Howard Levitt: Doug Ford is right — remote work was a temporary stopgap, not a permanent entitlement

Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered the province’s 60,000 public servants back to the office four days a week. Photo by Mike Hensen/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network files

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford has done what too many timid CEOs refuse to do: he ordered the province’s 60,000 public servants back to the office. Four days a week. No excuses.

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Predictably, the public sector unions are howling. But the law — and common sense — is on Ford’s side.

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The myth of permanent remote work

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Remote work was never a contractual right. It was a temporary COVID-19 emergency measure that became an accommodation that employees have clung to as though it were enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is not. Unless your contract explicitly guarantees remote work, your employer can recall you. Period.

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Employees talk about “work-life balance” and “autonomy.” Courts talk about contracts. And unless your contract says otherwise, the company office is your workplace.

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Why constructive dismissal doesn’t apply

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Constructive dismissal arises when an employer unilaterally changes a fundamental term of employment. But returning employees to the office is not a “change.” It is a restoration of the original deal.

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Contrast that with the case of Byrd v. Welcome Home Children’s Residence Inc., in which an employer let an employee work from Europe for over a year and then suddenly told her to return or quit. The court rightly ruled that remote work had, by then, become a term of her employment.

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Ford’s call — like any employer’s well-communicated policy — is the opposite. It’s not a capricious ultimatum. It’s a general rule, applied across the board, with clear notice. That is entirely defensible in law.

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Where employers lose

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Too many employers have been weak-kneed in handling their return-to-work (RTW) policies. For example, they:

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These are the ways in which you end up in court or human rights tribunals.

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The solution is simple: write it down, communicate it clearly and stick to it. Hybrid and remote arrangements should always be documented, with the employer reserving the right to modify or end them. That is how you avoid litigation.

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Why offices still matter

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Ford is not just indulging in nostalgia. The benefits of in-office work are undeniable and include:

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Employers who want compliance should make the office worth coming to: schedule social events, encourage team building and restore the sense of shared purpose that remote work eroded.