Frequently asked questions

The Direction on Prescribed Presence in the Workplace continues to apply until further notice. This includes the authority granted to ADMs to approve exceptions to the Direction for employees who live more than 125 km from their designated worksite.

Per the Directive on Telework, all telework agreements, including those for employees who telework full-time because they live more than 125 km from their designated worksite and have been granted an exception to the Direction, may be modified or terminated by either party at any time, with reasonable notice, and must be reviewed at a minimum on an annual basis. A regular review allows both the employee and manager to validate if requirements continue to be met (for example, if any new mandatory training needs to be taken or updated, to reflect any changes to the telework schedule, to revalidate employee expectations, etc.).

Our obligations and commitment to meet the accommodation needs of employees remain unchanged.

The public service has had a duty to accommodate employees based on the 13 prohibited grounds under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and guidance regarding accommodations has been set in policy instruments for decades.

The current Directive on the Duty to Accommodate states that employees’ work-related needs are to be addressed without resorting to a formal request for accommodation, to the extent reasonable. Managers should proactively discuss with employees any barriers they may encounter and define solutions that will help address them in the workplace. Each request should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

In situations where employees have existing accommodation measures in place, those measures do not need to be reviewed.

The Directive on the Duty to Accommodate outlines that managers are responsible for ensuring that accommodation arrangements are reviewed and updated at least annually. However, if circumstances have not changed, there is no need for managers to undertake the same depth of assessment relative to their initial decision. Managers should periodically confirm that any accommodations in place are meeting the needs of their employee, particularly when an employee’s circumstances change.

Accessibility in the public service is about ensuring all employees have everything they need to do their best work in a work environment that is welcoming, inclusive and supports employees by proactively identifying, removing and preventing barriers to accessibility.

In addition, federal organizations are bound by the Accessible Canada Act to create a barrier-free workplace for employees.

As the country’s largest employer and service provider, the Government of Canada remains committed to building a diverse, accessible, and inclusive federal public service that truly reflects the population it serves.

Since the launch of Nothing Without Us: An Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada, the public service has worked diligently to identify, prevent and remove barriers faced by persons with disabilities, as required by the Accessible Canada Act.

As an enterprise tool, the GC Workplace Accessibility Passport is available to all departments to help address the obstacles federal public service employees and applicants with disabilities face in obtaining the tools, supports and measures to perform at their best and succeed in the workplace.

We remain committed to making the public service a safe, welcoming, and diverse workplace. All employees deserve to benefit from the same in-office experiences, including in-person onboarding, learning and collaboration.

Public servants are expected to adhere to the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector, to address bias and barriers, and to promote a workplace free of all forms of hate, harassment, discrimination and violence. Resolution and recourse processes are available to support a respectful and inclusive workplace.

Under the Policy on People Management, employees are able to formally request flexible work arrangements, including flexible start and finish times, and telework in certain circumstances, in accordance with their relevant collective agreement and Treasury Board policy requirements.

In addition, the Employer’s terms and conditions of employment, collective agreements, and benefits packages provide strong support to all employees to care for their needs inside and outside of work.

Visit the following pages for eligibility criteria, examples of different work arrangements, and how to claim (detailed method or temporary flat rate method):

• How to claim – Home office expenses for employees
• Eligibility criteria – Detailed method – Home office expenses for employees

Time spent on leave reflected in the Human Resources Management System (HRMS/PeopleSoft) reduces the number of working days in each month. It is not included in the on-site presence requirement. Therefore, employees are not expected to ‘make-up’ days while on leave that is reflected in HRMS.

Leave includes:

• Annual or vacation leave
• Sick leave
• Family-related leave
• Bereavement
• All leave as described in the employee’s Collective Agreement or the applicable Directive on Terms and Conditions of Employment.

Managers may approve an employee's request for a short-term, temporary change in their work agreement (i.e., change in work location or scheduled days on site).

• These modifications do not require a formal change to their work agreement.
• Such informal arrangements are at the manager’s discretion and must ensure compliance with the common hybrid work model, as well as applicable policies and procedures, particularly those related to privacy and security.
• Such agreements are intended to provide management and employee flexibility but must not replace or supersede the exceptions to telework or the Duty to Accommodate processes.

Authorized use of locations such as the DND coworking site (accessible only on the DND network) at NDHQ (Pearkes) can contribute to an employee’s minimum on-site requirement. However, the DND coworking site is meant to be used on an ad hoc, as-needed basis to facilitate on-site work, and therefore cannot be used as a work location in a work agreement.

