Most state agency employees will need to return to work in-person for at least 50 percent of the time starting June 1 according to a change to Minnesota's state telework policy announced Tuesday afternoon by Governor Tim Walz.
According to Walz, around 60 percent of state employees already work in-person and did so, "throughout the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic."
“This approach balances the flexibility of telework with the workplace advantages of being in office,” Governor Walz wrote in Tuesday's announcement. “Having more state employees in the office means that collaboration can happen more quickly and state agencies can build strong organizational cultures more easily.”
Employees living more than 75 miles away from their primary work location would be exempt from the policy change which looks to support, "the economic vitality of office districts like downtown Saint Paul, bringing foot traffic back to businesses and public spaces."
"Look, these are all different," Walz said Wednesday at a press conference addressing bird flu in the state. "We've got from snowplow drivers to epidemiologists, to CPA's to marine biologists, and they all work on different paces. Those are done individually. I don't micromanage that. The expectation is though, that we'll get our workforce back in the office."
The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represent more than 40,000 state workers across Minnesota.
On Wednesday, they released statements denouncing Walz's decision to change the telework policy.
“I am appalled and disgusted to see Governor Walz attempting to claw back telework agreements under the guise of ‘organic collaboration’ and ‘stewardship of office space,’” MAPE President Megan Dayton said. “Let’s call this what it really is: This is a unilateral move by a bad boss without consultation or consideration of the very staff he claims to care deeply about investing in. I never thought the same public worker attacks and micromanaging mannerisms of our federal administration would be mirrored in Minnesota. For administrators to unleash this kind of chaos on hard working employees when we’re about to start negotiating our next contract feels, at best, hypocritical, at mid, a strategic effort to erode the progress we’ve made to enhance our working conditions and productivity, and at worst, a short-sighted attempt at engineered attrition.”
AFSCME Council 5 Executive Director Bart Andersen said, “Let me be perfectly clear: as Executive Director of AFSCME Council 5, representing more than 18,000 state employees, we will not tolerate unilateral changes to our members’ work. The Administration’s decision to impose sweeping workplace policy changes without engaging our union and labor partners first is not just unacceptable—it’s an act of blatant disrespect. Our union members must have and deserve a seat at the table every step of the way. We are demanding full transparency and meaningful dialogue immediately. AFSCME Council 5, alongside our fellow labor union partners, will do whatever it takes to defend our members’ rights, safeguard their ability to work safely and effectively, and continue delivering high-quality public services for all Minnesotans.”
Walz is expected to give an update on Minnesota's bird flu response during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.