State delays employees' return-to-office rule by a month
Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
4 min read
Jan. 4—SANTA FE — Some New Mexico state employees started off the new year facing a return-to-the-office mandate after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration finalized its plan to rescind a telework policy enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under a plan released late last week by the State Personnel Office, all managers and supervisors who had been working remotely were directed to return to the office on Tuesday.
However, after negotiations with labor union leaders, the State Personnel Office also said it would not require rank-and-file state employees who have been working from home to go back to the office until Feb. 2, giving them an extra month or so to prepare.
State Personnel Director Teresa Padilla said Tuesday the agency is working with state officials to ensure all state employees have a physical workspace available to them on or before the back-to-the-office deadline.
"In general, we believe most state government employees understand the benefits of being present in the office to serve our customers and constituents," Padilla told the Journal.
She also said the agency had received a form email objecting to the decision to rescind the remote work policy from fewer than 5% of the roughly 16,600 classified state workers around New Mexico, while adding she was not aware of any employee resignations due to the decision.
But top union officials say there is still widespread confusion — and concern — about the details of the plan.
Dan Secrist, local president of the Communications Workers of America union, questioned whether some state office buildings are in usable condition after two-plus years of being at least partially unoccupied.
"Are those spaces fit to inhabit at this point?" Secrist asked.
He also said some state workers hired during the pandemic will have to make lengthy commutes to travel to their assigned office space, while others are currently scrambling to figure out care for their young children or elderly relatives.
"We've got people that can't get child care until July or August, if they can get it at all," Secrist told the Journal.
Some union leaders have predicted the mandate could end up causing a mass exodus of state workers at a time when many state agencies are already struggling to recruit and retain employees.
Only about 61% of new hires lasted their first year during the 2022 budget year, according to Legislative Finance Committee data.
Not enough space
Labor union leaders negotiated the terms of the telework policy with the governor's administration in June 2021.
The policy has allowed agency heads to rescind or modify an employee's telework agreement with adequate notice. It also requires that employees allowed to work remotely be able to report to their normal worksite on short notice.
However, New Mexico's remote work policy came under scrutiny last year after a legislative report showed the state was paying up to $18 million for unoccupied office space — primarily in Santa Fe.
But at least one state agency, the Public Education Department, recently told its employees it did not have enough office capacity to accommodate all its workers.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers have also expressed concern about New Mexico residents' struggles to reach state offices to obtain services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Governor's Office has insisted the move to rescind the telework policy was in the works even before the legislative report.
In addition, Padilla said Tuesday the Lujan Grisham administration plans to work with lawmakers to craft a salary increase package for state employees during the upcoming 60-day legislative session.
Complaint filed
The Lujan Grisham administration's decision to scrap the telework policy could ultimately be resolved, at least in part, by the outside arbiters or the courts.
That's because the CWA Local 7076 filed a complaint last month with the state Public Employees Labor Relations Board that challenges the state's authority to cancel the telework policy without bargaining.
New Mexico's current collective bargaining laws do not allow for government employees to go on strike, however, and the complaint could take months to be resolved.
There's also disagreement about the nature of recent discussions between state officials and union leaders over the impact of ending the telework policy.
On Tuesday, Padilla said the State Personnel Office had engaged in negotiations with leaders of two labor unions that represent state government employees — CWA and the local chapter of the American Federation of State, Counties and Municipal Employees union — in an attempt to reach an agreement.
"As a result of these discussions, the state amended the full-time return to office date for non-manager/supervisor classified employees to (next month)," she said.
While Padilla said the state did reach an agreement with AFSCME union representatives, she said talks with CWA leaders ended in impasse.
However, Secrist disagreed that negotiations were properly concluded, saying there were still areas of discussion that had not been exhausted, including the practical effects of making all state employees go back to in-office work.
