Public servants will soon return to the office 3 days a week

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The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) 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, with executives expected to be on-site four days a week.

While the decision has received an emotional response from employees and unions, it has also left public servants with a lot of frustration — and questions.

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Here’s what you need to know about the newly-updated directive.

What is the government’s policy on remote work?

TBS’ direction on prescribed presence in the workplace lays out the guidelines for how often public servants are mandated to work in the office.

Previously, employees were required to work on-site at least two or three days per week, or 40 to 60 per cent of their regular schedule. The first version of the hybrid work model was announced in December 2022 by former Treasury Board president Mona Fortier and implemented on March 31, 2023.

On May 1, the policy was updated, now requiring deputy heads to implement a minimum requirement of three days per week in the workplace for all public servants. It notes that “to ensure flexibility for operational reasons and job types,” senior civil servant can also ask employees to be on site for a minimum of 60 per cent of their regular schedule.

The policy says deputy heads should “use discretion” and “adapt to their operational requirements.”

When will the updated policy take action?

The directive indicates that full implementation should be in place no later than September 9, 2024.

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In a message to deputy ministers, secretary of the Treasury Board Catherine Blewett and TBS chief human resources officer Jacqueline Bogden said many public servants, including executives, are already working on-site three days or more a week.

Who does the directive apply to?

The policy applies to all core public administration staff employed under TBS. As of 2023, the population of the core public administration was 270,798.

The government strongly recommended that separate employers – like the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Parks Canada – adopt a similar strategy “to ensure a coherent approach for the whole public service.”

The CRA, which employs around 60,000 people, has already confirmed that it will require staff to be on-site for at least three days a week, following TBS’ lead.

The Office of the Correctional Investigator, which has approximately 45 employees, will also be implementing the policy by September, with “flexibility and discretion” provided to directors to accommodate their employees.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada, which employs approximately 800 people, is still reviewing the recent announcement from TBS and assessing its implications for its organization, according to spokesperson Natasha Leduc.

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The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which employs 366 people, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which has 506 employees, are also reviewing the decision.

Ally Taylor, a spokesperson for Canada Energy Regulator, which has around 600 employees, said the agency is not currently considering updating its guidelines, which provides staff with the option of working from home for up to three days a week.

Are there 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.

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

“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 COVID19 self-isolation protocols,” according to the policy.

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The policy no longer offers any group exceptions, including for call centre and information technology employees, to “to ensure greater consistency and fairness across the public service.”

The government noted that the transition to the three-day minimum requirement may require more time for these employees and organizations to adapt, meaning they can begin phasing in the policy in September 2024, with full implementation expected by the following year.

What happens if employees choose not to follow the rules?

The policy indicates that deputy heads are responsible for monitoring on-site presence, adding that turnstile data, attendance reports and IP login data can be used to do so. It notes that departmental assistant deputy minister-level committees should be in place to monitor data trends and ensure coherence in allowing for exceptions.

In terms of disciplinary action, managers are expected to follow a process, based on their collective agreement. Typically, managers are first expected to have a conversation with an employee to try to “remedy” a situation. If the employee needs special accommodations, a telework agreement can be made. A working agreement between managers and staff can also be made, with conditions like sending an email after logging in and before taking a break.

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The final step, in extreme cases, is that an employee can be terminated if they don’t follow the policy, though discussions with senior management and the employee’s union would have to take place beforehand.

Did the government do any studies on productivity or collaboration before making this decison?

No, it did not. The government did, however, send three questionnaires to department heads on hybrid work, shared in October 2022, spring 2023 and fall 2023.

The results of one survey of 78 organizations representing over 380,000 employees found that 10 per cent of positions had full-time (five days a week) in-office requirements, while 28 per cent of positions were compatible with full-time remote work. The majority, 62 per cent of positions, were compatible with hybrid work.

Another survey said the top challenges departments faced in implementing the policy were planning and managing the transition to the hybrid work model, health and safety issues, and ensuring compliance.

The latest Public Service Employee Survey, open to employees, found that 35 per cent worked in the office one out of five days, with 31 per cent working on-site two days a week.

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