Many Public Servants Ignoring Remote Work Rules

Recent data shows a significant number of public servants in the federal government's three largest departments are not adhering to Ottawa's requirement of working in the office at least three days each week.

The latest instruction from the federal government regarding remote work started in early September and mandates all Treasury Board employees to work on-site a minimum of three days a week. Executives are expected to be in the office four days a week.

The Canadian Press inquired about compliance rates from various federal departments, focusing particularly on the three largest agencies: the Department of National Defence, the Canada Revenue Agency, and Employment and Social Development Canada.

Among these three, the Department of National Defence (DND), which has approximately 28,700 employees, demonstrated the lowest compliance with the three-day rule, especially in the National Capital Region.

DND indicated that its average compliance rate was 60 percent in January, showing a marked improvement from just 31 percent in December.

Nationally, the reported compliance surged to 61 percent in November and stood at 72 percent in both October and September.

Within the National Capital Region, compliance was less robust, with only 57 percent of DND employees meeting the three-day requirement in November compared to 69 percent in other regions. September and October figures indicated that 70 percent of DND staff in the capital city were compliant, while outside Ottawa, compliance rates were higher at 76 and 77 percent, respectively.

Andrée-Anne Poulin, a DND spokesperson, noted that their compliance rates do not include all forms of leave, such as vacation, training, or sick days. She explained that these rates only track employees with hybrid work arrangements, mentioning that about half of DND's staff continued working on-site full-time during and after the pandemic.

“DND’s compliance monitoring provides leadership with essential data for workforce oversight,” Poulin stated in an email. “Managers need to monitor individual compliance, taking into account where employees are during work hours.”

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) reported that around 80 percent of its 59,000 employees met their on-site mandates in December, increasing from 76 percent in November and 77 percent in October.

Benoit Sabourin from CRA mentioned that the agency's transition to a higher on-site workforce has been largely successful, with most employees working under hybrid schedules.

Employment and Social Development Canada, which employs just over 39,000 individuals, shared that its compliance rate for the three-day rule has consistently been about 75 percent since September.

Smaller departments reported varying compliance levels. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which has around 13,000 employees, stated its compliance rate surged to 93 percent in January from just 72 percent in September.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, with about 6,800 staff members, noted that roughly 60 percent of its workers are frontline employees who have worked in-person since the pandemic began, while compliance among other workers stood at 73 percent between October and January, excluding December's holiday period.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat emphasized that managers are accountable for monitoring employee performance and presence. They must ensure that employee expectations align with the common hybrid work structure.

A Treasury Board document outlines the potential penalties for not adhering to the in-office work rule. These penalties can range from verbal reprimands and written warnings to suspension without pay and even termination of employment. However, it also states that before enacting these measures, individual circumstances must be considered, taking into account any human rights obligations and reasonable explanations for behavior.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents a large number of federal public servants, commented that they have not been made aware of any members facing suspension or termination for failing to comply with remote work regulations. Meanwhile, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat noted that it does not collect data on disciplinary actions taken.

As of 2024, there were 367,772 employees working in the federal public service.

public, servants, compliance