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FSD 58 - Post Differential Allowance

Scope

Introduction

This allowance is payable in accordance with Appendices A and B of this directive in recognition of undesirable conditions existing at certain posts. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs has been delegated authority to amend post rating levels, on the recommendation of the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental coordinating committee, as and when required.

Directive

58.1 Application

58.1.1 The deputy head shall authorize payment of a Post Differential Allowance at the applicable rate having regard for the post rating level and the employee's family configuration as defined in FSD 2 – Definitions, as shown in Appendix A of this directive, where:

  1. the amounts of Post Differential Allowance shall be revised on the first of April each year in accordance with the methodology agreed to by the NJC FSD Committee, and shown in Appendix A of this directive; and
  2. the post rating levels shall be established and/or amended by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the recommendation of the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental coordinating committee, as and when required, and shown in Appendix B of this Directive.

58.2 Employee-Couple

58.2.1 The unaccompanied rate shall be paid to each employee of an employee-couple who are assigned to the same post, except that where a dependant resides with the employee-couple at the post, one employee shall be considered as unaccompanied and the other employee as accompanied at the appropriate dependant rate.

58.2.2 The unaccompanied rate shall be paid to each employee of an employee-couple who are assigned to different posts, except that where a dependant resides with the employee, the employee shall be considered as accompanied at the appropriate dependant rate.

58.3 Effective Date

58.3.1 Except where otherwise provided, an employee's Post Differential Allowance shall commence at the appropriate rate on the first compensation day following the employee's/dependant's arrival at the post and shall cease on the first compensation day following the employee's last day on duty at the post.

58.3.2 Where a dependant departs the post permanently in advance of an employee, the rate of Post Differential Allowance shall be reduced accordingly.

58.4 Bonus Payment

58.4.1 Following completion of 24 consecutive months of service as defined in FSD 2 - Definitions at one or more posts for which a Post Differential Allowance is payable, the Post Differential Allowance to which an employee is entitled, on the basis of family configuration and post rating level, shall be increased by 50%.

58.4.2 The following situations of temporary absence from post or between posts do not constitute a break in the 24 consecutive months of service under subsection 58.4.1, but, at the same time, cannot be counted as service to establish eligibility for the 50% bonus payment:

  1. on paid leave;
  2. under emergency evacuation conditions;
  3. on temporary duty; or
  4. on leave without pay (including leave without pay at post).

58.4.3 The bonus payment shall continue until the employee’s final departure from a post at which a Post Differential Allowance is payable. Eligibility to the bonus payment shall continue pursuant to this directive where:

  1. the period of time spent on one or more assignments in Canada, including any periods of leave without pay, between an assignment to a post listed in Appendix B of this directive and an assignment to a post rated level I, II or III as listed in Appendix B does not exceed 30 consecutive months; or
  2. the period of time spent on one or more assignments in Canada, including any period of leave without pay, between an assignment to a post listed in Appendix B of this directive and an assignment to a post rated level IV or V as listed in Appendix B does not exceed 42 consecutive months.

58.4.4 Where an employee is in receipt of the bonus payment at a post listed in Appendix B of this directive and the rating level is revised during the assignment of the employee to a non-hardship level resulting in the termination of the payment of the Post Differential Allowance, the employee’s eligibility to the bonus payment shall be protected until the completion of the assignment, excluding any extensions, and subject to subsection 58.4.3.

58.4.5 Assignments in Canada for purposes of paragraph 58.4.3(b) commence on the date:

  1. the employee reports for duty in Canada; or
  2. if an employee is granted leave without pay following final departure from post prior to reporting for duty in Canada, the start of leave without pay.

58.4.6 The 50% bonus payment authorized under this section shall not be taken into consideration in calculating an additional amount of Post Differential Allowance or special payment under subsection 58.5.2.

58.5 Additional Allowance due to Extraordinary Conditions

58.5.1 In the event of extraordinary conditions arising out of active hostilities and/or natural disasters at a post, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the recommendation of the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental coordinating committee, shall:

  1. establish a post rating level which recognizes extraordinary post conditions, where there was no Post Differential Allowance at the time; or
  2. revise the post rating level in effect at the time up to level V, to recognize extraordinary post conditions; or
  3. establish a special payment of up to 100% of the basic level V Post Differential Allowance to recognize extraordinary post conditions where a level V post rating was in effect at the time; or
  4. establish Respite Travel Assistance as necessary to provide for travel away from the post for the employee where travel provisions under the current directives are inadequate and where dependants are not authorized to be at post either as a result of an emergency evacuation or due to operational reasons where the deputy head directs an employee to accept an assignment on an unaccompanied basis; or
  5. recommend to the President of the Treasury Board such additional assistance as may be considered necessary, where current provisions are inadequate, because of unusual situations.

58.5.2 Where assistance is provided under subsection 58.5.1, payments and assistance shall be reviewed on an ongoing basis as determined by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and at a minimum of twice per year to determine whether the assistance should continue or be revised until such time as the conditions can be accommodated within the normal Post Differential Allowance rating scale.

58.5.3 The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs shall report to the NJC FSD Committee special payments in excess of 50% of the basic level V Post Differential Allowance and assistance authorized in accordance with paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of subsection 58.5.1.

