California state employees’ days of remote work are coming to an end due to a new policy set by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).

The governor signed an executive order Monday requiring state workers to return to the office four days a week by July 1. The governor’s office touted the measure as a way to foster faster and more effective decision-making, ensure public resources are managed effectively, and deliver high-quality public service to Californians with increased responsiveness and coordination.

“In-person work makes us all stronger — period. When we work together, collaboration improves, innovation thrives, and accountability increases. That means better service, better solutions, and better results for Californians, while still allowing flexibility,” Newsom said in a press release announcing the policy change.

“Being physically present allows for spontaneous conversations and informal mentoring opportunities that are harder to replicate virtually — moments that often spark innovation and deepen our sense of community,” he added in a letter to state employees. 

Workers’ requests to telework more than one day a week will be considered on a case-by-case basis under the latest policy.

Newsom’s directive follows a similar initiative by the Trump administration that pushed mandatory in-person work policies for federal employees. 

A Trump Inauguration Day executive order entailed a sweeping return-to-office mandate impacting roughly 1 million federal employees working remotely. 

A subsequent memo from the White House’s Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to comply within about 30 days. In accordance with the directive, many employees returned to the office in early February, although some workers have until late April or early May to comply. 

Of the 224,000 full-time state workers in California, just over half currently come into the office every day, per the governor’s office. Newsom first started chipping away at telework policies instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic with a mandate issued last year. The April 2024 directive required state employees to work in the office two days a week and faced legal challenges from labor unions representing public employees. 

Newsom’s latest executive order will likely face similar legal challenges from unions who have already expressed disdain for scaling back remote work policies.

“State employees kept this state running through the pandemic, proving that remote and hybrid work increase productivity, improve work-life balance, and make state jobs more competitive – all while saving taxpayer dollars,” Anica Walls, the president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, told a local news outlet.

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“Forcing workers back into the office hits them financially. Many will face higher costs for gas, parking, and commuting – expenses that telework helped avoid,” Walls said. “At a time when inflation, housing costs, and gas prices are squeezing working families, this mandate only makes things harder.”

SEIU is the largest public sector union in the country, presenting a formidable opponent to Newsom’s back-to-the-office mandate.