Stephanson Pledges Workplace Flexibility

Councillors,

I have received several inquiries from Councillors which reinforce that there has been confusion regarding the August 26, 2025, memo on the City’s five-day in-office standard effective January 1, 2026.

I am including all of Council in my response to provide greater clarify on this important matter.

To be clear, I can assure you and all Members of Council that there will be continued flexibility and manager discretion when considering alternative work arrangement requests, including requests for hybrid work arrangements, based on the nature of the position, service delivery and operational requirements, and available dedicated and hoteling workspace. We all recognize that circumstances can occur where an employee will be able to work most productively at home and the service they provide to the public will not be impacted.

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This is a release from the City of Ottawa

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Further, the Alternative Work Arrangements Policy and its supporting procedures remain unchanged with the standard. This continues to empower managers, in consultation with their teams and individual employees, to consider alternative work arrangement requests in accordance with the Policy, applicable procedures, and any applicable collective agreement provisions or terms and conditions of employment.

This approach is intended to ensure the short- and long-term health and success of the organization. A more consistent and regular on-site presence is critical to help strengthen relationships, reinforce team norms, support formal systems and processes, facilitate ongoing knowledge transfer between leaders and employees, support mentorship and succession planning, protect the integrity of our corporate memory, build confidence in the City’s ability to deliver service excellence, and ultimately strengthen public trust.

As part of my outreach efforts over the past year, I have heard from Members of Council and community partners that we must continue to find ways to work more effectively, increase overall responsiveness and strengthen trust and transparency. This includes more in-person availability. As well, many employees have shared that we need to provide more opportunities for in-person interactions to help strengthen relationships, share knowledge and foster a sense of connection and belonging within the organization.

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However, it is important to clarify that this approach means maximizing the use of our current spaces and demonstrating a consistent employee presence within our administrative facilities over the standard five-day work week. This approach was informed through the senior leadership structure to approach alternative work arrangement requests in the post-pandemic era. Consideration of factors such as operational requirements, organizational capacity, and individual circumstances (such as accommodating child care needs) to the work deployment framework will invariably result in opportunities for employees and/or teams operating on a schedule of fewer than five days in-office in accordance with the Alternative Work Arrangements Policy and its associated procedures, as amended from time to time.

The City’s goal remains to deliver excellent service to residents. Arrangements will be put in place where it makes sense from a productivity and service delivery perspective and will reflect the mix of work we do in City facilities, at client department locations, remotely in the community and from personal residences, where appropriate.

The senior leadership team remains committed to listening to all employee feedback and working with the Human Resources team to develop all the resources and supports necessary to facilitate a smooth transition in January.

Thank you for reaching out directly with your questions. I am sorry that our communications to-date on this issue have not been as clear as perhaps they could have been. To rectify this, I will be extending an invitation to meet with union officials and will be issuing another round of communications to management and staff to ensure that staff and managers have a clearer understanding of what has shifted and what supports remain for staff to access hybrid work should they need to, and to ensure that our work culture and in-person mentoring achieves the goals of serving residents better and preparing us for future sustainability.

Wendy

Wendy Stephanson

City Manager

City of Ottawa

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