Penalties for Public Servants Who Won’t Go Back to Office to Be Handled Individually

President of the Treasury Board Mona Fortier speaks in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Dec. 15, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says any repercussions forany federal public servants who refuse to return to in-person work will be handed out on a case-by-case basis.

On Monday all federal public servants still working from home will begin the transition back to in-person work.

Fortier is ordering all departments to bring employees back to the office at least 2 to 3 times a week by the end of March.

However Fortier did not specify a clear plan for penalizing any employees who don’t meet that target.

Fortier says the return-to-office plan is needed because of “inconsistencies” in remote work policies across federal departments and tells The Canadian Press some departments are already working in person.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada union representing 165,000 federal workers filed a labour complaint in December about the return-to-work order but hasn’t heard any updates about it since.