City workers ordered back to office three days a week

City employees will soon be required to work in the office at least three days per week.

In a Friday email to city council members, interim chief administrative officer Sherwood Armbruster said the city’s flexible workplace program will change, effective Jan. 6, to become “consistent” across city departments and match the rules of other governments and large employers.

“Based on feedback we have received from (council), members of the public service, and members of the community, it is clear we needed to adjust. While I feel we need to keep the program in place for the benefit of our employees, we also need to allow for more in-person interactions,” wrote Armbruster.

“As part of this change, I am also expecting that department heads will be in the office, so they are available to their staff.”–Interim CAO Sherwood Armbruster

Civic employees who want to work from home up to two days a week must file new applications to do so, while exceptions will be considered for select staff in (information technology) and call centres “due to the unique nature of their work,” the letter notes.

“As part of this change, I am also expecting that department heads will be in the office, so they are available to their staff,” the interim CAO said.

The letter suggests many city departments have already implemented the type of schedule being proposed.

The head of the city’s largest union said he’s concerned some staff will quit over the changes, noting the retention of skilled workers was considered a key reason to continue allowing remote work after the pandemic.

“We found the last time around, when they (studied the program), there was a significant portion of staff who said they wouldn’t be able to remain in (their positions) if they didn’t have those flexible work hours within certain classifications. That was really concerning, considering the City of Winnipeg has a huge recruitment and retention issue, so I think that has to be taken into consideration,” said Gord Delbridge, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500.

Delbridge said the union wasn’t consulted before the changes were announced to council members.

He believes the decision was influenced by politics rather than the city’s administration.

“You should be listening to the administration, the recommendations, the advice they’re providing and not just make this (decision about) political ideology,” said Delbridge. “In that previous report, I think it was made very evident (that the program should stay).”

Remote work options remain a controversial topic at city hall, with the mayor and some councillors blaming the practice for hindering both productivity and service levels.

“In the past, I did hear cases where people had some challenges getting information from staff in some of the departments (due to remote work). That has been rectified… in months past,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham. “It’s better for customer service and service delivery for staff members to be in the office more frequently.”

Gillingham said he supports the three-day minimum.

“I think it leads to better collaboration with members of the public service and, ultimately, I think it leads, in many cases, to better public service,” he said.

By contrast, a September 2023 public service report credited the flexible workplace program with saving money without sacrificing productivity. The report found employee engagement and performance weren’t hindered by the practice, which helped attract and retain staff.

At the time, about 1,550 of the city’s roughly 10,400 employees worked at home at least some of the time.

As of Friday, 1,650 city workers still do at least some remote work, without a standard citywide agreement on the number of days involved, said Felicia Wiltshire, the city’s communications director, in an email.

“I think it leads to better collaboration with members of the public service and, ultimately, I think it leads, in many cases, to better public service.”–Mayor Scott Gillingham

“We anticipate this number will likely remain consistent once the new program takes effect,” wrote Wiltshire.

Coun. Jeff Browaty, chairman of finance, said he thinks the new policy strikes the right balance between working exclusively at the office or at home.

“I think this is competitive. This is pretty comparable with what we’re seeing in the private sector, as well as other levels of government,” said Browaty.

The North Kildonan councillor said he’s glad to see exceptions could be offered to some information technology staff and call centre workers, whose industries tend to offer that option.

He expects the downtown economy will benefit from more workers returning to the office.

“Those businesses that rely on that lunch-time office crowd certainly have been struggling,” Browaty said.

Wiltshire said the changes aren’t a result of concerns about staff performance.

Currently, the number of days City of Winnipeg staff can work from home varies, with some able to do so every day, the city confirmed.

Wiltshire said the city has always “maintained the right” to change the policy and did not consult with unions before doing so.

The city is still determining the exact number of employees who would be exempt from the changes and how often they would be allowed to work remotely, she said.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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