California state workers are challenging a new mandate requiring them to return to the office four days a week starting July 1, as lawmakers advance a bill to ensure telework options. A billboard off a Sacramento highway warns of future traffic jams caused by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order. State workers argue they have been working efficiently under hybrid schedules since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since COVID we have been working and doing the jobs and being efficient and doing the jobs to keep California running,” said Anica Walls, the president of SEIU Local 1000, which represents state workers in Sacramento. “This mandate as overarching as it does not give departments the space to bring back our workers as needed.” It’s not clear which departments exactly are struggling with space and how the Newsom administration is handling it. A spokesman with California’s Government Operations Agency declined an interview request with California Politics 360. At his budget presentation in May, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the challenges of returning to the office but emphasized the benefits of in-person work. “Change is hard. I’m empathetic” he said. “Everyone has unique criteria, circumstance. We try to accommodate for that. I mean, four days a week, nice to see you again. I mean, would be nice to see you again, nice to see you again, nice to run into you in the hall, nice to develop a relationship, nice not feel so alone,” Newsom said. From an economic perspective, the return-to-office mandate could benefit local businesses, according to Robert Heidt, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber. “There is a lot of value in bringing people back to the office. The ebb and flow. The next generation of workforce. There is a value in experiencing by observation. Even me as the CEO, if I wasn’t here every day, there are things I wouldn’t notice or pick up or see in the office,” Heidt said. “I can’t imagine that we can sustain an acceptable level of business and commerce with everyone remote. It just doesn’t make sense,” he added. State workers packed committee hearings at the Capitol this week, advocating for a law that would require state agencies to provide telework options or justify why specific roles must be performed in-office. Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee, who authored the bill AB 1729, said the issue is critical for many state employees. “I have heard from so many state workers from even the Bay Area all up and down the state who said this is the thing that matters the most to them,” Lee said. “They don’t want to move. They love their job, but they don’t, they aren’t willing to move after working 4-5 years in state service.”Lee’s proposal also requires the state to establish an online dashboard to show how much taxpayer money is saved with telework. Lee and SEIU have estimated remote work saves the state up to $225 million a year. When asked about concerns that state workers might misuse telework arrangement, Walls defended her members. “I have no doubt that our members are in the spaces they need to be and to successfully produce and do the job that they are assigned to do,” Walls said. She also warned of potential consequences if the mandate remains in place. “I feel like there will be a mass exodus. I feel like the state needs to be ready for a mass exodus. We have individuals who have been teetering retirement, who look at this 4-days a week when they have been doing their job efficiently in a hybrid schedule will probably send them into a retirement,” Walls said.Watch full interview Anica Walls below:KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
California state workers are challenging a new mandate requiring them to return to the office four days a week starting July 1, as lawmakers advance a bill to ensure telework options.
A billboard off a Sacramento highway warns of future traffic jams caused by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order. State workers argue they have been working efficiently under hybrid schedules since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since COVID we have been working and doing the jobs and being efficient and doing the jobs to keep California running,” said Anica Walls, the president of SEIU Local 1000, which represents state workers in Sacramento. “This mandate as overarching as it does not give departments the space to bring back our workers as needed.”
It’s not clear which departments exactly are struggling with space and how the Newsom administration is handling it. A spokesman with California’s Government Operations Agency declined an interview request with California Politics 360.
At his budget presentation in May, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the challenges of returning to the office but emphasized the benefits of in-person work.
“Change is hard. I’m empathetic” he said. “Everyone has unique criteria, circumstance. We try to accommodate for that. I mean, four days a week, nice to see you again. I mean, would be nice to see you again, nice to see you again, nice to run into you in the hall, nice to develop a relationship, nice not feel so alone,” Newsom said.
From an economic perspective, the return-to-office mandate could benefit local businesses, according to Robert Heidt, president of the Sacramento Metro Chamber.
“There is a lot of value in bringing people back to the office. The ebb and flow. The next generation of workforce. There is a value in experiencing by observation. Even me as the CEO, if I wasn’t here every day, there are things I wouldn’t notice or pick up or see in the office,” Heidt said.
“I can’t imagine that we can sustain an acceptable level of business and commerce with everyone remote. It just doesn’t make sense,” he added.
State workers packed committee hearings at the Capitol this week, advocating for a law that would require state agencies to provide telework options or justify why specific roles must be performed in-office. Democratic Assemblyman Alex Lee, who authored the bill AB 1729, said the issue is critical for many state employees.
“I have heard from so many state workers from even the Bay Area all up and down the state who said this is the thing that matters the most to them,” Lee said. “They don’t want to move. They love their job, but they don’t, they aren’t willing to move after working 4-5 years in state service.”
Lee’s proposal also requires the state to establish an online dashboard to show how much taxpayer money is saved with telework. Lee and SEIU have estimated remote work saves the state up to $225 million a year.
When asked about concerns that state workers might misuse telework arrangement, Walls defended her members.
“I have no doubt that our members are in the spaces they need to be and to successfully produce and do the job that they are assigned to do,” Walls said.
She also warned of potential consequences if the mandate remains in place.
“I feel like there will be a mass exodus. I feel like the state needs to be ready for a mass exodus. We have individuals who have been teetering retirement, who look at this 4-days a week when they have been doing their job efficiently in a hybrid schedule will probably send them into a retirement,” Walls said.
Watch full interview Anica Walls below:
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
