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Cyclical Review - Foreign Service Directives – April 1st, 2019

March 11, 2019

Communiqué

The National Joint Council (NJC) is pleased to announce that the consultations led by the NJC Foreign Service Directives (FSD) Committee have resulted in a new version of the Foreign Service Directives.  The NJC FSD Committee is composed of representatives from the Federal Public Service Bargaining Agents, the Employer and departments.

The provisions of the FSDs form part of the collective agreements of the participating parties under the By-Laws of the National Joint Council.

The Executive Committee wishes to thank all members of the Foreign Service Directives Committee for their effort and commitment in this important review.

Implementation Date

The new version of the Foreign Service Directives is effective April 1st, 2019.

Information

The full text of the FSDs is available on the NJC website: https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/d3/en.

Highlights of the changes are presented below.

Questions and Answers are available in the "Communiqués" section of the NJC website: https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/communique/id/717/en.

It is important to note that many changes were made throughout the FSDs to provide greater clarity, to simplify language and to ensure consistency. A detailed listing of all changes are available on the NJC website: https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/communique/id/716/en.

Enquiries

Employees should address any questions to their designated departmental FSD coordinators (http://njc-cnm.gc.ca/s76/d551/en) or their bargaining agent.

Highlights of Changes

FSD 3 – Application

  • Significant clarification was added to FSD 3 – Application, outlining how the directives apply in various situations such as leave without pay, custody arrangements and employee-couples.

FSD 8 – Short-Term Assignment

  • Revised definition of a short-term assignment and revised assignment length from more than 30 days and less than one year to more than 120 days and less than one year and significant changes were made throughout the directive to clarify provisions and align them with the provisions of the NJC Travel Directive.

FSD 9 – Medical and Dental Examinations

  • Addition of provisions to cover the cost of local transportation and/or parking to attend mandatory pre-posting medical and dental appointments as required by the deputy head.

FSD 10 – Posting Loan

  • The introduction to this directive was modified to recognize that employees may have to purchase items required at post and that the posting loan can only be used for these purchases. Verification provisions were added to the posting loans.

FSD 12 – Expenses for Dependants on Pre-Posting Briefing Programs and/or Foreign Language Training

  • Provisions were expanded to recognize that the location of the pre-posting training for dependants is not limited to the National Capital Region.
  • The provisions of FSD 14 – Travelling Expenses for Dependants on Foreign Language Training were consolidated into FSD 12.

FSD 15 – Relocation

  • Sections 15.3 to 15.12 relating to relocation travel were re-written to simplify and avoid repetition. A travel allocation was defined.
  • Simplification of the provisions for insurance on household effects which are shipped or stored. The new section 15.19 outlines the coverage which employees will be provided similarly to the NJC Relocation Directive as well as provisions for advances, independent appraisers and the deputy head liaising with the service provider as required.  All administrative information relating to the claims procedures have been deleted resulting in the deletion of sections 15.20 to 15.27 and of Appendices B to F.
  • FSD 15.22 – Car Rental was renamed Local Transportation and provisions were expanded to allow the use of the allowance for car rental, taxis and any other local transportation options to recognize the various options available around the world.

FSD 16 – Assistance for a Principal Residence

  • Section 16.18 on the Sale and/or Purchase of a Principal Residence in other situations was re-written in order to provide clear guidance on the application of the provisions in various scenarios such as when an employee does not relocate from their headquarters city due to an assignment in another Canadian city, when an employee is assigned from a post to another Canadian city which is not the employee’s headquarters city or to a new headquarters city.

FSD 17 – Assistance for Spouses or Common-Law Partner

  • The maximum amount of the allowance provided under section 17.2 – Employment Related Expenses was increased to $750 and rather than a fixed amount, it will be adjusted on April 1st of every year as per the agreed upon methodology for allowance adjustments.

FSD 18 – Special Family Separation Assistance

  • The provisions relating to a shelter waiver under section 18.4 and to family reunion under section 18.5 were modified to apply in the employee’s last place of duty in Canada in addition to the employee’s headquarters city.

FSD 25 – Shelter

  • The accommodation space targets/guidelines which were found in Appendix C and subject to review following the release of Census data were simplified to reflect the number of persons in the household and the number of bedrooms. They now appear in the new 25.1.2 subsection and will no longer be subject to reviews following the release of Census data. As a result, Appendix C was deleted.
  • The methodology for the increase in shelter costs was changed. Rather than updating the shelter cost every four to five years following the release of Census data, often resulting in a significant increase, the shelter cost will be adjusted annually on April 1st to reflect the Ontario Rent Increase Guidelines.

FSD 30 – Post Transportation and Related Expenses

  • The provisions for education transportation were expanded to include situations when a child is attending a non-fee paying school and the provisions for education transportation could apply.

