OTTAWA – Striking federal public service employees left the picket lines with a commitment from the government to review remote work policies, but it will not be enshrined in their new collective agreements.
The union and the government reached an agreement with compounded wage increases of 12.6 per cent over four years late Sunday night, settling a dispute with 120,000 federal workers.
The ability to work remotely, a key sticking point throughout negotiations, was not included in the collective agreement, but the two sides agreed through a letter of understanding to address the union’s concerns on the issue.
Currently, the federal government has a hybrid work policy which allows employees to work from home for up to three days a week.
According to a statement from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), remote work requests must now be addressed on an individual basis. Union-employer departmental panels will also provide workers with additional protections when it comes to remote work decisions.
John Hyde, a specialist in labour law, said the agreement on remote work was an ideal middle ground.
“It’s going to be a lot more work for management, but I think it’s reasonably fair under the circumstances,” Hyde said.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said the government will also be reviewing its directive on telework, which hasn’t been reviewed since 1993.
Despite the increased involvement of the union in decision making, Fortier said decisions on remote work will not be grievable by employees and managers will have the final say.
Patrick Groom, a lawyer with McMillian and a specialist in labour law, said this was a great deal for both sides.
While the decision to assess each case individually could be an administrative burden, it will give the union more involvement while protecting both sides from expensive litigation costs, he said.
“Every work-from-home assessment, should it have gone to arbitration, would have incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation costs,” Groom said. “Both sides have found a way to administer this without great expense and without a huge administrative burden.”
The new committees’ roles, Fortier said, will be to see how they can “improve” the government’s current teleworking directive.
“We’re going to create an external mechanism that will allow a union representative and a manager to discuss specific cases, so that we can give an opportunity for people to discuss options before management makes a decision,” Fortier said in French.
But assessing remote work requests on a case-by-case basis could also lead to potential conflicts, Groom and Hyde said.
Groom said he can see conflicts over the number of days employees can work from home and the kind of work that can be done remotely.
Hyde, on the other hand, said managers could make their decisions based on the overall performance of employees, or how much they trust the individual making the remote work request.
Unless there are mechanisms in place to address these concerns, there could be greater issues, he said.
You're going to see other unions pushing for (remote work). The question ultimately is whether or not unions will go on strike over this one issue
John Hyde, labour law specialist
Including the remote work agreement in a letter of understanding rather than the collective agreement means it can be more easily revisited in future rounds of bargaining, but Hyde said he foresees no major conflicts “if everyone plays by the rules.”
Although the deal did not meet all the union’s demands, Groom and Hyde said the addition of some language around remote work sets a precedent for other labour negotiations across the private and public sectors.
“You’re going to see other unions pushing for it. The question ultimately is whether or not unions will go on strike over this one issue,” Hyde said.
The government’s success in ultimately maintaining control over location of work, however, could also be a major factor in negotiations.
“The level of control that an employer will have because it’s not enshrined in the collective agreement is also an important element that is going to translate across all sectors,” Groom said.
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