Public servants to work in office three days a week by September

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The federal government has confirmed that it has updated its policy on remote work and will be requiring public servants to spend three days a week in the office by mid-September.

The decision has been met with frustration from employees and unions, with a Public Service Alliance of Canada leader stating that the union plans to file unfair labor practice complaints.

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In a message to deputy ministers on Wednesday, Secretary of the Treasury Board Catherine Blewett and Chief Human Resources Officer of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Jacqueline Bogden said that executives will be required to spend even more time working in person, and are expected to be on-site a minimum of four days a week.

The message indicated that separate agencies are “strongly encouraged” to implement a similar plan.

“A lack of respect”

Kevin Taylor, a federal public servant based in Rockland, said he’s not upset that he’ll be spending more time in the office, but wishes he had learned about the government’s plans from his employer, rather than through the news.

“I enjoy going in,” Taylor said. “My only gripe is it would be nice if we found out before the media. I just find it’s a lack of respect for your employees when that happens.”

A government source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity on Monday, confirmed to this newspaper that the government will soon announce changes to its hybrid work model.

In late 2022, most federal public servants were instructed that there would be a return to the office for up to three days a week. The government’s direction on prescribed presence in the workplace mandated that deputy heads implement a “minimum requirement of 2-3 days per week in the workplace for all public servants” or a minimum of 40 per cent to 60 per cent of employees’ regular schedule.

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That policy, which applies to all core public administration employees, students and casual workers, now calls for deputy heads to implement a “minimum requirement of three days per week in the workplace for all public servants,” noting that it’s also acceptable to require a minimum of 60 per cent of employees’ regular schedule on a weekly or monthly basis “to ensure flexibility for operational reasons and job types.”

It says deputy heads “are to use discretion and adapt to their operational requirements,” adding that “workplaces vary from one organization to the other.”

“Implementation continues for departments that have communicated and established a minimum attendance requirement in line with this direction,” the policy reads. “For those departments that have not yet implemented a minimum three day per week attendance requirement, full implementation is to be in place no later than September 9, 2024.”

Treasury Board president Anita Anand was not available to comment on Wednesday.

Exceptions to the policy

The directive outlined several potential exceptions, including for those hired to work remotely before March 16, 2020, for Indigenous public servants “whose location is critical to their identity to work from their communities” and for employees who, with the permission of their assistant deputy minister, are working remotely 125 kilometres or more from their designated worksite.

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Exceptional exemptions will be made “on a case-by-case basis on a time-limited or longer-term duration.”

Deputy heads are responsible for monitoring on-site presence, the policy states, noting that data, attendance reports and IP login data can be used.

“Prior to implementation, managers should proactively discuss with employees any barriers they may encounter, including those linked to accessibility, harassment and discrimination and define solutions that will help address these barriers in the hybrid workplace,” the policy reads. “Managers should ensure that individual circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis, including human rights obligations, such as the duty to accommodate, or whether an employee has a reasonable explanation for absences from the designated workplace, such as illness, family care obligations, or compliance with COVID-19 self-isolation protocols.”

The topic of telework has been a major point of contention among unions and was a sticking point during last year’s Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) strike, involving over 155,000 workers.

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“A real slap in the face,” says union leader

Alex Silas, PSAC’s regional executive vice-president for the National Capital Region, said it’s frustrating how the government went about making the change.

“It’s not really about three days or four days or two days,” Silas said, noting that the union asked the government last week if it had plans to change its policy and was told no. “Our feelings and our members’ feelings is they’re frustrated and they’re insulted at how the employer is going about this.”

Silas said the union plans to file unfair labor practice complaints and consult with members.

“They’re going against what they agreed to at the bargaining table, which was to establish joint panels for each department, to review a hybrid work policy that works the best for each department,” Silas said. The union plans to move forward with establishing the panels.

“We’ve been saying since the beginning, a one size fits all solution doesn’t work,” he said.

“It’s a real slap in the face to the workers in the federal public service.”

In their message, Blewett and Bogden said the government will continue to work with bargaining agents and organizations to implement the negotiated letters of agreement to establish departmental review panels and review its directive on telework.

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“Used as a walking wallet”

While Taylor said he loves going into the office, he said his main concern with adding a third day is the commute, given Ottawa’s “very poor transit system.”

“I think the big one for most folks is transit and the cost of it,” Taylor said. Parking downtown is expensive and, without an LRT connection to the east end of the city, taking transit from his Rockland home takes an hour and a half each way, he noted.

“Working from home allows us to start your work very early, work through lunch and then put in a good eight, nine hours some days. And that’s easy to do.”

Taylor speculated that the government’s decision was “politically driven.”

At a press conference with Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe on Monday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the change was “really positive news.” Sutcliffe said the change would be better for downtown Ottawa and better for public transit.

Taylor said it seems that the federal public service is “being used as a walking wallet to start propping up downtown Ottawa.”

He said he hasn’t seen any data from the government to show that collaboration or efficiency improve when workers are in the office. “A lot of us do believe in being in the office, but with purpose.”

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