Get back to the office!
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine appears to be following in the footsteps of President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order requiring state employees to return to a physical office.
Executive Order 2025-01D mandates that permanent employees of state agencies, boards and commissions under the governor’s authority return to the office—and not work “routinely from a remote location”—by March 17. Trump issued a similar mandate for federal employees the day he was sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
It “is now in the best interest of the citizens of Ohio for State of Ohio employees to complete a return to a physical office or facility to best serve the public and maximize the use of state-owned assets and facilities,” according to the executive order.
Ohio has more than 51,000 state government employees.
On March 9, 2020, Ohio officials declared an emergency amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of that declaration, some state employees were allowed to work remotely.
Much like the federal government employees, until Trump’s order, many Ohio employees continued working remotely five years later.
According to DeWine’s executive order, most state employees, including correctional and law enforcement officers and state hospital and direct care employees, did not work remotely because of their positions.
The state of emergency ended on June 18, 2021, and some Buckeye State employees who were working remotely started working full-time or hybrid hours at a physical office or facility.
In an op-ed for The Columbus Dispatch, Gleb Tsipursky, a Columbus area resident and CEO of the hybrid work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts, said “flexible work options allowed employees to balance professional and personal responsibilities more effectively, leading to increased job satisfaction and higher productivity.”
“By abruptly ending these arrangements, DeWine risks alienating a significant segment of the state workforce that has grown accustomed to the flexibility that remote work offers,” Tsipursky wrote. “State agencies rely on long-term institutional knowledge to manage complex tasks ranging from technology modernization to policy implementation. The loss of such expertise could lead to significant delays, operational backlogs, and ultimately a decline in public confidence in government efficiency.”
In a statement posted on Facebook, the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents 27,000 state and local government union employees, said it is reviewing the executive order “to determine how it impacts our collective bargaining agreement.”
The statement continued: “In the meantime, everyone should know how telework has benefited not only state employees but the citizens of Ohio,” the union said in the statement. “Remote work has cut costs by reducing expenses for office space, utilities and maintenance. Now the state may have to spend tax dollars to acquire office space it no longer owns or leases.
“The evidence is clear that telework has been a major asset in building a strong and diverse workforce by enhancing the state’s ability to attract and retain top talent,” the union added. “It has enabled state employees to live and work in every part of Ohio without the need to move to Columbus or have long commutes. A remote workforce can also maintain essential services without interruption during natural disasters or other emergencies. The consequences of this executive order should be fully considered.”
The union’s position didn’t win over everyone.
“Sorry but all government employees should be working on site now since they don’t answer phones like ever,” one commenter posted.
“Those positions didn’t start out at working at home. It was due to Covid now it’s time to return to work,” another posted. “If you [were] hired to work from home, that’s fine but if you were in the office and … put home to work because of Covid, you need to return to work.”
