FPSLREB Decisions

Annual leave credits - Whether prior military service constitutes service in the Public Service for the purpose of calculating annual leave credits - the collective agreement specified that for the purpose of calculating annual leave credits "all service within the Public Service, whether continuous or discontinuous, shall count toward vacation leave except where a person, who on leaving the Public Service, takes or has taken severance pay" - "continuous employment" was defined in the collective agreement as having the same meaning as in the Public Service Terms and Conditions of Employment Regulations (the T & CE Regulations) - "continuous employment" in the T & CE Regulations was defined as including "in respect of a person appointed to Part I Service as an indeterminate employee . immediately prior service in the Canadian Armed Forces . provided that the person was honourably released and has made or makes a valid election to contribute for that service under the Public Service Superannuation Act" and "provided that these periods of service are not separated by more than three months" - the grievor served in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) from 1973 to 1981 when he was honourably released and received a return of pension contributions - he received no severance package upon leaving the CAF - the grievor was appointed to the Public Service on May 3, 1982, at which time he made a valid election to contribute for his military service under the Public Service Superannuation Act - the grievor claimed that the terms "service" and "employment" as utilized in the collective agreement were synonymous and therefore by definition he was entitled to count his prior military service as service in the Public Service for the purpose of calculating his annual leave credits - the adjudicator found that in the Public Service the words "employment" and "service" are not always synonymous - the adjudicator noted that the parties to the collective agreement had intentionally removed all references to "continuous employment" in the clause dealing with the calculation of annual leave entitlements - they used instead the related expression "service within the Public Service" - they did this with the intention that the words would have different meanings - accordingly, the grievor could not include his prior military service as service in the Public Service for the purpose of calculating his annual leave entitlements. Grievance denied. Cases cited:Dansereau (166-2-17887); Lachance (166-2-26603 and 26604).