The new year has brought some major changes to government workers in Ontario.
They are now mandated to return to their offices to work. That means the bulk of their work can no longer be done from home.
And many aren’t happy with that, sparking labor troubles.
Hybrid work for public sector employees in the province is officially over. Workers are now back in the office five days a week.
For many of them it’s the end of an era that began with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In August, Premier Doug Ford announced that public sector employees would have to come in to the office five days a week beginning on January fifth. That’s not sitting well with many who say the hybrid model was beneficial to their work/life balance.
"It almost feels like a punishment having to come in here for no reason when I can do the work at home," said one employee.
Workers say the home arrangement saves them money on transit costs, child care and eating out.
But there doesn’t appear to be much sympathy from Ford.
"It’s great to get everyone back to work like every other normal citizen," he said. "You know you go out there and you show up five days a week. Just imagine if you’re a health care worker, you didn’t get Christmas off with your family or a police officer, firefighter, a paramedic. Like a lot of these people are working extremely hard and all we’re saying is just come back to the office like everyone else."
But some union representatives aren't buying it, including Penny Lane of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
"Ontario Health at Home staff have been working hybrid schedules before the pandemic," argued Lane. "There’s no reason that the government is enforcing this, telling workers that they must be in office when this work has been done for years prior to."
Other union representatives, like Maxine Laing said after years away from the office, there’s no longer enough space.
"In this office here we have no space. We’re gonna be sitting on top of each other, there’s no space," Laing said. "They’ve given up offices we shut down during the pandemic, we shut down offices and now five days a week, space is an issue."
Ford said all that will be worked out during the coming weeks, admitting there will be a few bumps along the road. But there will be an impact, as some public sector workers look elsewhere for employment.
Jelena Zikic is a professor at York University’s school of resource management.
"There’s a lot of resistance and what we also see is that some of the best performers are likely to walk out and leave their jobs by being forced back into the office.
Zikic said.
Alberta’s public servants are scheduled to return to their offices at the beginning of February. And in Ottawa, the federal government has yet to decide if or when their employees return.
