Documents suggest federal government focused on public scrutiny over productivity when mandating return to office policy

Newly revealed documents suggest officials focused on public scrutiny in its decision to mandate workers back to the office, despite many workers reporting they feel more productive working from home.

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Documents prepared by the Treasury Board Secretariat through an access to information request by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and shared with CTV News analyzed recent data and global trends various work models and examined the benefits and challenges implementing a return to work policy.

Federal public servants have been required to be in the office at least three times a week since Sept. 9 and executives are required to be in the office at least four days a week, a move that has frustrated many civil servants and prompted legal challenges by PSAC.

Slides prepared by Treasury Board in May 2022 recommended a "flexible first" approach "without prescribed office parameters" as the optimal model for the hybrid work in the public sector, touting its benefits in boosting productivity, building a diverse and geographically distributed talent pool and various environmental benefits.

Among some of the limitations of that option noted that it would be the “most disruptive” option from a management perspective and could be subject to "negative public scrutiny."

Another option suggested a "scheduled" work model with a prescribed in-office hybrid model and an "ad hoc" model that would see mostly onsite work with an increased acceptance of telework.

PSAC says the documents reveal the government ignored their own evidence and "steamrolled" ahead with a plan by focusing on public scrutiny of flexible work models.

"This government once had a vision to build a modern, productive, and inclusive public service, but they’ve thrown it all away for no valid reason," said Sharon DeSousa, PSAC's national president in a news release.

"They had the research and results supporting a more flexible approach, but decided that butts in seats is more important than productivity. Their failure to follow the evidence on hybrid work is mindboggling."

In a February 2024 update to the options for hybrid workers by the board of management and renewal, the Treasury Board changed its options to either maintain the status quo with strengthened focus on compliance in the office, ask only executives to work three days a week on-site or to implement an "enterprise re-adjustment" to prescribe a three-day-a-week onsite minimum for all workers.

The federal government ultimately chose to go with the "enterprise re-adjustment," which went into force in September.

The document noted the later option could be the "more disruptive option" and would require the government to "manage employee reactions." The documents said the Treasury Board would likely have to come up with solutions to avoid all employees coming in on the same days, conduct office space modernizations to adapt to hybrid work models and provide “reasonable” advanced notice to employees before implementation.

PSAC, which represents more than 65,000 federal workers, says the majority strongly opposed the mandate.

The union says they will continue to fight the federal government's new mandated work arrangements with court challenges, petitions, and rallies.

"PSAC is calling on the federal government to scrap the mandate, rethink its approach, and follow the evidence, which shows that hybrid work leads to higher productivity, better work-life balance, and healthier workplace cultures. The current mandate not only threatens productivity but undermines the values of fairness and collaboration the government claims to support," PSAC said in a news release.

The federal government has maintained that the new mandated hybrid work arrangements will help its ability to perform as an organization.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, the Treasury Board said the hybrid approach is meant to strikes a balance between individual and organizational needs.

"The government’s approach to hybrid is driven by our commitment to most effectively serve Canadians. Since first implementing hybrid work, we have learned and evolved based on our own experiences and those of other employers in Canada and internationally," reads the statement. 

"Early experimentation with hybrid underscored the value of in-person experiences, which are essential to cohesive, collaborative, and high-performing organizations. We were also reminded that, while departments and agencies are each unique, we share common values, and the experience of working in the public service or receiving services should be the same across the government and the country. That’s why the public service first adopted a common hybrid work model in the spring of 2023 requiring public servants who were eligible for remote work would work onsite two to three days per week. For even greater consistency and to maximize organizational cohesion, collaboration and performance, this approach was subsequently adjusted to a consistent minimum of three days, and four days for executives.

"It is well understood that remote work can be better suited to certain tasks, such a deep-focus work, and may even in some cases increase individual productivity in completing these tasks. However, the direction also aims to ensure our ability to perform as organizations by building stronger teams and cultures.

"The government’s hybrid approach strikes a balance between individual and organizational needs and provides reasonable flexibility to managers and employees to optimize the benefits of hybrid work."

 Hybrid work models are varied across other public and private organizations globally.

Public servants in Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba are required workers to be in the office at least three days, while Quebec requires workers to be in office at least two days. British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have no prescribed minimum presence in the office.

Internationally, public servants in the United States, New Zealand and Australia have flexible work arrangements, while the United Kingdom requires workers to be in the office at least three days a week or 60 per cent of their week.

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Natalie van Rooy