Staff Attorney Leah Kennedy testified before the Governmental Organization Committee of the California Senate on June 23 in support of AB 1729 (Lee), a bill to modernize the state’s telework policy and require agencies to provide written justification before limiting remote work for state employees.
Drawing on calls to WorkLife Law’s free legal helpline, Kennedy told the committee that return-to-office mandates force employees to choose between their jobs and their families. As Kennedy testified at the hearing:
“California state employees tell us they face an impossible choice: keep their job, or care for their family and health. Strikingly, in most cases their direct supervisor has no objection to remote work — the decision is simply out of their hands due to a blanket mandate.”
WorkLife Law also submitted a letter of support to the Committee, arguing that remote work is a gender justice imperative and explaining how access to remote work can reduce racial discrimination and make it possible for people with disabilities to participate equally in the workforce. In the letter, Co-Director Liz Morris wrote that “the outdated 9-to-5 in-office model assumes a second adult is at home (stereotypically, a wife) who can absorb caregiving responsibilities,” an assumption that “has never reflected the reality of many working families.” The letter cited research showing that increased availability of remote work significantly boosts labor force participation among women and mothers, and that return-to-office mandates have driven women out of the workforce at far higher rates than men.
AB 1729 would require California’s Department of General Services to restore a statewide telework dashboard and require state agencies to document the operational need before restricting telework. Read WorkLife Law’s full letter to the Senate Governmental Organization Committee here.