How does the government track who’s in the office? It varies by department

As federal government workers return to the office for the mandated three days a week, different departments are taking different approaches to monitoring their attendance.

The federal public service turned to remote work in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began.

In May, the federal government announced workers would return to the office three days a week, starting Monday. There is some flexibility built in to ease the transition, but employees are initially expected to spend 60 per cent of their time in the workplace. 

Executives must now be in the office at least four days a week.

Radio-Canada asked a sampling of federal departments how they’ll be tracking attendance. Their answers varied by department.

For example, the Department of Finance is compiling and analyzing turnstile data to determine who’s scanning their passes, while Public Services and Procurement Canada compiles monthly attendance reports based on bulk laptop connection data.

Individual attendance data

According to an internal human resources document from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, obtained by Radio-Canada, individual attendance across the public service should only be recorded as part of a formal investigation.

Otherwise, the department, which oversaw the federal government’s initial shift to remote work, does not support formal monitoring of individual attendance.

According to the internal document, any such observations should be left to managers, and to individual employees to self-report.

Punishment for failing to show up for the prescribed time without a valid exemption ranges from verbal reprimand to suspension without pay or even firing, it said.

Waste of resources, union says

Public service unions argue their members have proven they can work just as efficiently from home, and without the need to commute. Their employer has disagreed.

“What’s the value in having a surveillance system that emphasizes presence more than what you’ve accomplished?” asked Jennifer Carr, presidents of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada.

Canadian Association of Professional Employees president Nathan Prier said the policies are “a step backward” and a waste of money spent monitoring employees.

Étienne Charbonneau, the Canada research chair in comparative public management whose work involves digital monitoring of work, told Radio-Canada that productivity is harder to measure in-person than remotely.

Charbonneau said what is clear is that employees are generally happier working from home.