Canada's largest federal public sector union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), has lodged a complaint against the government over a new directive aimed at increasing in-office work requirements.

The complaint comes after the Treasury Board made an announcement requiring executives in the public administration work onsite five days a week starting this coming May 4.

Other employees must be in office four days per week starting shortly after the Canada Day long weekend on July 6. The directive is another step towards pre-pandemic norms for public servants, adding an additional in-office workday on top of the previous requirements for executives and staff. 

Sharon DeSousa, president of PSAC, told Ottawa-area talk radio station Newstalk 580 she was “quite angry and disgusted” over the government's demand, claiming working conditions would be changed “without having the infrastructure in place to even house every single one of those workers.”

The federal government “is not above the law,” the labour leader said, asserting the government “can't just arbitrarily change working conditions” amid ongoing negotiations.  

DeSousa vowed the union was examining “every recourse that is available” to resist the new requirement and insisted a return to office does not work.

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“It didn't work when they mandated two days in office. It didn't work three days in office,” she said. “I can guarantee you it won't work four days in office.”

The Treasury Board said the change was an effort to “strengthen the public service.”

Affected departments include the core public administration, with executives and staff at Employment and Social Development Canada, Correctional Service Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Shared Services Canada, Statistics Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada beholden to the new mandate.

“We recognize that this decision is occurring during a challenging period, when employees are already dealing with change and uncertainty,” a spokesperson for the Treasury Board said.

The board said it would engage with the PSAC to “seek their input on how best to implement this approach, and to ensure that public service employees have the tools and supports they need to succeed.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously stated his goal to cut 40,000 jobs from the public sector by 2029. Over the previous 10 years of Liberal rule, the public sector ballooned massively.

Over 22,000 workers across 40 departments have been given “workforce adjustment” letters since the federal government presented its budget in November.