Direction on prescribed presence in the workplace

Purpose

This direction sets out the requirement for deputy heads to implement a minimum requirement of three days per week in the workplace for all public servants.

To ensure flexibility for operational reasons and job types, it is also acceptable to require a minimum of 60% of employees’ regular schedule on a weekly or monthly basis.

Workplaces vary from one organization to the other. Deputy heads are to use discretion and adapt to their operational requirements.

Objectives

• Deliver services to Canadians and strengthen their confidence in the public service.
• Establish a consistent approach to hybrid work to ensure fairness across the public service.
• Continue to encourage hiring the best talent across Canada.
• Align with and support our diversity, inclusion, and accessibility objectives.  It is imperative that our workplaces are barrier-free and inclusive.
• Continue to build an evolving public service culture of excellence and modernize our business models.

Implementation timelines

Implementation continues for departments that have communicated and established a minimum attendance requirement in line with this direction.

For those departments that have not yet implemented a minimum three day per week attendance requirement, full implementation is to be in place no later than September 9, 2024.

Guiding principles

This direction is being:

• applied in accordance with existing Legislation, Policies and Directives
  • the Policy on People Management, the Directive on Telework and the Directive on the Duty to Accommodate, and Canada Labour Code
• applied in accordance with existing collective agreements and other existing terms and conditions of employment
• implemented in a manner that creates a barrier-free public service according to requirements under the Accessible Canada Act and the Accessible Canada Regulations
• implemented in a manner that upholds the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector as a condition of employment.

Implementation plans must be developed by departments and shared for information with joint departmental union-management committees.

Guidance from the Public Service Occupational Health Program is available to support deputy heads in ensuring safe workplaces. The Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer continues to encourage departments to discuss occupational health and safety (OHS) considerations at their appropriate departmental OHS committee as required under Part II of the Canada Labour Code.

Continued efforts to learn from our hybrid experience and strengthen our approaches accordingly.

Application

This direction applies to all core public administration employees (indeterminate, full time, part time, term), students and casual workers (Schedule I and IV of the Financial Administration Act).

It is strongly recommended that separate employers (Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act) adopt a similar strategy, to ensure a coherent approach for the whole public service.

Revised telework agreements may be required to reflect the minimum on site requirement.

The application of this direction will ensure that employees are equipped to succeed both on site and off site. The Government of Canada Workplace Accessibility Passport can serve as a tool to document barriers and solutions.

Exceptions

Departmental verification

Deputy heads assume responsibility for implementing verification regimes and for maintaining human resources data for their department or agency.

On-site presence could be measured using turnstile data, existing attendance reports, and/or Internet Protocol (IP) login data to collect aggregated departmental data. 

Departmental ADM-level compliance and coherence committees should be in place to:

• monitor data trends
• ensure coherence in deeming exceptions

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner was consulted on the change to the standard personal information banks which permits for the use of employee data in limited scenarios. Should departments wish to proceed with an approach that differs from the one supported by the current policy framework and described in the privacy bulletin, they will need to engage with their departmental privacy officials and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Compliance

The employer has the exclusive management right to designate the location of work and to require employees to report to their designated workplace.

Prior to implementation, managers should proactively discuss with employees any barriers they may encounter including, those linked to accessibility, harassment and discrimination and define solutions that will help address these barriers in the hybrid workplace.

Managers should ensure that individual circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis, including human rights obligations, such as the duty to accommodate, or whether an employee has a reasonable explanation for absences from the designated workplace, such as illness, family care obligations, or compliance with COVID19 self-isolation protocols.

Managers seeking to ensure compliance have tools available to them, including several administrative actions. Managers should discuss with their labour relations teams and ensure that individual circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis.