Many state workers return to the office full-time next week following Mike DeWine order

Yahoo

14-03-2025

Many state employees will stash their work-from-home sweatpants, get out their dress shirts and commute to the office starting on Monday.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order in February requiring state employees under the authority of the governor to return to the office full time by March 17 with some exceptions. This comes five years after the COVID-19 pandemic made work-from-home common for about 15,000 state workers.
The largest union representing state employees has noted the savings and extra productivity telework has brought and filed grievances about DeWine's order.
About 44,000 employees are under the authority of the governor. The Ohio Department of Administrative Services said 65% of these workers never worked remotely, even during the pandemic, because their work had to be done in-person. That means about 15,400 employees are hybrid or remote.
About a quarter of employees under the governor, approximately 11,000 employees, work hybrid schedules and only about 10%, or about 4,400, are fully remote. Fully remote workers mostly work call center or customer service jobs.
DeWine's order came after many private companies — some of which are the largest employers in central Ohio — mandated their workers return to office along with President Donald Trump's order for federal workers to return as soon as practicable.
"As we are seeing the private sector now move more and more people back, it made sense to me to have a general rule that people would move back with exceptions," DeWine previously said.
The Ohio Department of Administrative Services reduced many state agencies' real estate portfolios, which has led to $15 million a year in savings, according to DAS Director Kathleen Madden.
The Ohio Civil Service Employee Association, the largest union representing state workers, has said these savings show the strength of telework because workers can be as productive or more productive from home.
OCSEA filed a grievance against DAS to request to negotiate the terms of return to office policies and claimed the state violated their shared agreement by refusing to negotiate with it. The state denied that request.
'Two things have become abundantly clear during this process: the state lacks enough office space, without spending more tax dollars, and some jobs are best done remotely to remain cost-effective," OCSEA President Chris Mabe said in a statement. "As we move forward, we must judge the governor's return-to-office mandate against the benefits of telework, keeping in mind the financial impact on taxpayers and the challenges of retaining our skilled and experienced workforce."
Various state agencies consolidated their office spaces and opted to not renew leases they did not need because they had fewer in-person workers. These four agencies make up most of the yearly savings on facility costs as a result of telework, according to DAS spokesperson J.C. Benton:
Department of Job and Family Services - $5.4M per year
Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities - $2.3M per year
Dept. of Rehabilitation and Correction - $2.2M per year
Bureau of Workers' Compensation - $1.6M per year
Not all workers will be required to return on day one. DeWine's order and the policy changes made by DAS allow agencies to give exemptions for field workers, workers in offices that do not have enough renovated space to fit all of their employees and people living 40 miles away from their office at the time of the order's signature.
There will also be secondary considerations including for days with inclement weather. DAS policy requires agencies to maximize all state-owned or leased office space.
OCSEA spokesperson Mike Rowe said some union members will continue their current hybrid and remote schedules following Monday's deadline but the amount varies from agency to agency depending on office space limitations and what kind of job they have.
Rowe said he did not have an estimate of how many workers will stay remote. Benton said DAS is not tracking the number of exempt workers.
State agencies not under the governor's authority, including the Attorney General, Auditor and Treasurer's Offices, are not affected by this order. Dominic Binkley, deputy press secretary for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, said in a statement the AG office has a plan in place that complies with DeWine's order by using existing office space and it has saved about $2 million a year from eliminating rental space.
Auditor of State spokesperson Ben Kindel said in a statement the Auditor Office never needed a back-to-work order because its workforce did not go home. Auditor of State Workers provide support in person and most of the staff works from its Columbus office, with a few exceptions for hybrid and remote workers.
Those away from the office work regional positions that provide support at county boards of elections, he said.
Spokespeople for the Treasurer and Secretary of State have not responded to requests about changes to their remote work policies.
Ohio Department of Transportation spokesperson Matt Bruning said the return to office will lead to more congestion during rush hour. He said ODOT is not making any specific adjustments for the deadline day, but reminded people to expect heavier traffic during morning and afternoon commutes and allow themselves extra travel time.
Donovan Hunt is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Statehouse News Bureau.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: State of Ohio workers return to office Monday, here's what we know