How was your Labour Day long weekend? Speaking of labour…
Could you imagine being forced by your employer to go back into the office for an extra day each week?
That’s what thousands of federal employees are facing as the Government of Canada is enforcing new back to work legislation starting Sept. 3… ironically, right after the Labour Day long weekend. The new rules will force federal employees who were working from home for three days of their work week to instead only be at home for two days.
Can you imagine?
Obviously, labour unions are furious. How dare the government make their employees come to the office for three days a week? Some Canadians see it as another over-reach by a Liberal government and another excuse to wave an F-Trudeau sign. Most working Canadians – a number of about 20 million people compared to the 275,000 federal public servants – however, see it as another example of how out of touch our political theatre has become.
Go back to work, or you don’t work. That is the option for most of Canada’s workforce. Employers make the decisions — within the limits of labour laws and abilities. If the boss says your work-from-home days are over, you go back to the office… or you don’t work. It’s that simple for just about every non-unionized worker in the country.
Is working from the office more productive? Are there too many distractions working from the kitchen table at home or the downstairs spare bedroom? Does a worker feel more like a team member when they are immersed in the office activity? Is working from work an archaic baby-boomer tradition? It depends on what study you look at – and what group is sponsoring it.
But in reality, the endless surveys, media reports, opinion-lead discussion groups or whatever way the ‘work-versus-home’ statistics are delivered, none of it really matters in the world most Canadian live and work.
Even though this issue has grown out of the political world, it shouldn’t be allowed to become a polarizing political topic. Whether a person follows all government rules, was part of the Freedom Convey, hates Trudeau or loves the role of labour trade unions, this is a simple choice that 20 million Canadians have to live with every day.
Go back to work because your boss told you.
(If anyone would still like to politicize it, you know, make it about the heroic David and Goliath protection of unions or the under-thumb oppression of the current government – they only have a few months to wait until another government will likely step in, change it all… and make some other group unhappy.)
