I‘m a woman. My boss keeps looking at my body. In meetings where we are face to face, I will often see my boss’ eyes wander to my chest or stomach area. My boss is a woman too. I am so uncomfortable by how she looks at me and I’m wondering if I should say something.

I am plus sized and she is not, so I’m pretty sure she is judging me, but that’s all on her. I’m not someone who dresses inappropriately at work and I’m also not ashamed of my body at all. I am usually in business attire (e.g shift dress and a blazer). There are just some things about my body that I cannot and do not want to hide, nor should I have to.

This isn‘t a cultural thing either where she can’t look me in the eyes. I do think it’s probably generational as I’ve worked with many older women who have so much shame around food and announce it in the workplace (ohh I can’t dare have this cupcake!) to know that’s a thing some women deal with at work. My boss is Gen X.

Should I say something? Should I leave it alone? It has happened enough times for me to notice this is a trend, and I think it’s totally inappropriate and would like it to stop.

The joys of being back in the office (not).

Question for the group. Both my partner and I work for the government and are looking to move out of the NCR. My partner has a work accommodation to be permanently remote. If we decide to move, what would that look like for them? Would they need to disclose that with there team? Also, if they change teams, would the accommodation still be in place with the new team?

Wondering if there’s a community of people in Alberta who are part of the infinity network? I’d love to have coffees or just a space at work with some neurodivergent folk where masking isn’t necessary or just a space to meet more people like me to help work feel a little less isolating lol.

I’d love to start a “safe place” for people like me at work but I don’t know how to do that and avoid the stigma that follows invisible disabilities….. not even sure people would want to disclose it. But it seems like the infinity network in the NCR is very active and sometimes I think it’d be nice to make connections with people locally yknow have some allies I suppose lol

I’m dealing with a colleague whose behaviour has become increasingly annoying and unprofessional. It’s not overt misconduct, but it’s a pattern of subtle remarks that attempts to establish a power dynamic and testing their ability to violate boundaries that’s hard to address directly.

The behaviour isn’t dramatic, and it hasn’t suddenly escalated. It’s more that, over time, it has become very clear the behaviour is intentional, it won’t stop, it has a self-serving purpose, and it’s a pattern. The behaviour clearly amounts to attempting to manage their own insecurities by keeping others slightly below them and manipulating information across people. They essentially attempt to destabilise other people in order to stabilise themselves.

It amounts to a mix of manipulation, boundary violations, and opportunistic behaviour that creates an uncomfortable working relationship. And I’m trying to figure out the best way to address this in a professional manner.

For those of you who have experienced these types of personalities. Those that operate in a gray zone where they could claim some form of plausible deniability or frame their comments as jokes, how did you handle the situation?

Also, curious about what managers think of these situations. As a manager, would you want your employee to inform you about this type of problematic behaviour?

As requested, here are some fabricated examples for reference

“I recommended to management you should get a new laptop. I mean, your job isn’t that complex, but it’s nice to have good tools.”

 “I told the others you’re good at this. It’s not a difficult skill, but still.”

“I get why you’d push for this, given your situation.”

“Your team isn’t really seen as a priority, so you’ll probably have a hard time getting approvals. but if it comes up, I will suggest that you and your team get what is needed.”

 “I’ve noticed you seem a bit more reactive lately, just an observation.”

“I can see how this might hit differently for you, considering everything.”

Hi everyone,

I am approaching the 2 year on disability, the employer has sent me the letter with the choices. I am hoping to return to work but I still have ongoing treatment and require additional time 5-6 months. How do I respond to the options? Union is of no help what so ever!

Do I chose the return to work and provide my treating physicians letter along with it of expected return to work date with accommodation to be assessed at a later date?

Looking for any insights into financial planners in Ottawa who are super familiar with the federal government pension plan, and can run some numbers and provide advice to help me make an informed decision related to whether I take the early retirement incentive (ERI) or not.

The pre-retirement courses I attended many years ago brought in people super well versed in this area and they would look at your pension numbers and tell you the exact difference in your net pay once retired vs. to continue working. Anyone able to recommend a company or individual for this?

Hi all,

I have a new acting director and she’s driving me insane! I’m seeking advice on how to deal.

Some background: I’m a mid-level policy analyst and consider myself a high performer. I have consistently received Succeeded+ on my performance reviews, generally get things done efficiently, take initiative, and have been on the same team for many years with colleagues that I love and support. My current manager was is leaving. In total we have lost 6 people to WFA or ERI. We are, of course, expected to deliver at the same capacity.

Things I am contending with/experiencing:

- This acting director is not my direct manager, but she has been giving me a ton of taskings directly, and skips my manager.

