California’s Four-Day Office Mandate Tests Sacramento’s Downtown Recovery Bet
California state workers must return to the office four days per week starting in two days, under an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom. The mandate doubles the current post-pandemic requirement of two in-person days and three remote days. Newsom has defended the policy as necessary to improve collaboration and accountability while revitalizing downtown Sacramento, though workers point to increased commuting costs and the state’s own tens of millions in office upkeep expenses.
The union representing approximately 100,000 state workers is in contract negotiations ahead of a June 30 expiration date. The union’s bargaining team has proposed a 20% general salary increase over three years and is pushing for telework policies alongside fair pay and affordable healthcare. The state has rejected the union’s telework proposal outright and has yet to respond to wage and healthcare demands, according to the union’s website. Protections under the current contract remain in place until a new agreement is reached.
Sacramento’s downtown office market depends heavily on state government tenants, making the return-to-office mandate a good case study for how government policy can help revitalize an urban core. Workers have scheduled a rally at the Capitol on July 1 if negotiations fail to produce a deal by the contract deadline. The dispute adds California to a growing list of jurisdictions where public employers are using mandates to drive office utilization, with mixed results for surrounding retail and commercial districts.
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