Civil servants to return to offices as virus surges

B.C.'s largest employer, the provincial government, is pushing ahead with plans to have employees return to their workplaces, even as the number of COVID-19 cases spike and health officials crack down on private gatherings.

The province's 31,000 civil servants have started phasing back to office work after the government's internal Public Service Agency issued new COVID-19 response guidelines on Oct. 8, directing most employees to plan to return to their work sites on at least a part-time basis.

The government confirmed Tuesday that the back-to-work directive hasn't changed, despite provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry's warning that virus cases are rising sharply.

Henry issued a new order on Monday that limits the size of gatherings in private homes to members of the immediate household plus six guests, and warned she expects everyone to wear masks in public places, to try to contain the pandemic's second wave.

“Every time the PHO (provincial health officer) comes out with direction, we seek clarification to ensure we're still within the bounds of what the PHO is instructing British Columbians to do,” Okenge Yuma Morisho, the deputy minister who oversees the public service, said Tuesday.

“Based on that feedback loop, we're of the view that we can continue to implement the return to workplaces in an iterative and gradual way.”

The government's back-to-work plan describes balancing the risk of virus transmission with the need to restore some of the benefits of interacting and collaborating in the workplace.

Many civil servants have been working from home since March, but others, such as those running public service counters or handling essential duties, have stayed in physical work sites.

Not everyone is required to return, because some people have legitimate medical reasons to continue remote work, said Yuma Morisho. The current plan is for a part-time schedule, meaning offices will still have physical distancing space and cleaning protocols, he said. Still, the government's push to return tens of thousands of workers back to their physical offices when Henry is appealing for those workers to strictly limit the number of visitors in their homes, may be a confusing message for Premier John Horgan and his NDP government to defend publicly.

The back-to-work directive was issued during the election campaign, without Horgan's approval. He told Postmedia News during a mid-campaign interview that he would decide whether government employees should continue returning to their offices once the election concluded and he was properly briefed by senior officials. Horgan returned to work in Victoria on Monday.

Yuma Morisho said a part-time return to the office for some employees could produce mental health benefits because it allows them to restart social and professional relationships. It could also benefit restaurants, coffee shops and businesses in Victoria and Vancouver that depend upon government office workers to survive, he said.

How many government workers have returned, and how many remain at home, is unclear. Yuma Morisho said the numbers were not available, but that estimates for his own staff within the Public Service Agency are roughly 65 per cent of employees will return to work either full or part time.

Not all government employees are thrilled with the idea of returning to the office, said Stephanie Smith, president of the B.C. Government Services Employees' Union.

“What we're hearing from our members is the full spectrum,” she said. “We have some members excited to go back ... but we also have members who are very concerned, and like all of us are looking at the numbers and may have very personal reasons for why they're concerned.”

Ultimately, management, and not the union, controls whether to recall staff back to offices, said Smith.