Government plans for day coronavirus reaches its doors

Government, unions working on how to respond if outbreak hits PS ranks

With the novel coronavirus continuing its global spread, the federal government has had to prepare for the possibility that COVID-19 will permeate its own workforce of more than 287,000 public servants, many of whom are responsible for delivering services that Canadians access daily.

A message sent to Government of Canada employees, provided to the Citizen by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, said immediate supervisors — themselves guided by their human resources branch, Health Canada and TBS — are “the authoritative voice” on questions about COVID-19 in the workplace, “because operational requirements vary across sectors and departments.”

But at a minimum, public servants were told they should “practise hand hygiene regularly,” “use cough and sneeze etiquette at all times” and “notify your supervisor and stay home if you become sick.”

“We recognize that colleagues across government may be actively participating in the containment effort, or are themselves in self-isolation,” the message said. “We want to take this opportunity to signal our respect and support for those colleagues and for those working tirelessly across government to support and serve Canadians.”

While the government has been consistent in its message that anyone who is sick or shows symptoms of the coronavirus should stay home, persuading public servants to follow this advice is less straightforward, said Debi Daviau, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. The union represents more than 60,000 government scientists and other professionals.

“There’s a culture of people not wanting to call in sick, and the government has a responsibility to help shift that,” Daviau said. “Traditionally, in the old male-dominated workplace, using sick leave was frowned upon. And a lot of our older male members have, like, two years’ worth of sick leave stored up because they’ve never taken a day in their entire career, and you know that they were never not sick, that they got sick at one point and they went to work (anyway).”

Daviau believes fear is the root of the problem. “Fear that their colleagues, their peers will be upset at them, fear that their managers won’t think that they’re good employees, that they might be passed over for promotion.”

How the government plans to address these concerns is one of the questions PIPSC has put to the employer, Daviau said.

The union also wants to know how public servants who miss work for coronavirus-related reasons will expected to classify this time away. Those who are sick will use sick leave, said Daviau, but what about people who are sent home from work for showing symptoms or choose to self-isolate after potential exposure to the virus?

Another pressing question is the government’s plan for the possibility of an entire workplace being forced out of commission by COVID-19. “What if an entire frontline goes down?”

Daviau said she’s hoping to get answers to these questions in the next weekly update from a union-management group set up to address the coronavirus.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the largest union representing federal public servants, said via email that employers must establish or update “business continuity plans” and test them against potential coronavirus scenarios — how to maintain essential frontline services when 10, 30 or 50 per cent of employees are absent, for example, and how to make fair and consistent decisions on employee leave.

PSAC also stressed the importance of providing personal protective equipment such as gloves and masks, and the legal mandate for joint health and safety committees to help determine the appropriate PPE for their workplaces.

In a statement, the Treasury Board Secretariat — the administrative arm of the public service employer — said individual deputy ministers “are best placed and accountable for the health and safety of their employees,” and that TBS is working to ensure they all have “the policy guidance they need to exercise their accountabilities.”

This guidance is based on COVID-19 advice from Health Canada, which is regularly reassessed to make sure federal departments and agencies “are prepared to support employees, as well as to continue to serve Canadians as the situation evolves,” TBS said.

Deputy heads have been asked to ensure their business continuity plans are up to date.

While COVID -19 currently poses a low public health risk for bureaucrats — and everyone else — in Canada, the same can’t be said for those in other countries. Canadian foreign service employees are posted around the world, including embassies and consular offices in China and Italy, where Canadians have been warned against travelling due to widespread COVID-19 transmission.

“I think there’s some stress, just in terms of everybody is reading about this, and there is a lot of uncertainty, and nobody knows how it’s going to go,” said Pamela Isfeld, president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers. But at the same time, she noted, PAFSO’s members aren’t generally among the populations considered most vulnerable to COVID-19: those over 65, with compromised immune systems and/or underlying medical conditions.

“I think there’s kind of a sense that we’re going to try and figure out what the reasonable precautions are and follow those, and then do the best we can to get on with our work and our lives.”

Global Affairs Canada has been helpful in this, Isfeld said. Coronavirus briefing sessions are being held for employees in different parts of the world, and accommodations are being arranged on a case-by-case basis for those in more high-risk situations with dependents or their own medical issues.

There’s a culture of people not wanting to call in sick, and the government has a responsibility to help shift that.