Newsom’s return-to-office order faces road blocks as agencies struggle with office space
Eager to put the fiercely contested issue of telework behind him, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to his cabinet last month directing agency leaders to bring employees back to offices four days a week.
“Not having sufficient space for all employees to be in the office at least 4 days will not excuse or delay a return to office to the maximum extent feasible,” Newsom wrote.
But in the weeks ahead of the long-awaited shift back to in-person work, the transition has been rocky for some departments due to office space shortages and other hurdles associated with bringing tens of thousands of state workers back to offices four days a week. And those road blocks have only hardened state employees’ opposition to the policy.
Several departments have told employees that they will be exempt from the July return-to-office order because of a lack of available office space. Other workers have been granted temporary exemptions because their job duties are primarily performed over the phone.
The Newsom administration acknowledges that some agencies do not have sufficient space for returning employees, but has said those constraints impact only a small percentage of state workers. Roy Kennedy, a Government Operations Agency spokesperson, said in a statement that departments expect to meet the needs of a majority of employees using existing state workspace.
“Agencies and departments have discretion to modify arrangements as needed based on operational need — but there are no departments under the Governor’s authority that are exempt from the Governor’s Executive Order,” Kennedy said. Agencies that are run by other statewide elected officials, such as the Department of Justice and the California Department of Education, are not following Newsom’s four-day requirement.
The Newsom administration has not provided numbers about how many workstations the state is missing since departments offloaded building leases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy noted that information is “confidential.”
Additionally, it’s not clear how many state employees will be exempt from the four-day requirement. Last year, state agencies reported missing thousands of workstations ahead of the original return-to-office deadline in July 2025. Since the executive order was postponed last June, the Department of General Services has not conducted additional surveys for office space needs.
A spokesperson for the Governor’s Office referred to the benefits of working in person outlined in Newsom’s 2025 executive order, which included more collaboration among state employees and promoting public trust in government.
Meanwhile, state workers’ opposition, and that of their unions, is growing. In a public display of disapproval, state workers again fundraised money to erect a billboard just outside downtown Sacramento, accusing the governor of causing more freeway traffic with his decision.
Additionally, a union representing state attorneys filed a lawsuit last week attempting to pause the order on the grounds that departments violated California’s signature environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act, by requiring employees to commute to offices four days a week. The largest state worker union, SEIU Local 1000, has proposed in negotiations with the state that its members should be given stipends to cover expenses associated with commuting.
‘Aligning our operations with statewide policies’
In the weeks since Newsom confirmed that he would not reverse his return-to-office order, department leaders have been telling employees to get ready to come back.
“Your contributions in helping us to provide public services make a meaningful difference every day for Californians. As part of this commitment to public service, we also recognize the importance of aligning our operations with statewide policies,” reads an email several departments sent to state workers, which was shared with The Bee.
Departments plan to have all workers back in office by July 1, the communications confirmed. But that goal may prove elusive for some agencies.
State workers at the Employment Development Department, for example, received memos in late May informing them that they would be exempt from the governor’s return-to-office order.
“Employees whose primary duties involve directly interacting by telephone or remotely with public customers and claimants will be temporarily exempt from the four-day in-office requirement,” reads a memo sent to EDD employees that was shared with The Bee.
Employees who work at the New Labor Agency Building, at O and 9th streets, were also sent memos informing them that the building does not have sufficient space to accommodate all employees in offices four days a week. Those memos noted that the exemptions were temporary.
It’s not clear how many state workers are exempt from Newsom’s return-to-office mandate or how much office space agencies are missing. Neither EDD nor the Governor’s Office responded to questions about insufficient space for returning employees.
“These memos make clear that the state is not prepared to implement this mandate fairly or transparently,” Steven Boyd, a union steward for SEIU Local 1000 and an EDD employee, said in a statement.
Boyd said that the department also issued memos to some Sacramento-based employees directing them to work in a Rancho Cordova office to help the department meet the four-day requirement. He said this change “undermines the stated rationale for the policy and further damages morale among employees who are already being asked to absorb the consequences of incomplete planning.”
The California Department of Human Resources issued guidance last year to departments about which employees should be exempt from the return-to-office order, which included individuals who live more than 50 miles from their offices. Employees with disabilities who have reasonable accommodations may also be eligible for telework, but both of these exemptions are subject to department approval.
Leaders of the California Department of Public Health recently sent a communication to staff postponing a town hall about the return-to-office order that was scheduled to place last week.
“We recognize that many of you have concerns and questions regarding the budget and our Return to Office (RTO) planning,” the message, which was shared with The Bee, read. “We acknowledge that there are space constraints in many CDPH offices.”
Grant Boyken, a CDPH spokesperson, did not answer questions about those space constraints and whether it would prevent employees from working in person starting July 1. He said in a statement that the department’s space needs were “confidential.”
CDPH “has been preparing for state employees’ return to the office in alignment with this directive, including assessing and adjusting workspace needs, where needed, for returning employees,” Boyken said.
While CDPH and EDD reflect only a small fraction of the departments that are preparing to bring workers back to offices in three weeks, state workers who responded to a Bee survey reported that other departments are facing similar space constraints. To what extent departments will have to scramble to find available desks for government employees on July 1 isn’t clear given the Newsom administration and agencies have refused to answer questions about how much office space is missing.
‘We don’t feel very valued right now’
Standing outside the building that EDD has acknowledged does not have enough space to welcome back all returning employees, Andrea Lang, a human resource analyst for the Department of Industrial Relations, said, “We’re taking a huge step backward if we do this.”
Last week, Lang and her colleagues rallied outside the NLAB offices to voice their opposition to the return-to-office mandate in light of the information that the state does not have sufficient space to accommodate all returning employees.
Lang said telework has made it easier to be a working parent, but commuting four days a week is going to put financial strain on her household now that gas in California is roughly $6 per gallon.
While she said she loves working for DIR, the return-to-office order makes workers feel like leadership does not trust employees. “We don’t feel very valued right now.”
A Bee survey completed by over 150 readers revealed government employees share Lang’s concerns about the financial impacts of the return-to-office order on childcare and commuting costs, including parking fees in downtown Sacramento, which have increased in recent years.
The state runs several garages for employees who win the “Parking Lottery System” and pay a monthly fee to park their vehicles, but there has long been a waitlist for one of those spots. To expand parking opportunities, DGS recently requested additional funding from the state to build a garage on O and 12th streets where a surface parking lot now exists.
DGS spokesperson Monica Hassan said the project is not related to the return-to-office order. The project’s total cost is estimated to be $46.2 million and will result in 750 total spots.
“Overall, there is a general need for additional parking options downtown,” Hassan said in a statement. “This need will increase once the Swing Space Building is modified to house its future state occupants after the Legislature moves into the new Capitol Annex.”
State workers who shared concerns with The Bee also had questions about whether the mandate would lead to state workers leaving civil service.
“I was a federal employee last year, and one of the ways Trump and DOGE tried to push federal workers to leave federal service (through quitting or retiring early) was a blanket, 5-day RTO order,” Tana-Isabela Anulacion, who is an employee at the California Department of Transportation, wrote in response to The Bee’s survey.
“The State of California and Gov. Newsom have been trying to distance themselves from the president’s unpopular policies, but this is one instance where they’re acting similarly.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 11:18 AM.
