COLUMBUS, Ohio — Many state employees will return to work on Monday, following an executive order signed by Gov. Mike DeWine last month.
The executive order, signed on February 4, requires permanent employees at state agencies, boards, and commissions to return to the office by March 17 to perform routine duties.
Many employees started working from home on March 9, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the state emergency ended on June 18, 2021, some employees returned to work full-time or in a hybrid capacity.
According to the executive order, the state saved millions of dollars by decreasing leased real estate and “maximizing the use of state-owned and managed real property.”
The order also states that it is now in the best interests of Ohio citizens for state employees to return to a physical office or location.
“I believe that what we see in the workplace frequently is interaction between different workers, and when each of them is remote, we simply do not have that interaction – you don’t have them solving problems, you don’t have them playing off against each other, talking, rolling up their sleeves, and getting the job done. “It’s definitely time to do this,” DeWine stated in February.
There will be some exceptions to the executive order, including:
- Employees for whom no reasonable in-office employment is possible, or other compelling situations that have been certified to the director of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS).
- Those whose office location was eliminated and new office space would need to be acquired or remodeled.
- Other exceptions as listed in DAS’ policy are subject to the approval of the director of DAS.
“For some, this will be a change. This will return to normal. I would see this as a return to where we were in the past.” DeWine said.
