City of Ottawa reviewing hybrid work policy requiring employees in the office 2 days a week

The City of Ottawa is reviewing its hybrid work policy for municipal employees, with staff currently only required to be in the office a minimum of two days a week.

Approximately 85 per cent of Ottawa's 17,000 municipal employees are required to be onsite or in the workplace each day and five days a week. The remainder of the city's employees are in roles that are eligible for hybrid work, which requires staff to be in the office a minimum of two days a week.

The city's hybrid work policy is different than the federal government's new policy, which requires civil servants in the core public service to be in the office a minimum of three days a week.

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Mayor Mark Sutcliffe tells Newstalk 580 CFRA's the Morning Rush with Bill Carroll that the city is reviewing its hybrid work policy, but insists it's "not two days a week" for all employees.

"The average City of Ottawa employee is in the workplace more than four-and-a-half days a week because the vast, vast majority of our employees are people who are frontline workers," Carroll said Wednesday.

"There are some people in some departments who still have hybrid work; many of them are working five days a week in the office, some of them are working four, some three, some two."

The city says hybrid work arrangements for municipal employees are made in "consultation with eligible employees and their manager based on operational requirements to ensure the city maintain its offer of high quality services to clients and the public." In a statement to CTV News Ottawa on Monday, Chief Human Resources Officer Pamela LeMaistre said a review of the policy is currently underway.

"Hybrid work procedures and provisions were introduced in 2022, as the City began its return to office for the small minority of staff who were working from home during the pandemic," LeMaistre said. "The City’s policies are reviewed on a regular cycle or on an as-needed basis."

The City of Ottawa has three main administrative buildings – City Hall, 100 Constellation Drive and Ben Franklin Place.  In 2021, the city announced it was moving to a hybrid work model for its administrative employees coming out of the COVID pandemic, with the policy implemented in 2022.

Sutcliffe says the city will continue to "adjust and adapt" its policies.

"I believe people work more effectively together when they're able to team up and be around each other on a regular basis; it doesn't necessarily have to be five days a week, but we'll continue to review our policies," the mayor said.

Ottawa City Council moved to a hybrid mode on March 23, 2022, with “in person participation” by members of Council, senior staff and the media. In April 2022, the city reopened the gallery of Andrew Haydon Hall to the public during meetings.

Carroll asked the mayor whether the City of Ottawa's hybrid policy should match the federal government's hybrid work requirements.

"We're looking at that," Sutcliffe said. "Two is the minimum; I know lots of people where their department says two is the minimum and they're coming four, five days a week. It's a very small number of people who are coming in two days a week and we're continuing to review our policies and we'll see, they could change in the weeks and months ahead."

The City of Ottawa employs approximately 17,000 people, which includes employees with the Ottawa Fire Services and Ottawa Paramedic Services, and staff with Solid Waste Services, Road Services and Public Works.