Public Servants Mandated to Work Onsite 2 to 3 Days Per Week

President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier speaks in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Dec. 15, 2022. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The federal government is mandating its employees to work in their offices two to three days per week by March 31, with limited exceptions—a move that is applauded by some officials while meeting opposition from at least one public service union.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, public servants worked almost exclusively from federal offices and worksites, and alternative work arrangements were rare and reserved for temporary or exceptional cases. Now, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says the government is shifting to a “hybrid by design” schedule for federal employees.

“We need consistency in how hybrid work is applied across the federal government. That’s why today we announced that the federal public service is adopting a common hybrid model of employees working onsite at least two to three days each week, or 40 to 60 percent of their regular schedule,” Fortier said at a press conference on Dec. 15.

To allow departments to transition to the common hybrid model, a phased introduction will begin Jan. 16, 2023, with full implementation by March 31, 2023, according to a government press release issued Dec. 15.

Fortier noted that this directive does not mean a return to the traditional five-day in-person work routine prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This will support our core purpose: serving Canadians. And we’re not going back to the way things used to be. We’re reimagining our workplace and we’re going to continue to improve our approach so that we can best serve Canadians,” she said.

When asked about the timing of this announcement, as well as why the federal government doesn’t save on spending on office spaces, Fortier highlighted the need for “greater fairness and equity across our workplaces,” and noted that the policy was introduced after a six-month experiment starting June when the Clerk of the Privy Council outlines the expectations for a hybrid workplace.

This directive will be implemented by the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer, she said.

Exceptions

There are some exceptions to the two to three days onsite work mandate, but only in a “very limited” set of circumstances, according to the government release. Possible exceptions to the hybrid work model include:

• Employees hired to work remotely prior to March 16, 2020
• Indigenous public servants whose location is critical to their identity to work from their communities
• Exceptional exemptions on a case-by-case basis, on a time-limited or longer-term duration (for example, illness, short-term operational requirement, extenuating circumstances)
• As determined by a deputy head, and in exceptional cases, a relevant business case demonstrates a measurable increase in efficiency for the delivery of an operation or a specific function
• Employees, with the permission of their assistant deputy minister, who are working remotely 125 km or more from their designated worksite
• A business model has been previously established and not influenced by the remote-by-default COVID-19 management

Conservative MP Ryan Williams has voiced support for this directive, while calling on the government to take it one step further.

“About time! It should be January 1 and 5 days a week. Hybrid only with exceptions,” he wrote on social media.

But rumours of a blanket directive circulating over the past few weeks have prompted opposition from the largest federal public service union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

PSAC said in a social media post on Dec. 15 that the organization had “received confirmation from Treasury Board that there would not be a blanket mandate,” saying that the announcement on Thursday “flies in the face of workers’ rights and their proven record serving communities remotely.”

Chris Aylward, PSAC national president, said in a Dec. 8 statement that his union has been working to include remote work in their contracts.

In an interview with National Post, Aylward cited a recent survey by the union showing 83 percent of its roughly 165,000 federal public service members were ready to take “job action” to oppose a mandatory return to office model.

He said the survey showed 90 percent of PSAC members who have been working from home want to continue doing so.