The employer has the exclusive management right to designate the location of work and to require employees to report to their designated worksite. Managers should discuss with the employee to ensure that individual circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis. Managers should then consult their labour relations advisors (accessible only on the DND network) to discuss possible administrative and disciplinary measures which can be considered.

Flexible work agreements have existed in the public service for some time and can take many forms. In addition to the common hybrid work model, compressed work schedules, work sharing, and various types of leave are available in collective agreements. Flexibilities beyond the hybrid work model are distinct and separate, subject to managerial, operational, and case-by-case considerations, and other considerations outlined in the relevant collective agreement.

The myWorkArrangments app is a system located in TAP where managers and employees work together to complete their hybrid work agreements. The mWA application can be accessed through TAP.

If you are new to the public service, it will take approximately 2 months from the start date before you will be able to register their TAP profile. If you transferred from a department that did not use TAP, you will not be able to register for TAP until your pay file has transferred to DND.

Those who do not have access to TAP (new employees, casuals, students, transfers-in, assignment, secondment etc.) must fill out an alternative work agreement form (only accessible on the DND network) as a temporary measure until access issues have been resolved. Once access issues are resolved or after 6 months (whichever comes first), the employee must then submit their work agreements in the mWA application. Once access to TAP is granted, employees will need to re-enter their arrangements in the mWA application.

All Department of National Defence (DND) public service employees must have a valid work agreement, including:

• full-time on-site and hybrid workers;
• indeterminate employees, students, term, and casual workers;
• part-time and full-time workers.

Military members do not require an agreement.

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members are directed to refer to CF Mil Pers instr 01/22 – Changing a place of duty and the use of postings to enable remote work options (PDF, 546 KB) (accessible only on the DND network) for current policy on remote work. For clarification and/or interpretation of the policy, CAF members may direct their questions through their Chain of Command, or directly to the Administrative Response Centre (ARC) at CMPARC.CRACPM@forces.gc.ca.

All public service employees with a position that allows for offsite work are eligible for a hybrid work agreement. Managers and employees will need to discuss the employee’s role and responsibilities to determine if their duties can be performed from a site other than their assigned designated worksite and ensure they follow the direction provided by their L1 and DND.

No, all public service employees must have an approved work agreement including full-time onsite employees and hybrid employees.

Yes, managers can deny a work agreement request. Work agreements are to be discussed between the manager and employee and agreed upon before submitting the request in the mWA application.

If your designated work location is not part of the drop-down menu on either the application or the alternative work agreements form, please email the myWorkArrangements Support Team at MyWorkArrangements-MesRegimesdeTravail@forces.gc.ca and include the building name and full address of the location with the subject line; “Address Request”.

Expired mWAs cannot be deleted from the application. Employees can only delete an mWA when it is marked as active in the mWA application. If the employee has an active and approved mWA in the application, the expired agreement(s) will be omitted from the non-compliant reporting.

For information about registering and accessing TAP as a public service employee, public service manager, and military manager, visit the myWorkArrangements application webpage.

The myEmployees application is a system located in the TAP where managers and employees form the manager and employee relationship in TAP to complete actions such as, mWA, performance assessments etc. The myEmployees application can be accessed through TAP.

This error is the result of the information within the employee’s pay file being entered incorrectly. To resolve this issue, employees will need to verify their personal information within Phoenix and the Pension Center. We recommend to also contact the department's Local Registration Authority and have the employee’s PKI information verified. If there are any discrepancies between the pay file information and PKI employees will not be able to register to TAP until that is fixed.

For information about claiming and releasing employees in TAP, visit the myWorkArrangements application webpage (accessible only on the DND network).

When searching for an employee in the myEmployees app it is recommended to search using the ‘All Departments” function under Employee Search, with the first letter of the employee’s last name and their PRI with the 0 at the beginning and no spaces. The use of the PRI ensures that the correct employee is being searched for and claimed.

You are not able to select the “claim employee” button because the employee either has not registered to TAP or the employee is still claimed by their previous manager.  If there is a “no” under registered, have the employee login to TAP and complete the registration; if the previous manager is listed under manager, the employee will need to contact them to be released or the current manager will need to contact the mWA Support Team at MyWorkArrangements-MesRegimesdeTravail@forces.gc.ca to assist with releasing the employee.

An employee that is on full-time work training must submit a new mWA agreement in the application by selecting the “Full Time Telework” arrangement type. Visit the exemptions from the Common hybrid work model webpage (accessible only on the DND network) for more information.

Yes, you can reference the following webpage for support: Guidance for using the myWorkArrangements application (accessible on the DND network).

Yes, you can reference the following webpage for support: Guidance for submitting an alternative work agreement form (accessible on the DND network).