FSD 33 – Lycée in Canada

  • The application section was re-written to better reflect to whom the directive applies.
  • A new section was developed to address the duration of the provisions in Canada, with consideration for exceptions.

FSD 34 – Education Allowances

  • The lists of admissible and inadmissible education expenses under FSD 34 – Education Allowances were reviewed resulting in clarifications on private tutoring, field trips, tutoring in the other official language including the extension of the provision to kindergarten students. Graduation fees and military uniforms were removed from the list of admissible expenses.
  • The assistance provided for postsecondary shelter assistance was limited to dependent students who attend a postsecondary educational facility in the employee’s headquarters city or last place of duty in Canada, rather than any location in Canada. Transitional provisions were developed for employees who are in receipt of the provisions of the 2009 directives in March 2019, allowing the continuation of the provisions until the end of the employee’s assignment, excluding any extensions.
  • A new provision was added to section 34.6 clarifying that the provisions of postsecondary shelter assistance do not apply when the dependent student resides in the employee’s principal residence or a property owned by the employee and/or spouse or common-law partner.

FSD 38 – Preventive Medical Services Expenses

  • The payment of expenses relating to preventive medical services for domestic help has been limited to situations where there are security reasons for the domestic help.

FSD 39 – Health Care Expenses

  • Recognizing that the services of a midwife and the services of an anesthesiologist are provided within a hospital in Ontario, these two services were added in subsection 39.1.6 as expenses which the deputy head can reimburse.

FSD 41 – Health Care Travel

  • FSD 41 – Health Care Travel was revised significantly to provide clearer guidance on the application of this directive. Definitions were added as well.

FSD 45 – Foreign Service Travel Credit Bank and Foreign Service Leave Credit Bank

  • New transitional provisions were added to allow employees to continue to use the leave and travel credits until April 1st, 2020. Effective April 1st, 2020, the travel credits will be converted to leave credits. The credits will be paid out at a maximum rate of 75 hours per year until the employee’s credit bank is used. Employees who have leave credits can continue to use these credits as leave until they are paid out.

FSD 50 – Post Travel Assistance

  • The name of the directive was changed to Post Travel Assistance to reflect the intent of the directive which is for employees to travel away from post. The name change was made throughout the directive.
  • Managerial discretion was added to FSD 50 – new section 50.11 – to allow for the pro-rating of an allowance when a full year is not completed as a result of operational requirements and to allow the use of the allowance when an employee or dependant are away from post as a result of an emergency evacuation. Reporting requirements apply to the use of the new managerial discretion provisions.

FSD 51 – Family Reunion

  • Provisions were added in subsection 51.3.1 to include the cost of a first and/or second checked baggage when the airline charges a fee.

FSD 54 – Compassionate Travel

  • The definition of “parent” was modified to include alternatively stepfather, stepmother or foster parent.

FSD 55 – Post Living Allowance

  • The basket of goods and services which is used to complete the Cost of Living Survey and to establish the post index was revised by the NJC FSD Committee using the 2016 Survey of Household Spending. This resulted in a modernization of the basket of goods by adding items such as on-line services, application and game downloads, wearable electronic devices music and movie downloads.  In addition, certain items were removed from the basket of goods to recognize that there are provisions within the FSDs which compensate employees directly.

FSD 58 – Post Differential Allowance

  • Provisions were expanded for the continuation of the bonus payment when an employee spends time in Canada between assignments to hardship posts. The current 30-month period is extended to 42 months when an employee accepts an assignment to a hardship level IV or V post.
  • Provisions were added to protect the bonus payment of an employee when the hardship level of a post changes to a non-hardship level. The employee’s bonus payment is stopped at the time of the change in rating but is protected until the end of the assignment, excluding any extensions.
  • Provisions relating to Respite Travel Assistance as an additional allowance due to extraordinary conditions were added within subsection 58.5.1.

FSD 64 – Emergency Evacuation

  • A new section was added to FSD 64 – Emergency Evacuation outlining the impact of an emergency evacuation on other FSDs.

FSD 70 – Allowances and Reporting Requirements

  • The FSD reporting requirements have all been consolidated in section 70.5 with one single report date of December 1st of every year.

New Methodology for Annual Updates

  • The methodology agreed to by the NJC FSD Committee for the annual adjustment of rates and allowances was changed to reflect the average CPI percentage adjustment for Ottawa-Gatineau for the previous calendar year. Where the adjustment result is negative for the previous calendar year, the amount remains unchanged until the next review. The rates and allowances which are adjusted with the new methodology are as follows:
    • FSD 10 – Posting Loan – Maximum Amount of the Loan
    • FSD 15.21 – Relocation – Incidental Relocation Expense Allowance
    • FSD 15.22 – Relocation – Local Transportation Allowance
    • FSD 17 – Assistance for Spouses or Common-Law Partners – Employment Related Allowance
    • FSD 56 – Foreign Service Premium
    • FSD 58 – Post Differential Allowance