‘Solely performative and in bad faith’: Federal union won’t participate in consultations on new 4-day office mandate

An office building in downtown Ottawa. Jan. 10, 2024. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

A federal union is rejecting the federal government’s consultation on the new return-to-office mandate for public servants, saying it would be “solely performative and in bad faith.”

A new directive issued last week states that, as of May 4, executives will be required to work onsite five days per week. All other federal employees in the core public service will need to be in the office a minimum of four days per week, as of July 6.

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Treasury Board President Shafqat Ali told a House of Commons committee on Thursday that the government will “engage with unions on how best” to implement the new office mandate.

The Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE) said on Friday it has informed the Treasury Board it will not be “participating in any consultation pertaining” to the return-to-office mandate.

“As the decision has already been publicly announced, any so-called consultation process would be solely performative and in bad faith,” CAPE said in a statement.

“The Treasury Board has wilfully ignored concerns raised by all unions about the current three-day mandate, while at the same time pushing forward with increasing RTO requirements. The government does not currently have the office space to implement this decision effectively or safely. Without addressing the many existing problems, the government is just compounding these issues.”

The current hybrid rules have been in place since September 2024, requiring public servants in the core public administration to be in the office a minimum of three days per week, while executives are required to be onsite a minimum of four days per week.

Carleton Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy has called on the government to reconsider the return-to-office mandate, while Kanata Liberal MP Jenna Sudds wants the government to exercise “meaningful flexibility” when implementing the policy.

CAPE says it is considering “all legal options to respond” to the return-to-office mandate.

“We want it to be very clear: CAPE rejects this reckless and misguided policy,” Nathan Prier, CAPE president, said in a statement.

“We have seen, and have communicated to our members, the seemingly bad faith approach to management-labour consultation on this issue and many others with TBS. Our participation in a meaningless consultation would only lend credibility to this move and we will not be seen to be condoning it in any way.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the Federal Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board in response to the government’s new in-office mandate.

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