Lluc Cerda with Canadian Press on remote work and PSAC influence

The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the federal government announced a tentative agreement amidst the recent strike. One of the key bargaining points for members of PSAC seems to have been remote work and flexibility. Remote work and hybrid work arrangements seem to be issues that concern both union and non-union employees. Can private sector employees expect their own workplaces to be influenced by this agreement?

Lluc Cerda, an employment lawyer and Senior Associate at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP spoke to the Canadian Press’ Rosa Saba and explained that remote work will continue to be a contentious issue for employees.

“The workplace has changed since the pandemic … and a lot of employees are very reticent to give up some of the gains that they’ve acquired over that period,” Cerda stated. “This is an important step toward making hybrid work a normalized part of the work environment and setting up reasonable balanced procedures to make all of those decisions.”

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Cerda went on to explain that private sector non-unionized employees should look closely at the terms of their employment contracts to protect their rights and ensure remote work is enforceable.

“The same goes for getting remote work into a collective agreement, with a letter of understanding being a first step,” Cerda said. “The union hasn’t given up on getting this written into the collective bargaining agreements.”