Back to the office must work for workers

By Fabrizio Sasso
Executive Director, Sacramento CLC

In recent weeks, there has been a push by the California state government to bring workers back into offices.

Since the pandemic, the majority of state workers have been doing their jobs remotely—with great success. In some agencies, up to 90% of staff have been telecommuting.

But earlier this year, the California Health and Human Services Agency announced it wanted workers to come back to its offices, many in downtown Sacramento, at least two days a week.

Earlier, the California Environmental Protection Agency made a similar announcement. And Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest budget proposal includes cutting state workers’ telework stipends of $25 to $50 dollars per month.

But working remotely has proven to be a boon for many employees—and their families. It saves the time of commuting, which can be hours a day. It saves the gas or transportation money required to travel those miles, and wear and tear on a personal vehicle. It saves parking in many cases, and food costs for lunches and coffees that might otherwise come out of the refrigerator at home.

And perhaps most significantly, it saves stress and frustration, freeing up time that can be better spent with family and friends.

And studies have shown that telework does all of that without cutting productivity. In fact, in some cases remote work has shown to both provide more benefit for employers, while at the same time keeping workers happy, engaged and loyal to a job that respects their time.

So why are we going back to places and systems that don’t always work the best for either employers or employees? Employers want control. It’s that simple. When employees are in the office, it is easier to police their behavior.

Employers may say it’s about team building or accountability, but the reality is much more simple. They want eyes on you while you are doing the job—no extra load of laundry, quick walk or drive around the block to pick kids up from school.

But workers know that these perks of telework are ones we don’t want to lose. The ability to mix the workday with personal responsibilities—while still doing our jobs well—is the new reality. And employers need to be respectful of that reality. Remote work isn’t something that can be snatched away after workers have proven it works.

But there is a second reason employers want people back in the office, one with a lot of political pressure behind it. Our downtown cores relied on all that sandwich eating and coffee drinking for a large part of their economic engines. As we continue to figure out what a post-pandemic economy looks like, many politicians want a return to work to save cities still struggling—including Sacramento—with the loss of commerce.

I sympathize with that and want our downtowns, in Sacramento and elsewhere, to thrive. But that success can’t be built on the backs of workers. We can’t simply demand that workers give up this flexibility and savings to fund business, big or small. There needs to be flexibility and balance, and an acknowledgement from the state and all employers that remote work is effective, and beneficial on many levels.

For all of these reasons, the Sacramento Central Labor Council will be vocal as the calls for returning to offices continue.

We must find a path forward that allows workers the best work-life balance, and keeps us all moving on the right path toward stronger communities.