Rural municipality considers work-from-home ban

One eastern Ontario township is deciding whether to end its work-from-home policies for good. 

Elizabethtown-Kitley, Ont., which surrounds Brockville on three sides, will soon have council direction on whether staff and councillors can work from home.

Its council meetings went virtual in April 2020 in the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Municipal office workers were also allowed to work remotely.

Twin motions at the township's Monday evening council meeting, tabled by longtime councillor Earl Brayton, would roll back council's ability to meet virtually and mandate a return to the office for municipal staff.

"I thought it was time that we went back to work, worked together, and got this foolishness — as far as I'm concerned —over with," said Brayton, adding the COVID-19 pandemic has been "over for two years." 

Brayton said he tabled the motions after finding out five or six staff members were working from home one or two days a week. He said an "antiquated" phone system makes it difficult for residents to reach township staff and it's made worse by those employees working from home.

"I think it'd be much easier for [our chief administrative officer] to run an office [with] everybody playing by the same rules," he said.

"I really don't see there being a substantial impact on service delivery," said Chief Administrative Officer Robert Nolan. According to him, most township employees already work from the office full-time.

"Most people are getting communication by phone, or through [Microsoft] Teams or email, and are able to respond to individuals," he said.

Nolan added anyone needing more hands-on help can book an appointment with the relevant staff member.

"This really is just an issue of [occasionally] a staff member being able to work from home — whether it's for a personal reason, or they just need to give themselves some time and space to work on something," he said. 

As for how workers are feeling, Nolan said staff are aware of the motions but he hasn't heard any specific concerns yet. 

Criticism last year

When it comes to council meetings, Brayton said it's unfair to constituents for councillors to meet virtually.

"I don't think the people who voted me in wanted me sitting at home and doing my thing from home," he said.

Brayton said he's also pushing to get the public back in the council chamber more often, which is not helped by councillors not being physically present. He added it's much easier to read intent and motivations face-to-face than through a screen.

Late last year, Brayton had called out a fellow councillor for attending the Dec. 9 council meeting virtually.

Mayor Brant Burrow told Brayton the matter was not relevant to the item being discussed, but that he could officially raise the issue at a later meeting. Brayton said he "had his fingers slapped" by later being asked to apologize to the councillor, but opted instead to apologize to council as a whole for speaking out of turn.

Other jurisdictions

The discussion comes as many jurisdictions require staff to work at least part of their week from the office. 

In Ottawa, about 85 per cent of city staff are not eligible for hybrid work, according to a spokesperson for the city. Those that are "must work from a City facility for a minimum of two days per week."

The federal government had mandated employees work from the office at least three days a week, a move that has drawn ire from staffers and advocacy groups alike. It's downsizing its amount of office space to match those needs.

South of the border, the Trump administration has extended its mandates even further — federal workers must come into the office a full five days a week. Companies such as Amazon, AT&T and Dell are all back in person.

"In my mind, if you want a job, you come to where the job is," said Brayton. "If you don't, stay at home. I have no problem with that, but you don't have a job and you're not getting paid. It's that simple."

About 18.7 per cent of employed Canadians worked mostly from home as of May 2024, according to Statistics Canada. That's about six per cent lower than May 2021, but remained more than twice as high as it was before the pandemic.