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Skip to Content LOG INSUBSCRIBE NOW WHY THE CA STATE WORKER TELEWORK DASHBOARD MIGHT BE GONE SOON | SACRAMENTO BEE Part of the McClatchy Media Network Monday, March 4, 2024 Today's eEdition 48°F 53° 41° News Sports Capitol Alert Opinion Obituaries • Personal Finance Food & Drink Bee Curious Equity Lab Shopping Close navigation panelSECTIONS Search Home Customer Service About Us Account Management Archives Contact Us Customer Service Subscribe Advertise Contact McClatchy Advertising Stay Connected Newsletters Mobile & Apps Social Media Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube TikTok eEdition Sacramento Favorites -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Local Events News Local Crime Equity Lab Noticias en Español Education Health & Medicine California National Weather Investigations Business Personal Finance Real Estate Product Recalls Bee Curious Cannabis Communities Elk Grove Folsom Roseville Yolo Sports Sports Kings High School Sports Politics Politics Capitol Alert State Workers Local Elections State Worker Salary Database Opinion Opinion Editorials Viewpoints Election Endorsements Letters to the Editor Submit a Letter Submit a Viewpoint Entertainment Entertainment Horoscopes Comics Puzzles & Games Food & Drink Food & Drink Obituaries View Obituaries Place an Obituary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sports Betting Sports Betting Apps Sports Betting Promo Codes Best Sportsbooks BetMGM Bonus Code Caesars Sportsbook Promo Code DraftKings Promo Code FanDuel Promo Code -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shopping/Reviews Reviews Product Reviews Health and Wellness Software and Business How To Geek Shopping Shop With Us Special Features Press Releases Deals & Offers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsored Content Paid Content by BrandPoint Partner Content Family Features Senior Resources Classifieds Place a Classified Ad Post a Job Browse Classifieds Search Jobs Search Legal Notices Advertising Place an Ad Staffing Solutions Political | Advocacy Advertising The State Worker CALIFORNIA’S MOST RELIABLE SOURCE FOR TELEWORK DATA COULD SOON VANISH AS PROGRAM LOSES FUNDING By Maya Miller Updated March 04, 2024 9:19 AM A Department of General Services employee telecommutes from her home office in 2021. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget eliminates funds for the California telework compliance office, which shares data about remote work in state service. Paul Kitagaki Jr. Sacramento Bee file The future of California’s telework compliance office is murky as many state employees — for many, much to their dismay — begin returning to their offices this month. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2024-25 budget includes no funding for the state’s Telework Compliance Office, housed within the Department of General Services. The office oversaw the rollout of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic and is best known for publishing state telework data on an online portal. The potential shuttering of the telework program office marks a stark reversal for an agency and administration that once heralded telework as “the new normal” and vowed to slash state costs by cutting leases and selling off state-owned properties. The closure comes as several departments and agencies — including those for employment development, environmental protection and health and human services — call their employees back to the office twice per week. Unions have vowed to use what little legal power they have ever to prevent the return of in-person work. When asked what the lack of funding could mean for the future of state telework, both CalHR and DGS sent a vague written statement that claimed “the future of the telework program is under consideration” due in part to the expiration of funding for limited term positions at the end of the current fiscal year. The agencies pointed to “the number of employees who have returned to in-person work” as a second reason for weighing the future of the telework program office. DGS did not answer questions about whether the department would continue to maintain and update the online telework data dashboard — or if it would shut the site down permanently. The dashboard currently presents the most comprehensive picture of which departments are teleworking the most, how many state employees are teleworking each month and roughly how many days per week those workers are at home versus in the office. Additionally, the webpage tries to quantify the upsides of teleworking by estimating the number of miles, minutes, gallons of gasoline