Ottawa hoping to convince reluctant civil servants of the benefits of working from the office

The federal government is preparing to welcome a frustrated workforce back to its offices on Sept. 9.

Under a new policy announced in May, federal civil servants will have to spend at least three days per week in the office, while executives will have to spend at least four. Currently, civil servants are required to be in their offices only two days per week.

Federal employees' unions say most civil servants oppose the planned reduction in telework and report struggles with transportation and work-family balance. Many also say they're more productive when they work from home.

Hoping to cool the discontent, a senior civil servant is making the case for spending more time at the office.

Christiane Fox, deputy clerk of the Privy Council Office, told Radio-Canada the new policy will improve the overall performance of the federal public service and help individual civil servants advance their careers.

"It's to build a sense of teams that collaborate towards difficult public policy challenges," she said.

Fox added the goal is to ensure that new public servants "understand the role of a public service and [are] in a position to learn by observation, by the things they see happening in their workplace."

The government may also be hoping that bringing civil servants back to their offices can improve the public service's reputation — which has been damaged by a perception in some quarters that employees are taking it easy when they work from home.

"Of course, we can't ignore the perceptions and the comments that are made about the public service," said Fox, adding that is not the rationale for the decision.

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Many bureaucrats are reluctant to ​​spend more time at the office and accuse the federal government of failing to properly explain its decision. Some argue the policy is meant to revitalize the downtown cores of Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., where businesses and restaurants are still caught in the post-pandemic doldrums.

Civil servant Audrey Groleau said she mostly works online with colleagues elsewhere in the country, whether she is at home or in the office. Going to the office limits her ability to manage her family life effectively, she said.

"I was on a flexible schedule, but now my schedule will be more rigid," Groleau said.

Laurence Dufour, another civil servant who works in Gatineau, said she does not see any major benefits to working three days a week in the office — but anticipates the return of many inconveniences.

"It's going to cost us more in parking, in food, in transportation," she said.

Fox called on public servants who prefer to work at home to "reflect on what it can mean to serve as a public servant, serve Canadians, and how we can strengthen our organizations by working together, by working collaboratively, by having an opportunity to engage with our colleagues, to grow and learn and contribute."

Access to remote work exploded during the pandemic and quickly became popular among public servants.

But the experience forced the government to make adjustments after it found that more complex files were harder to resolve remotely.

"Where we saw a gap is complex issues that require several organizations, several people to come together and tackle those issues," said Fox. "More time together leads to better results in terms of the collaboration and the outputs of departments."

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Speaking from outside her offices, civil servant Tamy Leduc said she agrees that going to the office improves "team cohesion."

"The advantage, for my part, is really making new contacts, broadening my network, learning new concepts or training with other teams, meeting other people," she said.

Still, federal unions have vowed to keep up the resistance and are promising ongoing protests in the lead-up to Sept. 9. Civil servants failed to mobilize in large numbers against the new policy over the summer, but unions are promising a long-term fight.

"We've filed unfair labour practice complaints, we've filed grievances, so that's going to continue. And if this isn't solved and if we don't see a willingness to modernize and adapt on the part of this employer, this is going to be an issue in our next round of bargaining, which we're now preparing for in 2025," said Alex Silas, national vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Silas said public servants have shown they can be more effective at home in many cases. The important thing, he said, is to ensure that federal employees have the flexibility to perform at their best.

A senior Liberal official has said that civil servants should avoid making waves about the new office policy because it could give a political edge to the Conservative Party in the next election. Silas quickly rejected that argument.

"The Liberal government should have a higher standard than just saying, 'Well, at least we're not as terrible as the Conservatives.' Do better, Liberals," said Silas.