The policy allows employees, where appropriate, to work at home for up to one month on a trial basis, an arrangement that can be extended by three-month intervals but also be revoked with one week’s notice.

To qualify, employees must have a good work record and meet several criteria, including that their job isn’t dependent on work location, that they will spend some time each week at the office, be available on short notice and maintain contact through phone and email.

“I’m worried that it’ll be contagious. We have 8,000 employees at the City of Hamilton and the unions will get a hold of this,” Mr. Ferguson told fellow authority directors, asking that his opposition be formally recorded.

“When you’re working at home it’s tempting to start tuning in to Regis and Kelly, and The View and Oprah. You just don’t have the discipline to make sure you have the checks and balances and make sure your productivity’s there.”

Chief administrative officer Steve Miazga said although city unions may want similar provisions, there is an increasing demand for work-at-home arrangements, including to cut both the cost and ecological footprint of commuting. He said he favours such flexibility, but management must also do its part to ensure job performance remains high.

“Productivity has to be measured whether a person is working at work or whether they’re working from home, and it’s not that difficult to do,” Mr. Miazga said, citing the case of an employee who wishes to write a report at home because a child is sick.

“We know that they have produced the report when they return to work or not, and if they happen to have done that between the hours of six and 11 at night, then so be it, as opposed to between nine and five o’clock.”

Director Susan Toth rejected Mr. Ferguson’s fear of the policy “catching on as if it were a terrible disease,” arguing it will instead create a fairer workplace by spelling out conditions any employee must meet.

“It’s a nice incentive” that helps compensate for the authority’s inability to pay higher wages, especially given the sour economy, she said. Councillors Brad Clark and Tom Jackson also supported the policy, whose success will be reviewed in a year.