FSD 69 - Calculation of allowances
Introduction
This directive outlines the general method of calculation of allowances, but is superseded by any method outlined in a specific directive.
Directive 69
69.01 This directive is superseded by any directive which outlines a specific method of calculation or payment condition.
69.02 Subject to Section 69.03, where an employee becomes eligible for a new rate of allowance or other payment under these directives because of a change in classification or pay, the effective date of eligibility shall be the effective date of the change.
Instruction
The effective date of the change (date d'entrée en vigueur du changement) referred to in Section 69.02 is the effective date of the change in classification or pay specified in the collective agreement, arbitral award or other authority.
69.03
(a) Where a retroactive salary adjustment is authorized for employees subject to these directives, either as a result of a collective agreement or unilateral action by the employer, the effective date of the employee's eligibility for a new rate of allowance or provision under these directives (with the exception of FSD 55 - Post living allowance) shall be the date of the instrument effecting such change (that is, the date of signing of a collective agreement, or an Arbitral Award, or the date of approval of the revision in the case of excluded employees).
(b) Where a retroactive salary adjustment is authorized on or after October 1, 1989, for employees subject to these directives, either as a result of a collective agreement or unilateral action by the employer, the effective date of the employee's eligibility for a new rate of post living allowance under FSD 55 shall be the effective date of the change in salary, not the date of the instrument effecting the change.
69.04 Where an employee is entitled to an allowance for less than a complete calendar month, the allowance shall be calculated as follows:
R X E
C
wherein:
R is the annual rate of allowance,
C is the number of compensation days in a year, and
E is the total number of days of entitlement in that month, including:
(a) each compensation day on which the employee is on duty or on authorized leave with pay; and
(b) each day authorized by competent authority as a general holiday with pay, unless it falls within a period of leave without pay or immediately precedes the first day of employment or immediately follows the last day of employment.
Guideline
For the purposes of "C", the number of compensation days in a given year is 260.88 days.
69.05 Notwithstanding the provisions of the Treasury Board policy on strikes, the Foreign Service Directives, with the exception of FSD 56 - Foreign service incentive allowances and FSD 58 - Post differential allowance shall continue to apply in a legal strike situation.
69.06 Subject to the provisions of Section 69.07, the Foreign Service Directives, with the exception of FSD 56 - Foreign service incentive allowances and FSD 58 - Post differential allowance, shall continue to apply when an employee is absent without leave or on leave without pay during an assignment outside Canada.
69.07 Employees who are in receipt of a maternity or parental allowance in accordance with their collective agreement, or other appropriate authority, who are subject to the Foreign Service Directives, and who are authorized to remain at post during maternity or parental leave, shall receive post living allowance (FSD 55), foreign service incentive allowances (FSD 56) and post differential allowance (FSD 58), as outlined below:
(a) An employee is entitled to 93% of post living allowance (FSD 55), foreign service incentive allowances (FSD 56) and post differential allowance (FSD 58) for the same period as a maternity or parental allowance is authorized, to ensure that allowance payments under the Foreign Service Directives are consistent with provisions for maternity and parental allowances.
(b) Where an employee at a post is or will be receiving a maternity or parental allowance for less than 12 weeks, post living allowance (FSD 55), foreign service incentive allowances (FSD 56) and post differential allowance (FSD 58), less the appropriate shelter cost payable under FSD 25 - Shelter, shall be paid to the employee in full upon the employee's return to work.
(c) Where an employee at a post is or will be receiving a maternity or parental allowance for 12 weeks or more, 50% of post living allowance (FSD 55), foreign service incentive allowances (FSD 56) and post differential allowance (FSD 58), less 50% of the appropriate shelter cost payable under FSD 25 - Shelter, shall be paid in advance of the commencement of maternity or parental leave, and the outstanding balance, including any necessary adjustments, shall be paid upon the employee's return to work.
(d) Post living allowance (FSD 55), foreign service incentive allowances (FSD 56) and post differential allowance (FSD 58) shall be adjusted in accordance with the special provisions of these directives to recognize:
(i) an increase in salary,
(ii) a change in family size,
(iii) a change in the Post Index,
(iv) a revision to the Foreign Service Premium table (Appendix A to FSD 56), and the Post Specific Allowance table (Appendix B to FSD 56)
(v) a revision to the Post Differential Allowance table (Appendix to FSD 58),
(vi) a change in post differential allowance rating level,
except that
(vii) no adjustment shall be made which is based entirely on service outside Canada (e.g. a 50% bonus under FSD 58 - Post differential allowance, or a step progression in the Foreign Service Premium table under FSD 56).
(viii) an adjustment to an employee's foreign service premium shall be made on the basis of a step progression in the Foreign Service Premium Table on the first day of duty on which sufficient points/credits have accumulated to merit the increase, following that employee's return from maternity or parental leave.
(e) Where an employee is temporarily absent from the post in excess of 25 compensation days, post living allowance and post differential allowance shall cease with effect from the 26th compensation day of absence.
FSD 70 - Reporting requirements and verification of allowances
Introduction
This directive sets out the reporting requirements under the Foreign Service Directives, and specifies the administrative procedures for the issue and verification of travel allowances.
