Public Service Confidential is a workplace advice column for federal public servants. The following question has been edited for clarity and length.<\/b><\/p>\n
I am an immunocompromised federal public servant with multiple chronic illnesses. I still work from home, but HR wants me back in the office three days a week the moment they can give me a private office beside the bathroom. My doctor wrote a letter to counter the accommodation, saying it\u2019s not appropriate and even less beside a bathroom with the shared environment, and it could put my life at risk of getting sick with complications. So I am fighting to keep my full-time telework agreement.<\/i><\/p>\n
Knowing that the next government will probably be a Conservative one, which could bring everyone back five days a week, is there anything public sector unions can do to fight against it? And would people with telework agreements need to fight again to keep their agreement?<\/i><\/p>\n
Thank you for your time,
\nA teleworking public servant.<\/i><\/p>\n
\n
The answer to your first question is simply yes.<\/p>\n
Many of the federal public sector unions are doing several things both jointly and individually to fight the current three-day requirement. These include running campaigns, filing unfair labour practice complaints and filing policy grievances.<\/p>\n
Last fall, public sector unions even took the step of challenging the mandate in Federal Court. They\u2019re currently waiting for a hearing date after a judge threw out the government\u2019s motion to have the case dismissed.<\/p>\n
I believe the unions are doing everything they can to fight back against this mandate. I would encourage you and all public servants to do what they can to fight back by filing grievances, completing surveys and, maybe most importantly, contacting your member of Parliament.<\/p>\n
There will be a federal election in the coming months, and this is the perfect time to find out where candidates stand on this issue. I am confident remote work will be an election issue for many federal public sector workers and candidates should be asked where they stand on it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Public Service Confidential is a workplace advice column for federal public servants. The following question has been edited for clarity and length.<\/b><\/p>\n
I am an immunocompromised federal public servant with multiple chronic illnesses. I still work from home, but HR wants me back in the office three days a week the moment they can give me a private office beside the bathroom. My doctor wrote a letter to counter the accommodation, saying it\u2019s not appropriate and even less beside a bathroom with the shared environment, and it could put my life at risk of getting sick with complications. So I am fighting to keep my full-time telework agreement.<\/i><\/p>\n