Public service union calls for investigation into return-to-office mandate

A union representing some 27,000 federal public servants is calling for a parliamentary committee to hold an inquiry into the three-day-a-week return to office mandate.

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) believes the return-to-office policy has been "surrounded by catastrophic failures" and says the standing committee on government operations and estimates should investigate.

CAPE president Nathan Prier said his union's members have lost confidence in the senior management of the civil service.

"We don't know who they're serving, but it's not Canadian taxpayers and it's certainly not federal workers," he told CBC. 

"We're really concerned that we're witnessing a serious erosion of excellence in the public service because of poorly designed, poorly implemented workplace policies. And we feel it's time now for parliamentarians to intervene."

The committee he wants to investigate is mandated to look into "the effectiveness and proper functioning of government operations." Its previous investigations have included the public sector health-care plan switch from Sun Life to Canada Life. 

In response to CAPE's call, Treasury Board of Canada president Anita Anand said the return-to-office decision was an administrative one and not political. 

"This administrative decision was made by the Treasury Board Secretariat, in collaboration with the Privy Council Office and deputy ministers across government, who support this change," she said in a French-language statement to Radio-Canada.

The Treasury Board oversees federal government operations. It has previously stated that the return-to-office mandate will produce "more effective collaboration and onboarding of new talent" and create "a strong culture of performance that is consistent with the values and ethics of the public service."

Widespread opposition to the mandate

Federal workers took to working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many have been reluctant to return to the office three days a week.

They have complained of a shortage of office space, noisy work environments, negatively impacted work-life balance and poor morale, among other grievances. 

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Unions representing more than 330,000 federal public service workers have expressed opposition to the mandate. Canada's largest union of federal employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, has challenged the decision in court.

But it could take the courts years to render a final decision, said Gilles LeVasseur, professor of management and law at the University of Ottawa. 

In contrast, he said, if Canada's legislative branch investigates via the standing committee, it could ask the executive branch to explain its decision-making process.

"The key thing is that you're also creating an obligation on the political parties to come and tell us what they really think about the actual telework," he said.

The committee is expected to say this week whether it will open an investigation.