Meet the Four Horsemen of return-to-office mandates

The federal government’s recent decision to mandate a three-day return to office for its employees without any union consultation ushers in a significant challenge.

- GLEB TSIPURSKY

Last year, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, representing more than 155,000 members, showed their early discontent over return-to-office mandates, along with wage issues, with a strike, Gleb Tsipursky writes.

Having helped a number of Canadian government agencies figure out their RTO strategies, such a top-down, heavy-handed approach results inevitably in the “Four Horsemen of the Required Return to Office”: resistance, attrition, quiet quitting and loss of diversity.

As Ottawa gears up for this shift by Sept. 9, these formidable challenges loom on the horizon, threatening to undermine the efficiencies this policy seeks to enhance.

With no prior consultations the government’s announcement in early May has sparked a fierce backlash from major public sector unions, marking the first horseman: resistance.

Last year, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, representing more than 155,000 members, showed their early discontent over RTO mandates, along with wage issues, with a strike. The union eventually settled for increased wages and new contract language on remote work.