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Fighting for telework: Important resources

August 30, 2024

Every worker’s job and situation are unique, and a cookie cutter approach to telework can’t be applied to Canada’s diverse public service. Overwhelming evidence proves that telework improves work-life balance and increases productivity for workers.

The government’s misguided decision to mandate federal public service workers into the office at least three days per week blatantly disregards their well-being and violates their collective bargaining rights.

This decision was made without any consultation with unions or workers, and flies in the face of the telework agreement PSAC negotiated in the last round of bargaining.

It’s time to fight back

PSAC has prepared a number of resources to help workers fight for telework. We’ve collected some of these resources below: Grievance wording, virtual backgrounds, useful information, etc. Take a look!

On this page:

When to file a grievance
Proposed grievance wording
Telework petition
Fight for telework questionnaire
Telework visual assets

Also see the PSAC telework FAQ

When to file a grievance

As part of our coordinated legal response, we are encouraging all affected members to put in grievances against the unilateral amendment of the Direction. Grievances should be filed for the following issues:

  • Where the amended Direction results in a member being arbitrarily required to work more days in the office;
  • Where a member has had an existing telework agreement disregarded or altered because of the Direction;
  • Where a member experiences additional adverse impacts because of their membership in a human rights-protected group;
  • Or, where a member has experienced losses or out-of-pocket costs because of the Direction.

However, you should always go through your union when submitting a grievance. Contact your Branch President for assistance. Branch Presidents should contact the CIU Labour Relations Officer assigned to their Branch for further guidance.

Proposed grievance wording

While grievances should be individualized to reflect the specific circumstances and concerns of individual members, the following template grievance language can be customized to address most cases:

This is an individual grievance hereby filed pursuant to Section 208 of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act.

Details of the grievance:

I grieve the Employer’s conduct in amending the Direction on Prescribed Presence in the Workplace (the “Direction”) in violation of the collective agreement by:

  • Amending and implementing the Direction in a manner which is unreasonable, arbitrary, and inconsistent with the principles for flexible working arrangements, in violation of the provisions of the applicable Collective Agreement, including but not limited to Article 6 of Collective Agreement, the Letter of Agreement on Telework, the Directive on Telework, as well as any other applicable provisions of the Collective Agreement, employer policies, or legislation;
  • Amending and implementing the Direction in a discriminatory manner that has breached the employer’s duty to accommodate and has reduced accessibility, inclusiveness and equity in violation of my rights  protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act (“CHRA”) and [Article 19 of the Program and Administrative Services (PA), Operational Services (SV), Technical Services (TC), and Border Services (FB) agreements or Article 16 of the Education and Library Science (EB) agreement]; and
  • Amending and implementing the Direction in a manner which unreasonably and inappropriately departs from my existing telework/remote work arrangements and has caused me prejudice and hardship.

You should always go through your union when submitting a grievance. Contact your Branch President for assistance. Branch Presidents should contact the CIU Labour Relations Officer assigned to their Branch for further guidance.

Click here for more information on grievances

Petition to repeal the three-day in-office mandate 

Sign the petition to demand the government repeal the three-day in-office mandate and move to the promised case-by-case framework for telework, rather than the one-size-fits-none model they have committed to. We also want them to enshrine this policy into our collective agreements during the next round of bargaining.

Click here to sign the petition

Fight for telework questionnaire

As we move beyond September 9, how likely are you to stay involved in our fight for telework? Complete the brief questionnaire below to let us know.

Click here to complete the questionnaire

Telework visual assets

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Social Media

Virtual Background

The original version of this content was first published on the PSAC website:

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