11-03-2025
How will Gavin Newsom's return-to-office order affect California state telework stipends?
While there are still many questions lingering about how California will bring its workforce back to primarily in-person work in the coming months, the impact on state workers' telework stipend is clearly defined.
After California directed its public employees to work from home to limit the spread of COVID-19, the state paid those public servants stipends beginning October 2021 to help cover expenses workers needed to do their jobs remotely, such as the internet.
The stipend applies to all departments and all employee classifications as long as they work remotely for some part of the week. Those who work primarily from home, known as 'remote-centered,' receive $50 a month. Those primarily in state building, 'office-centered,' get $25 a month.
With Gov. Gavin Newsom directing departments to increase the number of days state workers are expected to be in offices — from two to four — public employees can expect a change to their telework stipends.
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As it stands, state workers receiving $50 a month to work primarily from home will see that payment cut in half come July, when the governor's return-to-office directive takes effect. Those already working at least three days from state buildings will continue to receive $25 a month as long as they work remotely part of the week.
The California Department of Human Resources said individual departments determine which employees are eligible for the stipend based on the telework agreements. CalHR said the pay differential that outlines the stipend already considers changes to departments' hybrid work policies, like the transition from two days to four days in office.
The state stands to save millions of dollars in paying only half of the 'remote-centered' telework stipend.
In January, California paid $5.2 million in telework stipends to its employees. Of the 115,000 employees who received those payments, 81% receive the full $50 payment.
If the state paid the same number of employees in January the $25 payment, instead of the 'remote-centered' stipend, the state would have saved $2.3 million.
But whatever the amount saved by paying a smaller stipend, it would only be a fraction of the state's payroll expenses. In 2023, California paid over $22 billion in total wages to state employees.
Unions representing state employees are hoping to leverage this coming reduction to workers' paychecks to block Newsom's return-to-office mandate.
In challenges filed with the state's labor relations board, SEIU Local 1000 and Professional Engineers in California Government claimed that forcing workers back to offices four days a week violated the the Ralph C. Dills Act, which outlines labor regulations between the state and public employees.
The unions argue that the governor's order will effectively shift telework employees from 'remote-centered' to 'office-centered.' By making this change, which is subject to negotiation, the union said Newsom infringed on workers' rights.
'The Governor imposed this order unilaterally, without negotiation, without consideration for its impact on state workers, and without following the law,' Anica Walls, president of SEIU Local 1000, said in a statement announcing the union's challenge last week. 'We're demanding that (the Public Employment Relations Board) rescind this illegal order immediately and return decision-making on telework and return-to-office policies back to individual departments, where it belongs.'
