Public servants push back on hybrid work mode

Some public servants are pushing back on a hybrid work model introduced three months requiring employees to work from the office at least three days a week.

“There are more benefits to working from home than to going into the office,” said Christine Kozak who has been working for Service Canada for nearly 30 years and started working remotely since the pandemic.

Kozac lives in St-Leonard and works at a call centre in Longueuil. Prior to the pandemic, she said it took her one and a half hour to drive to work and that was on a good day.

“So just that, eliminating that, getting up in the morning saying ‘okay, I come in. I log in. I start my day.’ I'm happy as a clam. I love it, and I'm much more productive,” she said.

Another convenience of working from home is that Kozac can also take care of her elderly mother who lives with her most days.

“I have to be present to be able to make sure that she eats on time, takes her meds on time,” the employee said.

The federal government cited “productivity reasons” as the reason for implementing the new requirement.

“This is a very old idea related to remote work which is that people are not as productive at home than they are at the office,” said Jean-Nicolas Reyt, an associate professor of management at Mc Gill University.

The professor added that in most cases working from home increases productivity.

“They have less commute time. They're not interrupted as often. They can focus better,” he explained.

Anna Lasorsa, who works at the Canada Border Services Agency agrees.

“And to be honest, I get so many things done faster at home rather than in the office,” Lasorsa said in an interview.

The union representing these workers say 91 per cent of its members do not want to go back to the office.

Kozak has not been called in just yet but says if she is she'll likely retire early.

“I will not put my mother in a public home because she doesn't need to go. She just needs a little bit of help.”