Staying home could save money for the state of California.
Back on March 3rd of this year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that would require state agency employees within his administration to return to the office.
Instead of two days in office which was enacted during COVID, this new order required workers to work in office for four days.
But this received pushback from state unions, like Service Employees International Union Local 1000.
Representatives of the union like Chief Negotiator Susan Rodriguez and member Haley Liuzamo made sure their voices were heard whenever they could like during an Assembly Budget Meeting in May.
“This item here on just parking alone shows that it’s an additional cost to the state for bringing people back to the office,” Rodriguez said. “It’s returned to office, not to return to work. We have been working at home just fine, doing just the appropriate things that we need to do and getting the work done for California.”
“State workers have proven for half a decade that there are tens of thousands of us capable of doing our jobs effectively, working 100% from home, saving taxpayers money and reduce carbon emissions,” Liuzamo said. “Telework is defined in SEI Local 1000 Contract Sections 21.1 and 21.1.17 and we again want the Legislature to honor the bargained contract.”
And this issue is also being echoed by a recent report from the California State Auditor.
According to the report, their review found that departments spent $117 million on unused office space in fiscal year 2024-25.
That unused office space was 58% of the total amount that’s available for all departments. This equates to 3.2 million square feet of office space.
We reached out to Governor Newsom’s Office for comment on this report who disagrees with the results.
Deputy Director of Communications Tara Gallegos says in part quote:
“This audit on state telework is not a scientific study, nor does it paint a complete picture of the state workforce or the benefits of working in person. While we appreciate the auditor’s time in collecting this information, we respectfully disagree with the auditor’s findings, which are based on estimates and, as noted throughout the audit, hypothetical theories and incomplete information.”
Although the governor’s office disagrees with the findings, they say they’ll take their recommendations into account as they move forward with state workforce and facilities management.
Because of the opposition from state unions, the state entered negotiations and delayed the four day per week office mandate to July of 2026. This allows both sides to continue discussions on the telework policies.