December 15, 2010
21.4.995
Background
The employee grieved the department's refusal to reimburse the cost of a meal taken while in attendance at a conference.
Bargaining Agent Presentation
The Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor was on travel status within the headquarters area when the grievor attended a workplace assessment meeting on October 12, 2005. The grievor submitted a travel expense claim for the reimbursement of mileage, meal and parking. The employer refused to accept the expense claim and requested that the grievor resubmit a corrected claim with kilometers and parking only.
The Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the grievor did not have the option of bringing a lunch to the hotel as there was no refrigerator available. Therefore, the grievor had no choice but to purchase a lunch. Also, a fellow employee who attended the same training received the meal reimbursement.
The Bargaining Agent representative submitted that the employer did not respect the Directive's principles and section 3.1.9(c), (e) and (f). Therefore, the grievor should be entitled to the reimbursement of all expenses submitted.
Departmental Presentation
The Departmental representative submitted that the grievor attended a full-day conference within the headquarters area and that a one hour lunch break was provided.
The Departmental representative submitted that the manager approved the reimbursement of the parking and the mileage expenses but denied the request for the lunch allowance.
A meal allowance was paid to the grievor's colleague in error and was subsequently recovered.
The Departmental representative maintained that the grievor was not entitled to a meal allowance as the grievor's meal expense was incurred within the headquarters area and that none of the situations listed in section 3.1.9 applied. As such, the department is requesting that the grievor resubmit a corrected travel claim for the reimbursement of mileage and parking.
Executive Committee Decision
The Executive Committee considered and agreed with the report of the Government Travel Committee which concluded that the grievor had been treated within the intent of the Travel Directive. It was agreed that the eligibility for meal allowance reimbursement when an employee is away from the workplace on government travel within the headquarters area is limited to the situations listed in section 3.1.9, none of which applied to the grievor. It was also noted that it was made clear to the grievor, in advance, that a lunch would not be provided. As such, the grievance is denied.
However, the Executive Committee noted that the grievor's claim for kilometric rate and parking expenses was not reimbursed because the meal portion was included in the expense claim. The grievor should not have been required to submit a revised claim only listing the parking and kilometric rates in order to be reimbursed.