In the days since Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen ordered thousands of state employeesÌýto return to the office full time in January, more than two dozen have raised concerns over the impact the surprise executive order will have on themÌý— and the state's government.
The Nov. 13 order requiresÌýemployees of Nebraska's executive branch to "perform their work in the office, facility or field location assigned" from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday, providing few exceptions for the more than 2,855 state employees who had been working in hybrid or remote settings.
“Nebraskans are back to work, and they expect that our agencies are fully staffed and open for business Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,†Pillen said in a news release announcing the move. “As public servants, we have a duty to meet that expectation and deliver maximum value to the taxpayers.â€Ìý
Pillen cast the move as an end to pandemic-era remote and hybrid work, thoughÌýmany state departments had work-from-home policies and procedures in place before the pandemic, including some that date as far back as the mid-2000s.
In emails to state Sen. Megan Hunt of OmahaÌý— who last week before providing anonymized responses to reportersÌý— more than two dozen workers lodged anxieties over what the mandate will mean for their finances, mental health, family life and the state's ability to recruit and retain help.
Many of the employees raised concerns over the costs of commuting and parking — particularlyÌýin downtown LincolnÌý—Ìýthat will accompany the return-to-office order.
Numerous workers said the mandate has forced them, with little notice, to search for stopgap child care, transportation and after-school supervision for their children.
Some employees said they had been working 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. to mitigate the need for after-school careÌý— flexibility that will be eliminated by Pillen's order. And some wondered if they would be forced to take paid time off if their child got sick and had to stay home from school.Ìý
Others said their children had been waitlisted for after-school programs and will be forced to leave their jobs come January.ÌýA 2020 study by University of Nebraska-Lincoln economists showed that when parents leave the workforce or move elsewhere because of a lack of child care in the state.
Even workers who already have child care already in place will be forced to find someone else to provide transportation for their kids, according to the emails.
Some employees, with and without children, told Hunt that they've already started to seek jobs in the private sector that will allow them to continue working from home, a trend that could exacerbate Nebraska's public workforce shortage.
The state and the government's recruiting website once touted "work-life balance with flexible work schedules" previouslyÌýoffered by state employment as a benefit.Ìý
Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams said at a forum last week that he had already heard from a Lincoln company that is excited about what Pillen's order could mean for the private sector, which has faced its own hiring challenges in Nebraska, where and where .Ìý
"They were kind of optimistic now because they have the possibility to grow their workforce," Dorn said. "Yes, in return … we now maybe reduced our state workforce. Don't know. We'll see how the numbers play out."
In remarks to reporters last week, Pillen cast the potential exodus of state employees as the cost of efficiencyÌýin government.
"Everybody's got to make decisions in their best interest, so if there are public servants whose best interest is for them to do something where they can work from homeÌý— I believe I was elected to be governor to make sure that we have tremendous return for what everybody does, and the best way that happens is when you're at work face to face," he said.
Asked if he had evidence that remote or hybrid work schedules had hampered the productivity of state employees, the governor said "face-to-face engagement is the most effective way" to ensure efficiency.
"That's what's worked well in my life and that's what — we're running state government like a business, and the best way to do that is face to face," said Pillen, a former hog farmer. "I don't believe in doing it from home."
The Nebraska Association of Public Employees has considered demanding an immediate bargaining period over the issue, though the state employee union hasn't yet decided how to formally respond to Pillen's order. The union's members are set to meet Monday night and will announce their next steps Tuesday, said Justin Hubly, the labor group's executive director.
In their emails to Hunt, who has been an outspoken critic of the governor, state employees broadly said they felt blindsided by Pillen's order and had learned about it when his office issued a news release Nov. 13 announcing the return-to-office mandate.
Some employees said they felt deceived, having been hired with the promise that they would not have to work in the office full time.
The Department of Labor, for instance, offered hybrid work setups specifically as an incentive to retain four unemployment insurance adjudicators, according to an email the department sent Pillen's chief of staff in response to an August survey that preceded and informed the executive order.
And some department headsÌý— including at the Nebraska Department of Transportation, which employs more than 360 remote or hybrid workers, and the Department of Revenue, with 208 hybrid or remote employeesÌý— had not provided any further guidance or instructions to affected employees a full week after Pillen issued the mandate, workers told Hunt.
More than half of the state's remote or hybrid employees — 54% — work for the Department of Health and Human Services, which has had a telecommuting policy in place since 2008, according to the agency's response to Pillen's office's survey.
Steve Corsi, who , told employees the department "will be gradually implementing the EO over the next month and a half," according to an internal memo obtained by the Journal Star.
"We are requesting that you begin considering and planning for your transition back to the office," Corsi said in the memo, later adding: "Your understanding and cooperation during this period are highly valued."
Pillen's order comes after some state agencies reduced their physical office space in recent years.Ìý
The Department of Natural Resources, which has 72 hybrid employees and has had a telework policy in place for more than 15 years, reduced its physical workspace by 30% when the agency moved from the State Office Building to its Fallbrook facility in 2022, Director Thomas Riley told Pillen's chief of staff in an email.
The Department of Administrative Services adopted its work-from-home policy in 2021 to make room for the Department of Insurance move into 1526 K St, saving the state about $500,000 per year, according to the agency's survey response.
That move was in line with , which was adopted in 2021 to support then-Gov. Pete Ricketts' mission of an "effective, efficient and customer-focused state government." The written plan warned that the state "is nearing capacity in all of its major office buildings."
Some state agencies will be forced to grapple with such capacity shortfalls as they try to implement Pillen's mandate, which allows for exceptions to the return-to-office orderÌýwhen an agency's building is at full occupancy.Ìý
Administrative Services has 70 employees working from home, none of whom have retained a workspace in the department's physical office. The department does have 30 workspaces for "hoteling" remote employees when they do find themselves in the office, leaving the department 40 desks short of ample workspace.
HHS, meanwhile, has 418 fully remote employees who don't have physical desks. The agency has 304 spaces used for hoteling, including 286 such spaces in Lincoln, but ultimately doesn't have enough physical office space for its entire workforce.
Photos: The business of governing in Nebraska in 2023