r/CanadaPublicServants

I'm just so exhausted with the toxic teams where everyone flexes and tries to outshine. The terrible unskilled managers or more like actors pretending to be managers. The loss of units and the pile up of work that is now on your plate, which you are expected to do with a "I'm so happy to have a job" attitude. Not to mention an employer who doesn't seem to care about our well being at all :/

I'm 6 years from retirement. I am trying my best to not quit before the finish line. Anyone else feel this way?

**OTTAWA** – Treasury Board Secretary Bill Matthews confirmed to a House Commons committee this week that the federal government’s decision to force public servants back into offices four days a week was based on a "philosophical choice," a term usually reserved for teenagers deciding to become nihilists or people who buy organic salt.

Matthews admitted that the government has zero data, studies, or tangible evidence suggesting that sitting in a cubicle while wearing noise-canceling headphones to ignore a coworker’s tuna salad sandwich improves productivity.

"If you’re looking for a study that says this is a better way to do things, I don’t have one," Matthews said, presumably while leaning back and staring wistfully at a framed photo of a water cooler. "I would describe this as a 'vibes-based' governance model. We just have a feeling that if people are physically touching the same carpet tiles, the nation prospers."

The "philosophical" approach apparently includes a deep, metaphysical belief that people can occupy the same space at the same time, even when that space does not exist.

Matthews acknowledged that several departments, including the Department of National Defence and Global Affairs, currently have more employees than desks—a mathematical problem the Treasury Board has solved by simply choosing not to believe in math.

"Decisions were made knowing that some departments have more people than space," Matthews noted, suggesting that public servants might explore "quantum superpositioning" or simply taking turns sitting on each other's laps to foster "team collaboration."

The move marks a bold pivot for Public Services and Procurement Canada. After years of promising to slash the federal real estate portfolio by half, the government is now considering leasing more buildings to house the employees they previously told to stay home.

"It’s about the 'trend,'" Matthews added, pointing to the private sector’s desperate attempt to justify long-term commercial leases. "We saw everyone else jumping off a bridge and realized we didn't want to miss out on the breeze."

When asked how the government plans to execute its "very ambitious agenda" with employees spending two hours a day in traffic and the other six hours hunting for a functional USB-C dock, Matthews remained stoic.

"Efficiency is a mindset," Matthews explained. "And our mindset is currently stuck in 1954. It’s a classic philosophy."

At press time, the Treasury Board was reportedly looking into "philosophically" paying employees on time using a new payroll system based on the alignment of the stars.

I live in the west end and have a 2 year old daughter in daycare with hours from 7-5. Dropping her off at 7am, drive 45 minutes, walk to the office and it’s 8am. If I stay until 4, with the walk and drive in traffic, I can’t make it back to daycare before 5pm.

Things are changing and my DG is very set on for RTO with little flexibility.

My idea is to work from 8-2, drive home without traffic and work the remaining hours from home. If they don’t accept that, what can I do?

Hmm.

It's me again. Another few weeks. Another update. Just so people know, I don't really care if director reads this. Sure they could suspect who they are and who I am but at this point, it's a wash and there's no way to use an anon reddit post as evidence. One of us is going to move eventually, only a matter of time to see who blinks first.

Last week near end of week, director asked all managers to be in office Mondays and Fridays and to tell our staff the same, because he thinks that people slack off most on those days. This Monday was a glorious shitshow. Some key managers and staff called in and said them/their kids were sick, and all purposely chose not offer to WFH since in-office work was required Monday. I wouldn't be surprised if the managers told the staff to do exactly that.

Nothing moved up that day, and the director and DG had to go to an important meeting without anyone to back them up. The DG went around and asked me what was happening, and I matter of factly said "new Director said we must work Monday in-office, seems like a lot of people got sick so they couldn't work". He sighed and left.

