The Department of Human Services is ordering employees back to the office more often.
The Department of Human Services has issued an announcement to its employees that they will be transitioning over the next six months to schedules with at least two days per week of in-office work.
Thousands of DHS employees that are primarily working from home will be affected by the new guidelines. Roughly 4,500 employees are expected to be in the office more frequently.
DHS said in a recent statement that it “embraces a balanced approach to telework that capitalizes on its benefits for employee recruitment, flexibility, and morale, while promoting in-office opportunities for collaboration, relationship-building, mentorship, culture, and engagement that is evidenced to happen most effectively at a workplace with colleagues.”
The state’s central office for human resources, the Office of Administration, will coordinate with DHS on the effort to bring employees back into the office more often.
According to DHS, the Office of Administration transitioned 870 of its employees to a similar two-day in-office schedule in June. There was a generally positive response from the employees.
“Going through the process, it’s really a balance because we have been trying to give people opportunities” for flexible schedules, said Steve Catanese, president of SEIU Local 668. The union represents a large portion of state workers in Pennsylvania.
Governor Shapiro’s administration has been trying to balance work schedules for state employees since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Spring of 2023, Shapiro announced that over 2,000 upper-management employees would be returning to the office at least three days weekly.
According to the administration, the percentage of state employees working remotely full-time has dropped from roughly 9% to 2% over the past two years.
Officials have recognized that telework is not going away completely and helps boost employee recruitment and retention. Catanese said, “the vast majority of full-time telework at the state is going away,” but more part-time telework opportunities may be available for state employees moving forward as the state continues to work toward striking a balance.