and tons of carbon emissions saved per state employee. Such a repository of telework data could present a challenge to an administration that, despite the lack of an official mandate, has encouraged state departments and agencies to reintroduce some in-person work as part of a new hybrid model. “Our office believes there is significant value from in-person work that should be considered along with the benefits of telework,” Erin Mellon, the governor’s communications director, said previously in a statement. HOW THE STATE’S TELEWORK COMPLIANCE OFFICE CAME TO BE Although the COVID-19 pandemic was the first major rollout of telework in state service, California enshrined telework as an official state policy more than 30 years ago. The law instructed the Department of General Services to establish a task force with the sole purpose of implementing, monitoring and evaluating the state’s telework program. It wasn’t until fiscal year 2022-23 that the team had much of a staff, though. In a budget change proposal, DGS argued it needed $1.9 million and 10 full-time positions to “ensure consistency across state government as we pivot to the ‘new normal’ and deliver critical services for all Californians in a distributed work environment.” The request rehashed how Newsom’s office rubber-stamped an updated telework policy in July 2020 and, in the following years, encouraged departments and agencies to embrace telework as a cost-cutting method. It pointed out how the Government Operations Agency used one-time funds in June 2021 to train more than 24,000 supervisors and managers on how to build a results-oriented culture and effectively work with their remote teams. (CalHR also procured an outside contract to provide continuing education to these managers at a reasonable cost, the budget request said.) “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Newsom administration advised departments to maximize telework to the greatest extent possible and ensure that post-COVID-19, departments continue to embrace telework as part of the state culture to achieve long-term efficiencies,” read the DGS budget request. Newsom answered the call by earmarking slightly more than the requested $1.9 million for 2022-23 and 2023-24. But the funding does not appear in the 2024-25 proposed budget. This story was originally published March 4, 2024, 5:00 AM. RELATED STORIES FROM SACRAMENTO BEE The State Worker RETURN TO OFFICE: STATE WORKERS SAY LOOMING MANDATE WOULD COST MORE THAN MONEY February 12, 2024 6:00 AM The State Worker THIS CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT SUGGESTS GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM ORDERED IN-OFFICE WORK FOR STATE EMPLOYEES February 21, 2024 5:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAYA MILLER twitter email phone 916-321-1094 Maya Miller is The Sacramento Bee’s state worker reporter. Her stories take readers inside the agencies and departments that keep California functioning. She previously wrote about economic mobility for The Bee’s Equity Lab and holds a degree in public policy from Duke University. GET ONE YEAR OF UNLIMITED DIGITAL ACCESS FOR $159.99 #READLOCAL Only 44¢ per day SUBSCRIBE NOW Crime - Sacto 911 FORMER CALIFORNIA STATE WORKER PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING DIAMONDS, COINS ON THE JOB FOR YEARS February 27, 2024 5:27 PM Capitol Alert GAVIN NEWSOM COULD SAVE $1 BILLION BY CLOSING 5 CALIFORNIA PRISONS, LEGISLATIVE ANALYST SAYS Updated February 27, 2024 12:36 PM The State Worker CAL-OSHA IS EXPERIENCING A STAFFING CRISIS. HERE’S HOW THAT ENDANGERS CALIFORNIA WORKERS Updated February 26, 2024 2:09 PM The State Worker WANT TO WORK FOR CAL-OSHA? HERE ARE THE CURRENT JOB OPENINGS, SALARY INFO AND HOW TO APPLY February 22, 2024 5:00 AM The State Worker THIS CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT SUGGESTS GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM ORDERED IN-OFFICE WORK FOR STATE EMPLOYEES Updated February 21, 2024 1:57 PM The State Worker RETURN TO OFFICE: STATE WORKERS SAY LOOMING MANDATE WOULD COST MORE THAN MONEY February 12, 2024 6:00 AM TAKE US WITH YOU Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Sacramento Bee App View Newsletters SUBSCRIPTIONS Start a Subscription Customer Service eEdition Vacation Hold Pay Your Bill LEARN MORE About Us Contact Us Newsletters Archives Sports Betting Personal Finance Reviews ADVERTISING McClatchy Advertising Place an Ad Place a Classified Ad Place an Obituary Staffing Solutions Political | Advocacy Advertising Part of the McClatchy Media Network Copyright Commenting Policy Corrections Policy Privacy Policy Your Privacy Choices Terms of Service