Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate for state workers to return to the office four days a week is back on, and many public employees are fighting to stop it with little time to spare.
Dozens of them showed up at a Senate hearing Wednesday to support a bill that would strengthen telework standards for state agencies and — they hope — result in more flexibility than Newsom would allow.
The Senate’s committee on labor, public employment and retirement advanced the proposal in a 4-1 vote. The measure itself would not stop the governor’s July 1 mandate, which Newsom argues would increase accountability, revitalize downtown Sacramento and improve government services.
Instead, the bill would enable agencies to shape their own policies. Citing a 2024 state audit, Assemblymember Alex Lee, the bill’s author, said that allowing state workers to work remotely would save the state money, reduce pollution and boost productivity and employee morale.
Lee, a Milpitas Democrat: “As we grapple with the affordability crisis, we want to make sure that our downtowns and urban cores are not places where workers have to be, but where workers want to be. … It’s not fair to shackle our office workers to be the entire bedrock for downtowns.”
Lee’s proposal would also require agencies to provide written justification if employees must work in-office, and the state’s Department of General Services would have to create a dashboard to display the cost-effectiveness and other benefits of state telework programs.
Like many employers, California’s state government embraced remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2024 Newsom has been calling for state employees to return to the office, initially requiring two days out of the workweek and then bumping that up to four. Though a four-day mandate was supposed to kick in last year, Newsom postponed the policy for some state worker unions during labor negotiations as a way to cut payroll expenses.
State worker unions — except the ones representing public safety employees — are supporting Lee’s measure. They include the state’s largest, SEIU Local 1000, which is in contract negotiations with Newsom. It has given at least $2 million to current California lawmakers, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.
Said one state worker with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation at the hearing: “We spent seven years and millions of dollars to go paperless … I can do my work evaluating pesticides from the space station if necessary.”
More state worker news: Health insurance plans for California public employees won’t be required to expand coverage for GLP-1 weight loss drugs. We told you last week about legislation that would have required CalPERS to provide that benefit to its 1.3 million members. But that part of the bill was removed at an Assembly hearing this week after the pension fund and health insurer said it would drive up premiums and cost taxpayers about $187 million a year.
