Flexible Work Arrangements Pilot Program

Employees today are increasingly looking to their employers to provide some form of flexible work arrangement to make their work and personal lives easier to manage. McGill University is no exception to this trend. Indeed, flexible work arrangements have emerged as a significant theme of proposed action within the staff-led My Healthy Workplace Learning Communities, launched in May 2019.

Concerns expressed by Unions and Associations regarding impacts of the REM and other major construction projects in Greater Montreal have brought issues of well-being to the forefront. The University’s administration has been working with more than a dozen employee groups, public authorities, and fellow Montreal employers to gather ideas and evaluate effective and feasible ways that McGill could step in, beyond remediation measures provided by the government, to support employees affected by these mobility complications.

As the evaluation of all mobility-related ideas continues, flexible work arrangements have emerged as one measure that could be implemented relatively quickly, based on the groundwork already established.

In addition to contributing to quality of life, flexible work arrangements can be a factor in sustainability efforts, in line with McGill’s Vision 2020 Climate and Sustainability Action Plan. Reducing or shifting the time of commutes to avoid congestion can play a role in lessening greenhouse gas emissions.

We are therefore pleased to announce that McGill will launch a Flexible Work Arrangements Pilot Program (FWA) for administrative and support staff, starting in 2020 and initially running for 12 months. Guidelines and resources to support the implementation of the pilot program will be published in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Yves Beauchamp, Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance)

Christopher Manfredi, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)