General

Introduction

The Foreign Service Directives are co-developed by participating bargaining agents and public service employers at the National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada.

Purpose and Scope

The Foreign Service Directives are designed to provide a system of allowances, benefits and conditions of employment that, in combination with salary, will enable departments and agencies to recruit, retain and deploy qualified employees in support of government programs outside Canada.

It is important that employees who are or will be serving on assignments outside Canada have access to these directives and, as well, to information as to their application and interpretation. It is particularly important that employees should be provided with a detailed briefing with respect to the specific application of those directives and related provisions and procedures which impact on their assignment outside Canada, before departing for that assignment. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development conducts pre-posting briefing programs in Ottawa for career foreign service employees and foreign assignment employees. Wherever possible and practicable, employees should be authorized to attend this program prior to posting, notwithstanding that they are not employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

Principles

The Foreign Service Directives reflect the following principles:

Comparability - insofar as is possible and practicable employees serving abroad should be placed in neither a more nor a less favourable situation than they would be in serving in Canada.

Incentive-inducement - the employer must provide certain additional incentives both to attract employees to serve an occasional assignment outside Canada and to recruit and retain employees in a career foreign service.

Program-related provisions - to ensure that employees abroad will be provided with the means to carry out the programs assigned to them.

To achieve the objectives of the Directives, consideration will continue to be given to situations which may arise which are not specifically dealt with in the Directives but which fall within the intent of the Directives as described in the basic principles outlined above or explained in the Introduction to a specific directive.

Collective Agreement

These Directives are 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 policy. The Directives are available on the National Joint Council web site (www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/).

It should be noted that a number of collective agreements contain clauses respecting the application of the Foreign Service Directives. It is unlikely that there will be any conflict between the Directives and the various agreements. However, should there be areas of apparent conflict, the Foreign Service Directives will normally apply, unless the agreement expressly provides that the agreement overrides the Foreign Service Directives. In cases of doubt, the employer and employee representatives have agreed to discuss the problem before any final conclusion is reached.

Grievance Procedure

In cases of alleged misinterpretation or misapplication arising out of these directives, the grievance procedure, for all represented employees, within the meaning of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, will be in accordance with section 15 of the National Joint Council By-Laws. For unrepresented employees the departmental grievance procedure applies.

Effective Date

These directives are effective on April 1, 2019.

Employee Responsibility

It is the responsibility of employees to familiarize themselves with the Foreign Service Directives and to seek clarification and/or assistance from their FSD administrator with respect to the application and/or interpretation of a specific directive, as needed.

Loyalty Programs

Employees who participate in one or more travel loyalty programs may collect and redeem travel points and other benefits offered by the travel industry for travel authorized under the Foreign Service Directives. These may be considered taxable benefits when redeemed for personal use and employees should consult the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) accordingly.

Cyclical Review

To ensure that terms and conditions of employment for employees serving abroad are kept up to date, the Directives are reviewed on a regular basis.

Allowances and Reporting Requirements

Several Directives require verification and/or reports to the Treasury Board Secretariat or to the appropriate foreign service interdepartmental coordinating committee. FSD 70 – Allowances and Reporting Requirements outlines the frequency and details of the verification of allowances and of the various reporting requirements.

Enquiries

Enquiries regarding the Foreign Service Directives may be directed to the Designated Departmental Coordinators as specified on the NJC website.