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The federal government is committing to bringing back assigned seating for most of its public servants, moving on from its model of shared workspaces booked in advance.
“We are confirming that the increase in on-site presence includes a commitment to assigned seating for the majority of employees,” Secretary of the Treasury Board Bill Matthews wrote Friday.
His message said it may take some time to make this happen in some places. Floors may need to be reconfigured, for example.
For many public servants, the return to the office after the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic meant booking a desk and storing their belongings in a locker for the day, then carrying their laptops home in a backpack.
Matthews said the Treasury Board met with unions after the February announcement about the return to four days per week of in-person work on July 6 and heard about the value of assigned seating.
His message said many departments and agencies have enough space for the increase to four days a week, but for groups that don’t, “Deputy Ministers can stagger their implementation schedules to match their workplace realities, while aiming to maximize the on-site presence of employees beginning July 6.”
As one example, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada told Radio-Canada in French that it will be moving to assigned workspaces as soon as possible, but be using unassigned stations in the meantime to meet the four-day directive.
Unions remain frustrated
Federal public service unions have long complained about increased time in office, saying people are just as productive at home and more office time is not worth the extra time, money and emissions.
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) union said Friday it remains frustrated by the increase in in-office time from the current three days a week.
“With less than six weeks before that [July 6] deadline, many workplaces remain inadequate, insufficient, or poorly prepared,” PIPSC wrote in a statement to Radio-Canada.
According to the statement, the government has further complicated the process of returning to the office with assigned workspaces without addressing fundamental concerns from unions and workers.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, another public sector union, said Friday it agrees that the announcement doesn’t change the drawbacks of the mandate.