58.5.4 Where a post rating level or special payment has been established in accordance with subsection 58.5.1, the additional amount of Post Differential Allowance which shall be payable over and above the Post Differential Allowance which was previously established shall be calculated as follows:

  1. where there was no Post Differential Allowance authorized previously, the amount of Post Differential Allowance is the amount established in Appendix A of this directive on the basis of the post rating level and the employee's family size at the post;
  2. where a level I, II, III or IV Post Differential Allowance was previously established, the additional amount of Post Differential Allowance is the difference between the basic amount of Post Differential Allowance in effect at the time and the basic amount of Post Differential Allowance up to level V as established in Appendix A of this directive on the basis of the employee's family configuration at the post;
  3. where a level V Post Differential Allowance was previously established, the additional amount of Post Differential Allowance is the amount established as a special payment in accordance with paragraph 58.5.1(c) on the basis of the employee's family configuration at the post;
  4. the additional amounts of Post Differential Allowance or special payments calculated in accordance with paragraphs 58.5.4(a), (b) and (c) shall be adjusted, where applicable, to reflect a change in the amount of basic Post Differential Allowance on April 1st of each year; and
  5. notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 58.6.1 and 58.6.2, the additional amounts of Post Differential Allowance or special payments shall be payable during the period of extraordinary conditions, as determined by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in accordance with subsection 58.5.1, except that payments shall be limited to the period during which an employee and/or dependant is/are exposed to extraordinary conditions and shall be adjusted to reflect the employee's family configuration at the post.

58.5.5 The special payment or additional Post Differential Allowance paid pursuant to subsection 58.5.4 are to be calculated on the basis of the basic Post Differential Allowance and shall be paid in addition to the bonus payments generated pursuant to subsection 58.4.1.

58.5.6 The provisions of subsection 58.5.4 shall apply to all employees at a post during the period in which an additional amount of Post Differential Allowance or special payment is established to recognize extraordinary conditions, including an employee on temporary duty, notwithstanding that such employee may not be otherwise subject to this directive.

58.6 Temporary Absence

58.6.1 Where an unaccompanied employee is absent from the post for any reason other than temporary duty or emergency evacuation for a continuous period of more than 25 compensation days, the Post Differential Allowance shall cease on the 26th compensation day and shall resume on the first compensation day following the employee's return to the post.

58.6.2 Where an unaccompanied employee is absent from the post due to temporary duty or emergency evacuation for a continuous period of more than 25 compensation days, the Post Differential Allowance shall cease on the 26th compensation day unless the temporary duty or the emergency evacuation is at a location for which a Post Differential Allowance is payable. Where the location of the temporary duty or emergency evacuation is a location for which a Post Differential Allowance is payable, the Post Differential Allowance applicable to the temporary place of duty becomes payable on the 26th compensation day at the temporary place of duty and ends on the first compensation day following the employee’s departure from the temporary place of duty.

58.6.3 Where an employee is in receipt of a Post Differential Allowance at an accompanied rate, the rate of allowance shall be adjusted as follows:

  1. where the employee and all dependants are absent from the post for any reason other than emergency evacuation for a continuous period of more than 25 compensation days, the allowance shall cease on the 26th compensation day following their departure and shall resume at the appropriate rate as applicable, on the first compensation day following the return of the employee and/or dependant(s) to the post;
  2. where either the employee or the dependant(s) is/are absent from the post for any reason other than emergency evacuation for a continuous period of more than 25 compensation days, the rate of allowance shall be adjusted to reflect the change in family size as applicable on the 26th compensation day following the departure of the employee and/or dependant and shall again be adjusted on the first compensation day following the employee's and/or dependant's return to the post;
  3. where an employee is absent from the post on temporary duty at a location for which a Post Differential Allowance is not payable, the Post Differential Allowance shall be adjusted to reflect one dependant less at post;
  4. where an employee is absent from the post on temporary duty at a location for which a Post Differential Allowance is applicable, the Post Differential Allowance applicable to the temporary place of duty shall become payable on the 26th compensation day at the unaccompanied rate in addition to the rate applicable to the family configuration for the dependant(s) who continue to reside at the post except that in no case shall the allowance exceed the Post Differential Allowance which would be applicable were the employee and dependant(s) at the post with the higher post rating level; or
  5. where an employee and/or dependants are absent from the post under emergency evacuation at a location for which a Post Differential Allowance is applicable, the Post Differential Allowance applicable to the temporary location shall become payable on the 26th compensation day of such emergency evacuation at the rate applicable to the family configuration located at the temporary location. Where the employee remains at the post, the Post Differential Allowance shall be payable as specified in paragraph (d) above.

58.7 Transitional Provisions

58.7.1 Where additional travel assistance is in place on March 31st, 2019 as per the provisions of paragraph 58.5.1(e) of the April 1, 2013 Foreign Service Directives, the additional assistance shall continue to apply for employees until the deletion of the assistance or the completion of posting, excluding any extension, whichever is earliest.

58.7.2 The additional travel assistance in place on March 31st, 2019 as per the provisions of paragraph 58.5.1(e) of the April 1, 2013 Foreign Service Directives will be subject to a review as outlined in subsection 58.5.2 of this directive.

Index