‘Little to no rationale:’ Ontario civil servants receiving ‘blanket’ rejections to remote work requests, union says

The Ontario legislature building is pictured at Queen's Park. (Joshua Freeman /CP24)

The Ontario government has started sending out rejection letters to the thousands of Ontario Public Service (OPS) workers who requested alternate work arrangements, even as their unions ask that employees be allowed to work from home during the FIFA World Cup.

Government officials confirmed to CP24 that OPS leaders have been reviewing Alternative Work Arrangement (AWA) requests and decisions have started being communicated.

More decisions are expected to be sent out in the coming weeks.

“We’ve been hearing from our members in the OPS that they’ve been receiving blanket rejection letters for the alternative work arrangements requesting for hybrid work,” Chris Eckert, chair of OPSEU’s OPS Unified Central Employee Relations Committee, told CP24.com in an interview.

Eckert said it’s not entirely clear yet which ministries are impacted. CP24 was made aware of letters sent to workers in at least two ministries.

The unions have argued that AWA arrangements – particularly remote work – support better work-life balance and mental health for their members by reducing wasted time on commuting and potentially reducing distractions. They also argue it benefits the province by helping reduce traffic congestion and gridlock, a point underscored by a recent request from the City of Toronto for employers to allow workers to work remotely while the city hosts several FIFA World Cup games.

AWA requests could include requests to work remotely, approval to work from a different government location, or adjusted hours of work.

While some workers have gotten at least partial approvals for alternate work arrangements, most have received outright rejections, union officials say.

OPSEU, which represents around 200,000 Ontario government employees, says its members have submitted around 10,000 applications for alternate work arrangements (AWA) since government workers were ordered back to the office full-time earlier this year. Prior to that, thousands of OPS employees were still allowed to work from home at least part-time, as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eckert said the majority of requests appear to have been denied or ignored.

AMAPCEO, which represents more than 17,000 professionals across government, said just a small fraction of its members have received responses to their requests, but most have been rejections.

“Of the roughly 5,500+ requests AMAPCEO members have submitted, there have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of 250 responses, and about 90 per cent of those responses have been outright denials with little to no rationale,” AMAPCEO told CP24.com in an email.

In a statement, Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney’s office said it expects Ontario government employees to be at government workplaces.

“We expect the Ontario Public Service to be in the workplace five days a week, reflecting the people and businesses we serve in Ontario,” the statement reads.

Rejection letters similar

Several rejection letters sent to OPSEU members and shared with CP24.com were sent out by assistant deputy ministers and utilized similar language.

“Your request was received, reviewed on its individual merits using the information provided and the fourfold test, and has been denied,” two of them read.

The “four-fold test” refers to the criteria for managers to consider AWA requests. It stipulates that decisions must be made in good faith; be a genuine exercise of discretionary power; focus on the individual application; and consider only relevant facts.

“The problem is, when you see a number of members in different ministries getting almost identical emails or letters that state they’ve been denied,” Eckert said. “Was this taking into consideration each individual? I’m going to say there’s no way it could be. You wouldn’t give a blanket statement to every individual that applied for an alternative work arrangement.”

While the letters shared with CP24.com included some sentences that appeared unique to the individual, most used very similar language overall, sometimes with just one or two words changed or rearranged.

“The OPS operates as a full-time, five-day in-office organization, and all remote work requests must be assessed against that onsite baseline,” one reads.

Another reads: “The OPS operates as a full-time, five-day, in-office organization, and all requests for remote work must be evaluated against this onsite standard.”

A third reads: “The OPS operates as a full-time, in-office organization and as such, all remote work requests must be assessed against that onsite baseline.”

One of the letters rejected a request that was made “in support of work-life balance and to focus.” Another partially approved a request to work out of a different office roughly 100 kilometres away, but only one day a week for up to a year.

“It’s interesting to have them all kind of denied at one time when we’re about to go back to the Ontario Labour Relations board on May 26,” Eckert said. “This isn’t about flexibility or convenience. This isn’t about us asking for something new. It’s about protecting established working conditions and respecting the collective agreement.”

Ontario ordered most government employees back to the office five days a week back in January. The unions are challenging the return-to-office mandate as a unilateral change of working conditions, which came after a notice to bargain had been issued, calling it “a clear breach” of labour laws.

“The employer’s intent appears to be pushing the workers toward litigation in order to defer an outcome,” AMAPCEO said in its statement, adding “the fight is ongoing.”

Union wants FIFA accommodations

Separately, unions representing OPS workers also sent a letter last month to Secretary of the Cabinet Michelle DiEmanuele, asking that the province permit a temporary remote work arrangement for all employees working in the city during the games.

“By their own assessment, the City of Toronto has flagged concerns about significant congestion, ongoing construction, and disrupted sidewalk access. There is an expected increase in vehicle traffic volumes of up to 15%, with the TTC corridor between Exhibition GO and Union Station becoming a primary bottleneck in the transit network,” the letter reads.

“Outside of the extraordinary occurrence of the FIFA World Cup, commuting to, from, and within Toronto poses substantial challenges for workers. The added stress of record-high attendance and the attendant impact on key transportation hubs, as well as our shared downtown neighbourhoods, will lead only to chaos and undue stress for workers otherwise going about their daily routine.”

Thousands of visitors are expected in the city for the World Cup next month. Officials have said they have a transportation plan that will work, but the city has nonetheless asked businesses to consider allowing employees to work flexible hours or from other locations to manage congestion during the games.

The Treasury Board said it was not able to provide a comment on the union’s request around FIFA by deadline.

Eckert said the unions have not had a response to the letter so far, aside from confirmation of receipt.