Maverick analyst is impressing me. He's so far called in sick for 2 days this week and then decided to take a random vacation today. I don't care enough to ask him for a doctor's note. As far as I am concerned, I'm assuming maverick is taking legitimate mental health sick leave until director says something then I'll figure it out. DG also asked about that, since maverick being absent means no expert advisor who he often talks to directly. I just said vague "maverick is unwell and has been for the last month or so" (which also happens to be right when new director started). Another sigh without comment.

I suspect DG is catching on something is going on. I wish I could just tell him outright since he's a pretty good guy. But sometimes I think higher-ups need to see the shitshow unfold to know it's a problem.

EDIT: On the stuff that should have been moved up, most of it was done already and just waiting manager approvals. We had a briefing note ready for that important meeting already mostly banged up, but too bad the lead manager of that file was away that day and couldn't approve! Funniest part was the me, another manager who was around Monday, and a couple analysts also worked on it and none of us offered it up since the lead manager had to theoretically be the one to approve the note for sending up. We all knew we could have, but I guess all of us had the same idea. I do feel bad for the DG though.

I've been acting in an english-essential roll for 2 years now and I've finally got secondary language testing coming up.

I'm fully bilingual. The problem is that testing is supposed to be in whatever language ISN'T your maternal language. Technically, my maternal language is french as it was the first language I learned at home and did all of my schooling in. However, I would argue i'm slightly better at english now.

Is there an official definition for a second language that I should be going by to decide?

In a development that should surprise no one, mediation was not successfull.

I am a little surprised to read that no wage package was put forward by the Agency (not even the joke of 0.5% that other unions got).

Today I went in to update the ED on a few meetings I had in the morning from 9 to 11:30. He asks me - seriously (I can't make this up) - have you updated the weekly tracker with these- so I say I was in meetings since 9 - he goes but the tracker was due at 9.

So basically he expected me to look at a crystal ball and predict the outcomes of the meetings that hadn't yet happened and update those on a tracker....

Observation 1: the more emails marked as “urgent”, the more dysfunctional the workplace.

Observation 2: as more emails are marked “urgent”, the less people react with urgency

Observation 3: discussing the importance of mental health in the workplace, while at the same time increasing workloads, shortening timelines, laying people off, poorly functioning equipment, overly crowded offices….does not, in fact, help my mental health.

As some other meatbag said earlier this week, I’m tired boss.

Our (small) organization is weighed down by costly subcommittees whose members, far removed from day-to-day operations, offer impractical input that forces directors and SMEs to spend more time managing expectations than delivering results. Simultaneously, IT stakeholders insert themselves into programs without contributing meaningful work, instead critiquing and complicating progress under the guise of “collaboration.” The result is routine 10-hour days with little tangible output, dominated by governance overheard… and now compounded by impending classification reviews below the EX level that threaten further disruption. How are collaboration and governance playing out for you given the current cuts and constraints? Are they helping?

Hi all…

I am receiving intense pressure (from 3 levels up) to withdraw my ERI application and accept another position in the organization rather than leave. I’m told it is because the applications in our department are all going to be approved (100%), and that the funding and the post will disappear when they are.

I am told that they don’t want to lose my contribution, but I think based on the pressure I’m receiving it is actually more about losing the post and the funding than me lol. I told them, if I am so critical, then they should block the approval based on operational needs, but the DG says even he doesn’t have that power. The department is below targets in current reductions.

Anyways, if true, I think it’s crazy that the government will eliminate these positions rather than fill them with other people. They are putting everyone in a very difficult situation. (Not that management doesn’t bare any responsibility for leaving me as a lonely critical component, when there were vacant positions in my section they could have funded over the past 8 years, but which were recently eliminated due to inactivity.)

I was told that our DM will review and approve ERI applications at the end of each of the next three months (May, June, July), leaving only two weeks for them to convince me to withdraw my application.

Any thoughts?

I submitted a vacation request for this coming Monday (May 11), on Thursday last week (April 30), and it is still not approved nor denied. Manager has ignored my messages about it.

My questions are:

- Can they just let it sit past the requested date?

- If so, could I file a grievance after?

Thanks for reading and happy Friday.