Back in March 2022, the Alberta government implemented the Interim Hybrid Work Policy, which allowed certain workers employed by the Alberta Public Service to work from home up to 2 days per week, following the lifting of the public health work-from-home order early in the pandemic.
As of last summer, roughly 12,500 workers participated in hybrid work arrangements. This represented about 44% of the Alberta Public Service workforce.
Last October, the provincial government announced that they were discontinuing the policy effective 1 February 2026.
The rationale they used to cancel the policy and force thousands of workers back into the office after 4 years was “changing circumstances and sector trends”, whatever that means.
In an update posted to their website last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents nearly 9,000 of these workers, stated that 640 grievances have been filed with the Alberta Labour Relations Board regarding this change in policy.
These grievances have been filed by individual workers, as well as by their union.
Unfortunately, because the provincial government has refuses to address these grievances over the last 6 months, the grievances have accumulated and now the government wants the ALRB to treat them as a single grievance.
If the labour board accommodates the government’s request, that means that whatever the outcome of the bulk grievance, it would apply to all workers, regardless of their unique circumstances.
Workers who need to work from home to accommodate a disability, for example, would be treated the same as workers who work from home as a preference.
The government’s decision, according to AUPE, was made without consultation with workers and just 6 weeks after they said during collective bargaining that workers would still be able to request hybrid-work arrangements under their new collective agreement.
“Forcing these workers back to work sites full time is nothing more than an act of political theatre. It’s a mean-spirited attack by a government that actively dislikes public-sector workers,” said Bobby-Joe Borodey, AUPE’s vice-president, the day after the policy went into effect.
“This will do nothing to improve the delivery of services to Albertans. AUPE members have continued to provide first-class services while on hybrid-work arrangements”.
In a statement they published back in December, AUPE outlined 3 reasons why the policy should be permanent, rather than interim, let alone elimnated.
- Things change. Even if workers do not need remote worker today, their circumstances might change in the future, necessitating a hybrid work model.
- It’s more efficient. Workers in a hybrid-work arrangement still provided the same service but working from home—even if just partially—reduced the need for more office space. It also improved retention, which reduces the cost of training new workers.
- It’s good for workers. Flexible work arrangements can improve physical and mental health for workers, lkeading to a better work–life balance. It also reduces commuting time, which not only save workers time and money but reduces pressures on the environment.
The ball is in the labour board’s court now.
