'We're witnessing a serious erosion of excellence in the public service because of poorly designed, poorly implemented workplace policies'
A union representing 27,000 federal public servants, is calling for a parliamentary investigation into the federal government’s return-to-office policy.
The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) is urging the standing committee on government operations and estimates to launch a formal inquiry into the policy, expressing concerns about the effectiveness of the three-day-a-week mandate, reported CBC.
Noting that the union’s members have lost confidence in the senior management of the civil service, CAPE president Nathan Prier said: "We don't know who they're serving, but it's not Canadian taxpayers and it's certainly not federal workers.”
"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,” he added in the same CBC report.
Last year, the same committee looked into the federal government’s switch in providers to the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) from Sun Life to Canada Life, also known as the “Canada Life fiasco”.
Should federal workers have to return to the office?
In response to CAPE's call, Treasury Board of Canada president Anita Anand explained the reasoning behind the federal government’s move to call workers back into the office at least three times a week.
"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, according to the same CBC report.
The full implementation of the federal government’s return-to-office mandate for workers took effect in September.
However, several government workplaces are not ready to welcome these workers back, according to a previous report from the Ottawa Citizen.
Just a week before the full implementation of the mandate took effect, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) launched a petition against the mandate.
“Public service workers have experienced firsthand the benefits of telework. It’s a proven model that enhances our work-life balance, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. Yet the Trudeau Liberal’s mandate threatens to undo all the progress we’ve made,” the group said in its petition.
Decision on petition pending
In August, PSAC launched a challenge against the petition, according to another CBC report.
However, it could take the courts years to render a final decision. Meanwhile the standing committee, under the legislative branch of the government, could ask the executive branch to explain its decision-making process, noted Gilles LeVasseur, professor of management and law at the University of Ottawa, according to CBC.
"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 announce this week whether it will take on the investigation.
Most Canadian workers are OK with heading back to the office – but employers do not seem to be ready to meet their needs, according to a previous report from Cisco.
