LWOP for personal reasons

[Throwaway987]

Refs. A Leave policy manual - Chapter 8
B. QR&O 16.25 - Leave without pay and allowances

I’m considering applying for a one year period of LWOP for personal reasons. My spouse has found employment in a specific location for one year and it is unlikely that I will be able to be posted to that location. I’m due to be posted and possibly promoted this upcoming APS. I am considering LWOP because I enjoy working for the CAF but I want to remain colocated with my spouse next year (i.e. I want to keep the option of a longer CAF career if future postings align with our family plan).

Ref A states “the reason for the LWOP must be in the interest of the CF”. My argument would be that the CAF has invested significant resources in my training and professional development. It would be in the medium and long term interest of the CAF to accommodate me in the short term. Denying my request would come at the risk of a potential release and a net loss to the CAF.

I know that my reason is weak in isolation and that my dedication is arguably incompatible with a career in the CAF. I am a stereotypical millennial. I value career flexibility and I have significantly less dedication to the institutional than my predecessors. My situation is completely due to the choices of my family and now I am being unreasonable in asking the CAF to accommodate my request.  I fully accept all the consequences of LWOP (e.g. pension and career implications). I feel that there are likely other people in my situation and this would be an interesting test case to explore the limits of LWOP (especially in the context of the CAF’s retention issues with high demand occupations). I would definitely explore temporary part time employment if the Journey was in effect.

I’ve tried searching the forums for a similar situation but I didn’t find much regarding LWOP for personal reasons (except for that backpacker thread). I know there are some higher ranking and experienced members on this forum. What do you guys think?

 

[PuckChaser]

Contingency Cost Move? Is it unlikely you're to be posted to where your spouse is employed because there's no positions at your rank level, no base nearby or a combination of the 2? Is there a base within a decent commute that you could be posted to, where you could live between employment areas?

You've got to think outside the box and come up with plausible solutions for your CoC and Career Manager. At the end of the day, you're going to have to make some tough adult decisions down the road about whether the CAF lifestyle is for you.

All that being said, you're not going to get a whole whack load of specific advice here without a lot more personal details (which would be inappropriate in open forums) about trade type, rank and spouse employment location. No one will also be able to tell you if your LWOP memo would be successful. What worked for one person, in one specific circumstance in a totally different trade will likely not translate into a blanket CAF policy.

 

[Throwaway987]

The contingency cost move is a great idea. My goal is to explore all my administrative options and propose a number of viable options to my CoC (i.e. let them choose between the value of my labour, their budget for contingency postings, their desire to rock the boat with me and support my request up to the DGMC, etc.).

I’ll definitely look into DAOD 5003-6 regarding contingency cost moves for personal reasons. I doubt I meet the bar of “exceptional personal circumstances” but I would definitely prefer to remain employed and productive over LWOP. The lower level of approval authority may also work in my favour (D Mil C instead of DGMC).

The biggest issue is that a normal non-contingency posting in that geographical area was not going to be available (or even within a few hours of my spouse). Perhaps the pressure of the CCM and LWOP requests will change the situation.

I initially looked into LWOP because it had a similar impact on the CAF as MATA/PATA and it came at minimal monetary cost to the institution. The CAF already handles unexpected loss of their employees when having a child or even multiple children in rapid succession. Why not utilize this existing tool to enhance retention and employee satisfaction on a case by case basis? My goal of my posts was to explore the “whether there are better alternatives to achieve the aim;” requirement of para 8.1.06 from the Leave Policy Manual.

The last option could be to accept the posting and request modified working hours so I could fly home every weekend or every other weekend (e.g. 4 days of 10 hours each when work circumstances permit). This seems like the least practical option and I’m slightly embarrassed to even bring it up.

Thanks again for all your points.