City of Windsor cutting work from home days as union warns of retention issues

City council has decided to limit the number of days that city staff can work from home with a promise to revisit the decision annually to track the impact on staff.

Union leadership criticized the move while Mayor Drew Dilkens said he wished he pushed for the change earlier. 

Staff will now work from the office at least four days a week following the approved changes to the city's hybrid work program. 

Those changes will start after an 8 week transition period. 

Before council approved this change, the number of days people could work from home was at the discretion of the city's Chief Administrative Officer. 

Why the change is happening

City administration report that 527 people are approved to work from home, or about 16 per cent of the city's workforce, with each working from home an average of 1.6 days a week.

This change was initiated by Dilkens, who used his Strong Mayor powers to direct city staff to create a report about changing the number of days on December 27, 2024.

He said the move was spurred by the city's push to get more people downtown and challenges he has in getting city staff working from home to return his calls.

He said that's not something that happens everyday or with everyone but "if I'm having that trouble in my chair, in my office getting answers, what are the customers thinking?"

"We've got to get people back to the workplace where we function best in my mind and still acknowledge at least one day a week for those that qualify," said Dilkens.

Union warns people could leave their job

CUPE 543 president Patrick Murchison spoke against the plan during Monday's council meeting. 

Murchison said city staff are dealing with increased workloads with little recognition while departments are chronically understaffed. 

He said that this change could lead to retention issues and referenced a report to council last year that said the city should look at expanding hybrid work options to help improve workplace culture.

"People are planning on looking at other jobs that have flexibility," said Murchison. 

Dilkens told council that getting city staff back to offices downtown aligns with the city's goal to strengthen the core and the previous hybrid work from home model hurt downtown. 

"I regret that I actually didn't do it sooner," said Dilkens. 

Murchison said that he doesn't believe city workers will be a big boom for downtown business.

"Many of our members do not have the disposable income to support the downtown businesses," he told council, adding that 20 per cent of his members rely on second jobs to make ends meet. 

472 people who work at the city hall campus are approved to work from home. The majority of people are CUPE 543 members. 

The Windsor president of the Civic Association of Non-Union Employees also wrote to council after surveying members. 

CANUE said that "reducing flexability could lead to higher turnover, particularly among younger generations" and it could "lead to frustration and disengagement."

Motion to keep hybrid program as is defeated 

CAO Joe Mancina said that hybrid work policies are something the come up often during the hiring process. 

He said that people see the ability to work from home is valued by workers but employers are shifting their models. 

"The office environment, corporate culture, I think it is more strained obviously when you don't have a cohesive group that's there five days a week,' said Mancina.

Councilor Kieran McKenzie tried to prevent the changes from moving forward but that was defeated by council. 

He said that the issues with people not responding to phone calls or acting as a cohesive group could be corrected with management programs. 

Instead, council approved to change the program and get an annual report from administration to see how it's affecting city staff.