Directive 70
Reporting requirements
70.01 For purposes of this directive, the deputy head is the deputy head of the employing department, except where arrangements have been made with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for the administration of the Foreign Service Directives, in which case the reports shall be submitted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
70.02 Unless otherwise specified in the individual directives, the deputy head shall submit reports to the Interdepartmental Working Group A annually on November 1st, as follows:
(a) total number of employees at posts under the full or partial provisions of the FSDs,
(b) a listing of employees continuing to receive the foreign service premium (FSD 56) after serving at the same post for seven consecutive years or more, and the reason for continuing the payment,
(c) on designation of a dependant, pursuant to FSD 2.01(j)(iii), providing the details involved, and
(d) on exercise of deputy head discretion to continue payment of the foreign service premium during the temporary absence of a dependant under FSD 56.09(b).
70.03 Departments and agencies are also required to keep records of each case authorized under the following directives and to submit them to the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental co-ordinating committee on either a bi-annual or annual basis as identified in each of these directives:
(a) Special family separation assistance (FSD 18)
(b) Use of managerial discretion under Special family separation assistance (FSD 18.10)
(c) Use of discretion authority under car rental expenses (FSD 15.32(d))
(d) Use of managerial discretion authority under FSD 15.42
Instruction
Reports required under this directive should be submitted to:
Chair, Working Group A on the Foreign Service Directives
Labour Relations and Compensation Operations
Treasury Board Secretariat
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R5
Travel Allowances - Issue and Verification
70.04 Administrative Procedures
One of the conditions of the tax-free allowances is that they are spent only for the specific purpose identified by the employer.
The onus continues to be on the employee to demonstrate that the funds were spent for the specific purpose for which they were issued.
70.05 The issue and verification procedures apply to the following allowances:
FSD 35 - Education travel allowance
FSD 41.04(b) - Health care travel allowance (Provisions for the balance of FSD 41 are fully accountable)
FSD 45 - Foreign service travel credit bank
FSD 50 - Vacation travel allowance
FSD 51 - Family reunion travel allowance
FSD 54 - Compassionate travel allowance
70.06 Issuing the allowances
(a) Allowances shall be issued as close to the proposed date of travel as possible, taking into account the need to book tickets in advance.
(b) The employee must present a signed travel plan that identifies proposed travel and anticipated costs to the extent of the allowance.
(c) It is understood that employees' travel plans may change, and planned travel may have to be cancelled or amended. Amendments to the plan may be made as necessary.
(d) Employees should anticipate changes in family size when applying for FSD 50. Once issued, VTA cannot be adjusted to recognize the arrival or departure of a dependant. The full FSD 50 allowance will be issued at the time of request for the entire family even if it will be used for more than one trip.
70.07 Use of the allowances
(a) Where an FSD 45 travel credit is used in conjunction with family reunion or compassionate travel, the FSD 45 trip must be related to the purpose of the other travel. Examples are: another family member travelling from post on compassionate travel, e.g. a child to the funeral of a grandparent; a side-trip to visit parents; another family member, or close friend joining the family on family reunion.
(b) FSD 45 - Foreign service travel credit bank and FSD 50 - Vacation travel allowance are fixed allowances which must be spent on travel and travel-related expenses, whether on one trip or more. These two allowances cannot be combined.
(c) At the discretion of the deputy head, FSD 45 when intended for use for more than one trip, may be issued in segments to recognize proposed travel plans. The allowance will be based on the entitlement at the time the allowance was first issued.
(d) For allowances issued under FSD 45, employees are expected to demonstrate that at least 90% of the allowance was spent on travel-related expenses and that 70% of the allowance issued was used for transportation expenses.
(e) For allowances issued under FSD 50, employees are expected to be able to demonstrate that everyone for whom an allowance has been issued has travelled and that at least 75% of an allowance issued for each individual was spent on travel and travel-related expenses, including transportation, accommodation, meals and incidental travel expenses such as tours, entry fees, etc. When travel is by PMV or rental vehicle, vehicle rental, fuel, oil, road/bridge tolls, ferries and other transportation charges/fees may be included, but may not base travel on a mileage/kilometric rate.
70.08 Verification of the use of the allowances
(a) While the allowances specified in Section 70.05 are non-accountable, the employee is required, when requested by the deputy head, to demonstrate that the allowance has been used for the purpose intended.
(b) Within time-limits as specified below, employees must complete and submit the Travel Certification Form in the Appendix to this directive. This certification, which must be signed or sent by e-mail from the employee's e-mail account, will form the basis for any subsequent audit. In addition, Mission administration may be requested by the deputy head to verify details.
(c) Employees are required to retain evidence of travel to support the purpose of the allowance for a period of seven years. Supporting documentation must demonstrate that expenditures were incurred outside the mission. If employees cannot demonstrate that the allowance has been used for the purpose intended, when requested to do so, the allowance will be adjusted and reduced by that portion of the allowance the use of which cannot be substantiated.
(d) Under normal circumstances, no further travel allowances under the Foreign Service Directives will be issued until the employee has submitted any required/requested documentation regarding a previous travel allowance.
(e) Except as otherwise specified in this section, the employee should provide evidence of travel:
(i) at the end of the travel, where the allowance has been exhausted, or
(ii) at the end of the posting,
whichever is earlier.
(f) In the case of education travel (FSD 35), health care travel (FSD 41.04(b)),compassionate travel (FSD 54) or family reunion travel (FSD 51), the employee is required to show evidence of travel within 30 days of completion of travel.
(g) When the allowance for travel under FSD 45 - Foreign service travel credit bank is used for one trip, the employee is required to show evidence of travel within 30 days of completion of travel.
(h) When the allowance for travel under FSD 45 - Foreign service travel credit bank is used for more than one trip, the employee may be requested to show evidence of travel at the end of each segment of the projected travel.