December 4, 2003

Occupational Safety and Health Committee

Personal Protective Equipment and Clothing Directive

Where departments do not provide protective footwear free of charge, an allowance will be paid to employees upon presentation of proof of purchase of protective footwear meeting the CSA standard.

The Protective Footwear Allowance is adjusted effective January 1 of each year based on the yearly Clothing and Footwear Sub-Index of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by Statistics Canada at the end of October of the previous calendar year.

The Protective Footwear Allowance for the 2004 calendar year has been adjusted from $44.14 to $43.26 (all taxes included). The allowance is intended to reflect the average retail cost difference (as established in 1997) between regular work footwear and protective footwear meeting the CSA standard.

The allowance will be paid each time an employee submits proof of purchase.

Given that the protective footwear allowance has decreased for the third consecutive year, the Committee agreed that it was important to provide background information on the formula used to calculate this allowance. To view this document, please click on the following link: http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/doc.php?lang=en&did=140.