' pay in a position to which the first aid allowance applies.

1.4.2 An employee is entitled to receive the first aid allowance during any period of paid leave.

1.4.3 The first aid allowance shall be considered as part of an employee's salary only for the purposes of the following:

  1. Public Service Superannuation Act,
  2. Public Service Disability Insurance Plan,
  3. Canada Pension Plan,
  4. Quebec Pension Plan,
  5. Unemployment Insurance,
  6. Government Employee’s Compensation Act,
  7. Flying Accident Compensation Regulations,
  8. Supplementary Retirement Benefit Act,
  9. Supplementary Death Benefit,
  10. Long Term Disability Insurance,
  11. Public Service Management Insurance Plan, and/or
  12. Federal and Provincial Income Taxes.

1.4.4 The first aid allowance will not be considered as part of an employee's salary or used to compute an employee's salary entitlements in respect of the following:

  1. transfer,
  2. promotion,
  3. overtime calculation,
  4. severance pay,
  5. demotion, and/or
  6. payment of unused vacation leave on termination of employment, on lay-off, resignation or retirement.

1.5 Liability

1.5.1 It is the Crown's practice to pay both damages and costs to the injured party without seeking any contribution from the employee personally, unless the employee was acting outside the scope of his or her duties or unless the employee's behaviour amounted to gross or wilful negligence.

1.6 Enquiries

1.6.1 All enquiries regarding this policy should be routed through departmental headquarters. For interpretation, departmental headquarters should contact:

Union Engagement and National Joint Council Support
Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
OHS-TBS@tbs-sct.gc.ca.