Gov. Gavin Newsom releases Executive Order State workers were instructed to return to their offices four days a week on Monday to shift the California government from the pandemic pattern to the majority of the time of about 95,000 government employees, with much of the week being able to be timed remotely.
The changes expected to take effect on July 1 came after President Trump recalled many federal government workers to offices last month and as companies continue to withdraw their remote work options.
“Face-to-face work makes us all stronger – times,” Newsom said in a statement. “When we work together, collaboration improves, innovation thrives, and accountability continues to improve. This means better services, better solutions, and better outcomes for Californians while still being flexible.”
California, for example, has more than 220,000 full-time state employees, with about 60% of jobs working, such as gatekeepers and highway patrol personnel, already requiring them to report face-to-face people every day. The policy change is expected to apply to approximately 40% of the workforce currently reported to the office at least two days a week. Newsom’s order does not apply to workers employed under the agreement who specialize in working from home.
The move could contradict the Democratic governor with a strong public sector union representing California state workers.
Newsom gradually adjusted his return to office work policy as concerns about the Covid-19-19 pandemic and government restrictions were quelled. The Governor initially recommended agencies and departments to develop their own policies, and then his government required workers to report at least two days a week.
SEIU Local 1000, the country’s largest public sector coalition, refused to completely restore the office’s request and argued last year that any policy changes in departments and institutions would have to be collectively bargained. The union also made the argument that people were asked to go to and from get off work to improve productivity again.
Local officials have embraced social shifts and returned to face-to-face work, blaming remote work policies on the degradation of downtown areas where restaurants and businesses are closed due to insufficient customers. Sacramento County has nearly 90,000 state workers, The most in CaliforniaAccording to the state controller’s office, Los Angeles County is followed by 20,000.
Newsom’s order also calls on the state to “simplify the recruitment process for former federal employees seeking employment” to fill vacant national disaster response and emergency positions, including firefighting, forest management and weather forecasting.
