The option of teleworking cannot be constantly offered to civil servants who would like to avoid traffic in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel in order to maintain service to the population, argued the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Government administration, Sonia LeBel.
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Nearly 500 civil servants are directly affected by the work on the tunnel, which has intensified since Monday morning, making it difficult to travel between Montreal and the South Shore.
“These civil servants for the most part already telework three days a week, according to the framework policy of the Treasury Board,” said Ms. LeBel in an interview Wednesday with QUB radio.
“Those who are not currently teleworking are those whose presence in the office is essential to provide service to the population. So if telework was possible for these jobs, it would have already been offered, ”she added.
However, the Minister assured that she was monitoring the situation closely and that flexibility could be considered according to the different periods of work. Scenarios of half-days of work or even the relocation of complete teams to the South Shore could therefore be put in place.
“It will not be wall-to-wall and we will not decree five days of telework for everyone or many other measures, we will look at it piecemeal,” argued Ms. LeBel.
“The tunnel is gone for a few years, so we have to find solutions that are sustainable,” she said.