Sea Duty Allowance payouts in the works

Peter Mallett 
Staff Writer

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The process of calculating Sea Duty Allowance compensatory payments for nearly 10,000 Canadian Armed Forces members has begun.

Director Military Pay Allowances Processing (DMPAP) on both coasts are working to compensate military members who deployed on international naval operations between Aug. 1, 2019 and July 23, 2003, who were entitled to allowances but did not receive them.

The allowances affected are two of the Environmental Allowances: Sea Duty and Submarine, and one Operation Allowance: Hardship.

Environmental allowances are meant to compensate members whose military duties involve exposure to adverse environmental conditions that are not normally experienced by other members.

Hardship Allowance compensates for essentially the same conditions but applies on international operations.

In an unintended omission to the original policy published on July 23, 2003, Sea Duty and Submarine Allowances were not included in the list of several environmental allowances that could not be received concurrently with the Hardship Allowance.

As an interim measure, directives were issued aimed at mitigating the error and restricted the receipt of these allowances to either Hardship Allowance or Sea Duty and Submarine Allowances, but not both.

However, in hindsight, those directives did not have the required authorization.

As the policy itself did not specifically prohibit receiving Sea Duty and Submarine Allowance at the same time as the Hardship Allowance, members who deployed on international naval operations from the time the policy was written until it was corrected are technically entitled to receive both.

For those affected, a compensatory payment will be made so they do receive both.

The compensation stems from a grievance and subsequent Treasury Board of Canada decision, which resulted in multiple changes to the Compensation and Benefits Instructions for the Canadian Armed Forces.

The process of calculating the compensation package each military member is owed is well underway, but it is complicated and time-consuming, says SLt Linda Whitehouse, from Base Administration who is in contact with the DMPAP teams.

“Progress is continuing to be made; however, a realistic timeframe to expect this immense task to be completed is upwards of seven to 10 years,” she says. “Corrective measures are being taken and those affected should receive the Allowance they were entitled.”

The order of payout is done via reverse alphabet, starting with Service Numbers beginning with ‘Z’. These payments will be reflected on the T4 tax statement of the year the payments are received; therefore, there will be no requirement for a resubmission of taxes for the affected year. Members who were deployed over the specified time but who are not on the compensatory list should submit an Assyst Ticket to have their file submitted for review.

Approximately 15 per cent of the files are now complete and the team is on track to complete an additional 15 per cent each year until the task is completed.

“Because historical data is involved, these teams are working with programmers and as quickly as possible to accurately complete these files,” says SLt Whitehouse. “Further information will be released as the progress continues.”

A SharePoint site has been created to provide updates to affected personnel and can be accessed at: https://collaboration-cmp.forces.mil.ca/sites/dgcb/dmpap/sdaha/default.aspx