Canadian businesses shifting away from remote work: Employment lawyer on 630 CHED

Interview Summary

Before the pandemic, most Canadians worked in the physical workplace. Despite many businesses shifting to remote work due to health restrictions, most have removed remote work arrangements. Can employees ask that their employers continue with these models? What obligations, if any, do employers have to honour these prior work arrangements?

Lluc Cerda, an Alberta employment lawyer and Managing Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP joined 630 CHED to discuss the emerging data and its implications for employees and employers.

Interview Notes

• Requesting employees’ return to the office: Cerda noted that there have been more employers requesting employees’ return to the office. “We have been seeing this since about 2022. We’ve seen employers state “We don’t think this is working anymore, you’re going to have to come back.”
• Refusing to give up a remote work model: During the pandemic, many employees moved to more isolated regions as they were no longer required to work in the office. “The commute if they had to return to the office would now be exponentially longer,” Cerda explained. “This made it nearly impossible to return to the office. This is a big ask for a lot of people who have been working from home for the last four years who’ve relocated.”
• Terms of employment: Many employees were hired during the pandemic and into a remote work arrangement. “In reality, we all have employment contracts, even if they are unwritten. When they are unwritten we can debate the terms of the employment agreement. Unless there’s a practice of having always worked in one location, it can’t be assumed you have to work in that one location,” Cerda stated. Ultimately it is best to get terms outlined in writing.
• Ability to work remotely and efficiently: For some employees, working from home may not be an option. “There are sectors that workers are not privileged enough to work from home.” Cerda went on to clarify that employers who are worried about performance issues should consider other elements. “It does sound a little like a punishment. Employers have to be careful with what the punishment is. It has to be proportionate to what is happening.”
• Maintaining staff members: Employers should be wary of unintentionally changing employment terms and effectively terminating their employees. “It becomes a negotiation. Employers who are willing to accommodate working from home would become more attractive to prospective employees,” Cerda commented.

Related Resources

For further insights and discussions related to employee rights, explore the following resources:

• Constructive dismissals in Alberta