Vermont's return-to-office blunder is costing the state millions

"The Vermont Labor Relations Board ruled that the administration had unlawfully imposed its hybrid work standard without bargaining in good faith with the union. This was an expensive gamble taken on the public's dime."

"Telework in Vermont government was already an established working condition, not a perk handed out on a whim. The state's own human resources leadership described its telework policy as effective since 2012."

"The order affected roughly 3,000 state employees, many of whom had arranged their lives around remote or hybrid work that the state had allowed for years."

"The administration's own 2023 presentation said that roughly 3,100 telework agreements had already been approved, with 44 percent of employees teleworking and an average remote schedule of 28 hours per week."

Vermont's government faced criticism for unlawfully imposing a hybrid work standard without negotiating with the union, as ruled by the Vermont Labor Relations Board. This decision highlighted a lack of fiscal discipline and management reality. Telework had been an established practice since 2012, with existing employee contracts in place. The administration's actions affected approximately 3,000 state employees who had relied on remote work arrangements, despite having a mature operating model and data supporting telework effectiveness.

Read at The Hill