Yes, you can reference the following webpage for support: Guidance for filling out the Bulk Submissions Form (accessible on the DND network).

Yes, organizations may hire new employees living more than 125 km from their designated worksites and allow them to telework full-time, subject to operational requirements and approval at the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) level. Visit the exemptions from the common hybrid work model webpage (accessible only on the DND network) for more information.

Yes. The Direction includes the exception for employees hired to telework full-time prior to March 16, 2020, with ADM approval.

The Treasury Board Secretariat and DND have determined a list of exceptions that employees and managers can request to be exempt from the Common hybrid work model. Visit the exemptions from the Common hybrid work model webpage (accessible only on the DND network) for more information.

International telework is a voluntary and employee-driven request to telework outside of Canada at a location other than the employee’s normal designated workplace.  International telework requests may be approved in very limited and prescribed circumstances. Visit the international telework webpage (only accessible on the DND network) for more information.

Managers should seek advice from the Office of Disability Management (accessible only on the DND network) for medical accommodations or their labour relations advisor (accessible only on the DND network) for non-medical accommodations before deciding on accommodation requests. Accommodation requests are to be considered on a case-by-case basis, while maintaining the dignity, respect, and privacy of the individual. Managers can also consult the Directive on the Duty to Accommodate and the Duty to Accommodate: A General Process For Managers for guidance.

Managers can encourage employees with disabilities to document their workplace barriers and solutions in their GC Workplace Accessibility Passport (accessible only on the DND network). The Passport promotes collaboration between an employee and their manager to identify and implement the solutions that will equip the employee to succeed at their job.

It depends. Each request should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, however, depending on the situation, supporting documentation such as medical notes may be required. Where possible, informal accommodation measures are encouraged.

For a manager to determine whether the duty to accommodate applies, they must understand the barrier and how the barrier the employee is facing impacts their ability to work onsite on a hybrid schedule, and whether the impact is permanent or time limited. The GC Workplace Accessibility Passport (accessible only on the DND network) is a tool that can facilitate this discovery process by documenting barriers that an employee encounters and solutions to address these barriers. Once the barrier is understood, the manager and employee can collaborate to identify accommodation solutions, without the requirement for supporting documentation, where possible.

Managers are responsible for respecting the employee’s right to privacy and confidentiality while fulfilling their obligations related to the duty to accommodate and must assess the need for supporting documentation based on the circumstances of each case. Managers should seek advice from the Office of Disability Management (accessible only on the DND network) for medical accommodations or their labour relations advisor (accessible only on the DND network) for non-medical accommodations.

Managers and employees should have a discussion to address issues and concerns, explore options and determine next steps, including if a work-related need can be addressed with or without a formal request for accommodation.

Managers should inform employees that as per the Directive on the Duty to Accommodate, they can request accommodation anytime there is a need. Employees should follow their departmental process for requesting accommodations. Managers are to address accommodation needs on a case-by-case basis and can discuss the request with the Office of Disability Management (accessible only on the DND network) for medical accommodations or their labour relations advisor (accessible only on the DND network) for non-medical accommodations.

Managers can encourage employees with disabilities to document their workplace barriers and solutions in their GC Workplace Accessibility Passport (accessible only on the DND network). The Passport promotes collaboration between an employee and their manager to identify and implement the solutions that will equip the employee to succeed at their job.

Yes. In situations where the Duty to Accommodate has been deemed to apply, the employee is to be accommodated wherever the employee is required to perform their work responsibilities. Employees with disabilities can document their workplace barriers and solutions in the GC Workplace Accessibility Passport (accessible only on the DND network). The goal of the Passport is to ensure that employees are equipped to succeed on the job, no matter where their duties are performed. Managers should seek advice from the Office of Disability Management (accessible only on the DND network) for medical accommodations or their labour relations advisor (accessible only on the DND network) for non-medical accommodations.

Not necessarily. The manager is responsible for determining, on a case-by-case basis, the accommodation measure based on the employee’s limitations or barriers in the workplace and the operational requirements of the position. The manager and employee should first discuss the limitations or barriers and operational requirements.

In cases where an employee has requested an accommodation, the manager can request the information needed to put effective accommodation measures in place. The manager needs to understand the barriers or limitations the employee is facing. When seeking information from medical professionals, the focus should be on clarifying the employee’s limitations and not on the illness or disability.

Managers should also be aware of their organizational procedures and tools and seek advice from the Office of Disability Management (accessible only on the DND network) for medical accommodations or their labour relations advisor (accessible only on the DND network) for non-medical accommodations.