Other DFL statewide officeholders break with Walz on return-to-office requirement

Three Minnesota statewide elected officials plan to stick with existing telework policies rather than adopting a rule that their employees return to the office at least half of the time.

It’s a departure from what Gov. Tim Walz has imposed for executive branch workers that is supposed to take effect in June.

Attorney General Keith Ellison, Secretary of State Steve Simon and State Auditor Julie Blaha’s offices will maintain rules that allow employees to work remotely. The offices are independent, the constitutional officers said, and are able to set their own policies. Like Walz, all of them are Democrats.

Last month, Walz announced that state workers would be required to work from their main office location 50 percent of the time each month if they live less than 75 miles from that office. Other on-site work not at an employee’s principal office location would also be applied toward the 50 percent mark. Some workers can apply for reasonable accommodations to continue working remotely.

The DFL governor said the switch to more required on-site work would improve collaboration and communication and follows similar shifts in the private sector. The state allowed for more flexible working arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blaha said Wednesday that having the option to work from home has worked well for her office and improved employee recruitment efforts.

 “That flexibility has really served us well, and what we’ve noticed is we’ve not only continued the same level and sometimes even more productivity, but we've also seen an improvement in morale,” Blaha said. 

Ellison said his office would also keep its current telework policy as it allows for flexibility and helps it compete for workers against private law firms. Employees whose jobs can be performed remotely have an option to telework up to five days a week if they can still meet the agency’s needs and deliver a satisfactory performance.

“Everybody comes into the office on a regular basis. But the policy that we have in place now, quite honestly, it was part of our plan to put more money into people and less into rent,” Ellison said. “That’s been working for us, and we haven’t seen any drop offs in productivity.”

He said he wasn’t commenting specifically on the return-to-office policy put forward by Walz.

A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office said the office also plans to keep its existing telework policy.

The two labor unions that represent state workers – Minnesota Association of Professional Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 5 – said they were not consulted about the governor’s return-to-office proposal and have asked him to walk it back. On WCCO Radio on Thursday, Walz estimated that roughly 70 percent of the state government workforce has been in-office full time.

“I value the state workforce greatly. I have been an ally to them, making sure they had historic contract, making sure they were there, making sure I protected them during COVID, and I'm asking them to come back 50 percent the time,” Walz said. “The cohesion in the offices matter.”

It’s possible the Walz directive will be modified before the June return-to-office requirement kicks in.

MPR News producer Matt Alvarez contributed to this report.

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