OTTAWA (December 18): After weeks of indecision, the Canadian Federal Government has told its employees they must work at least two-to-three days a week in person, or between 40-to-60 per cent of their regular schedule.
The decision prompted an angry response from Public Service unions, which have been pushing to give most of their members the choice of where they worked.
President of the Treasury Board, Mona Fortier said the decision was necessary to create a common approach to remote work in the Federal Public Service.
"In-person work better supports collaboration, team spirit, innovation and a culture of belonging," Mr Fortier said.
"We've now seen there needs to be greater fairness and equity across our workplaces and we need consistency in how hybrid work is applied across the Federal Government."
The one-size-fits-all hybrid model will come into full effect on March 31. To allow for a smooth transition, the Government will use a phased introduction beginning on January 16.
President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Jennifer Carr said workers had been doing their jobs effectively from home and she was not satisfied by the reasons given for the mandate.
She also said her union had been given a one-hour notice of the announcement.
"To hear the Minister say the decision was about serving Canadians, and not providing specific examples, is one of the things I find kind of disingenuous," Ms Carr (pictured) said.
“Our members are also taxpayers and want the most efficient use of Government money,” she said, alluding to past discussions around saving money by having public sector employees work from home.
President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Chris Aylward echoed Ms Carr, saying members had shown they could work remotely.
"We see this as a poorly planned and knee-jerk reaction from the Government that doesn't have the best interest of workers or Canadians at heart, and it's completely at odds really with the direction this Government has been moving towards on remote work," Mr Aylward said.
However, Mayor of Ottawa, Mark Sutcliffe applauded the decision, saying it was critical to the local economy.
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Audit finds boom in Scottish office staff
EDINBURGH (December 19): An audit of Scottish Public Servants has found a huge rise in the number who are office-based, but a fall in police and fire-fighter posts.
The analysis of official figures, carried out by the Opposition Scottish Labour Party, shows an increase of 3,710 jobs in the Public Service compared to 2021. The figure amounts to a 15.8 per cent increase on the previous year.
It is starkly contrasted by other public sector areas, particularly in front-line and emergency services, where there has been a decrease of 2.3 per cent in police and fire services in the same time.
Numbers in the reserved Public Service and further education also decreased over this period.
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Concern over military’s use in strikes
LONDON (December 19): About 1,200 members of the United Kingdom military and 1,000 Public Servants are to be drafted in to cover for striking ambulance and Border Force staff over Christmas.
Some 10,000 ambulance staff in England and Wales will be on strike on 21 and 28 December in a pay dispute.
Unions say military staff are not sufficiently trained to take on ambulance roles, but Minister for Health, Steve Barclay said his number one priority was keeping patients safe.
However, Chief of Defence Staff, Sir Tony Radakin has warned against viewing troops as "the go-to option” when it came to covering strike action.
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Digital monitor for Nigerian staff
ABUJA (December 18): The Nigerian Federal Government has urged Public Servants to improve their output at work as it finishes plans to monitor their performance digitally.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan said the end-to-end automation process would be deployed to track performance.
“I regret that the Public Service has been tagged as redundant, ineffective, inefficient and not meeting up to its standards — so the narrative has to change,” Dr Yemi-Esan said.
She said the digital evaluation would replace the replace the annual performance evaluation system “to ensure that employee performance is linked to institutional goals and objectives”.
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Shake-up of poorly managed bureaucracy
DOUGLAS (December 17): Reforms to the top job in the Isle of Man's Public Service have been put forward to improve how senior officers are held to account.
The Council of Ministers has proposed renaming the Chief Secretary's post to Chief Executive, while giving it new performance management powers.
It comes after an independent review found "a management vacuum" where under performance had not been tackled well, within the self-governing island.
Chief Minister, Alfred Cannan said the change was needed as performance management across the Government was "just not strong enough".
The full International PS News service will resume on January 17
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