- In addition to my manager, and my director, I'm also getting taskings from another manager from a different team we work closely with (we will call him Jeff). Last week, Jeff gave me an “urgent” tasking and I said I need a few days because my plate is full (it really is, we are all balancing heavy workloads and less resources). Jeff then told my director and she had a 'check in' with me about my taskings. She could be genuinely checking in, or she could be monitoring me. I’m not sure. “

- I was OOO for 3 hours for a dentist appt. and went through the normal channels to notify everyone — i.e. my manager/team. She told me she was “sick of moving things around in my absence” and asked me to send her my hours and leave. The things she was "sick of moving things around" were not my taskings. And it's never happened before? Not sure what she's sick of. Also wild to say, in my opinion.

- I worked a pretty intense week completing multiple urgent taskings for her and worked overtime for 3 days. She was actually on a call with me and our DG during some of this, and the DG said I should take whatever overtime I needed. I submitted the overtime afterward, and my director started questioning me about it.

- On the same week that I was working a ton of hours, she messaged me saying, “I needed things from you this afternoon.” This confused me because I was available and didn't have any outstanding calls/emails from her. I had taken my lunch break and was gone for an hour.

- She schedules meetings for 6am my time, but then makes me reschedule meetings that are during lunch at the NCR. I know this is annoying for my NCR colleagues, but sometimes it's the only time that works with our clients.

- She sometimes skips my manager and assigns things directly to me, but other times tells other managers to assign me work. The chain of command feels inconsistent and confusing, and I’m not sure who is actually setting my priorities. Plus no one has visibility into my workload.

- As noted, my manager is WFA'd soon and is pretty checked out at this point (which I completely understand), so I don't feel like I have much support from her in navigating this. She also told me to "watch my back" with this director, half as a joke but also?? Should I be?

The confusing part is that my director seems genuinely happy with my work. At the same time, she keeps questioning me on everything, which is making me wonder whether I'm being monitored for some reason. I feel like I'm going crazy.

Is this actually normal and I'm just being paranoid/overthinking? I'm sure a lot of people are feeling this way in the public service right now, but I am feeling undervalued and overworked. Any advice welcome on how to navigate this :)

TLDR: New acting director isn’t my direct manager, but she frequently assigns me work directly, sometimes skips my manager, and seems to be paying close attention to my hours, leave, workload and availability. Seeking advice. No

Hi everyone,

*Let me preface this by saying i am aware that i am extremely lucky to not have been part of WFA, and that my manager is so supportive and entertaining this idea.*

I live in the NCR, but all of my family is in my home province. Living here without any support network has been very difficult recently, and it has been having a significant impact on my mental health.

I spoke with my manager about relocating back to my home province. There is a government office there that I could report to in order to satisfy the RTO requirements, so I wouldn’t be asking to work remotely full-time from home.

My manager has been supportive and has agreed to a temporary relocation for one year so that I can move home and hopefully find a position based in my province during that time. However, there is one condition: I would need to provide a written resignation now, effective for the end of that one-year period. Essentially, if I am unable to secure a position in my home province within that year, my resignation would take effect and I would leave the public service.

On one hand, I appreciate that my manager is trying to help me. On the other hand, signing a resignation a year in advance feels like a major commitment and removes a lot of security. I’m wondering:

- Is this a common arrangement?

- Has anyone heard of managers requiring a future-dated resignation in exchange for a temporary relocation?

- Would it be reasonable to try negotiating something like LWOP at the end of the year instead of a resignation if I haven’t found a position?

- Are there other options I should be considering before agreeing to this?

I know ultimately I’ll need to make my own decision, but I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with similar situations or has knowledge of staffing/HR policies.

Thanks in advance.

I’m currently seriously considering leaving the public service, and I’d really like to hear from people who have actually made the move.

I currently have two job offers: one with a private firm and one in-house/corporate. Both seem like interesting opportunities, but I’m having a hard time deciding whether leaving is the right move.

I’m currently doing a Master’s in Taxation, and lately I’ve been feeling increasingly unsatisfied with my current environment. What bothers me the most is the lack of professional development, training, career advancement opportunities, and overall growth. I feel like I’m not being challenged or developing as much as I’d like to.

Unfortunately, I can’t take an unpaid leave to try the private sector first because of conflict-of-interest considerations, so if I leave, it would be a fairly definitive decision.

At the same time, the public service offers stability and good working conditions, so I’m worried about leaving and eventually realizing that I had a pretty good thing going.
For those of you who left the public service for the private sector:

Did you ever regret your decision?
And for those who never looked back, what made you realize you had made the right choice?

I’d especially love to hear from people who have been out for 1–2+ years. Did you actually find better opportunities for growth, training, advancement, and professional development, or was it mostly just… different?

Would love to hear both the good and the bad.