Kentucky bill would ban remote work for state employees

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A bill in the Kentucky legislature would prohibit state employees and public boards and commissions from working or conducting public business remotely, requiring them to stay at their "primary work station."

Senate bill 148, introduced on Wednesday by three Republican senators, would prevent such "telework" unless the governor declares an emergency.

"When 2020 happened and Covid shut down a lot of our workforce, a lot of our government, for some reason it never went back," said Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, (R-Campbellsburg), one of the bill's co-sponsors. "We think government is going to operate a lot better if we have people in the buildings."

Tichenor, who also represents part of Jefferson County, said "the sooner we can restore things back, the better we will operate more efficiently as a government."

The other sponsors are Republican senators Johnny Turner of Harlan and Phillip Wheeler of Pikeville.

On Saturday, Wheeler responded by email that "the purpose of the bill was to make sure that there was adequate staff to answer phones and service the public, something that has been an issue since COVID. I am constantly receiving complaints of phones not being answered at state offices, people constantly being forced to leave messages after listening to a 3-minute recording menu, and then not receiving timely call backs.

"There have also been reported cases from my constituents stating that they have shown up to state agencies during normal business hours Monday through Friday and finding those offices closed."

Wheeler acknowledged that the initial bill is "too broad" and "we are working to modify it."

Not everyone needs to work in a physical office, he said, and an amendment will allow department supervisors to decide who could work remotely.

"The bill is intended to get front office staff back into state offices where they can best serve the public or direct them to the appropriate agency that can do so," Wheeler said.

Many employees have said working remotely not only improves efficiencies but saves money on gas and workspace.

Sen. David Yates, (D-Louisville), said the bill could hurt the state as far as hiring and retaining the best workers, given how many people now prefer to work from home.

"I believe it's very dangerous for us to play Big Government in Frankfort and pass blanket legislation that would place some real restrictions on our ability to recruit and maintain a strong workforce," he said. "The inability to be flexible is dangerous."

Indeed, in the fiscal impact statement attached to the bill, it says "restriction on telework may limit the ability of local governments to attract and retain employees who prefer remote work arrangements, which could increase labor costs due to turnover and recruitment. However, the exact amount that this would likely cost local governments cannot be accurately estimated."

The impact statement also said governments would need to "implement policies and procedures to ensure compliance, which would require additional staff and resources."

The measure also could limit the general public's ability to watch and participate in meetings that now are accessible by Zoom and other virtual technology, as well as threaten the ability of those bodies to reach quorum when members aren't able to attend in person because of illness or other reasons.

A number of public agencies – including the Louisville Metro Council and its committees, the Louisville Arena Authority, the General Assembly-created West End Opportunity Partnership and the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy, to name just a few – continue to meet via videoconference or have remote options for members to join.

An arena authority committee in recent months, for example, had a member to join remotely while he said he was positive for COVID-19.

The pandemic drastically changed the way employees approached their jobs, with the number of people working from home tripling between 2019 and 2021, according to a 2021 survey released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The bill would include employees working for the Administrative Office of the Courts, which runs the state court system, but not judges, many of whom still allow participants to use teleconferences and Zoom for hearings.

Kentucky State Police, health inspectors, building inspectors and other state government employees whose job requires them to be away from the office at least 50 percent of the time, would also be excluded.

On Feb. 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would require federal agencies to reinstate pre-pandemic remote work policies.

U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, introduced the bill, calling it the "Stopping Home Office Work's Unproductive Problems Act of 2023," or the "SHOW UP Act."

"The federal workforce needs to get back to work," Comer told legislators on Feb. 1. "Federal agencies are falling short of their missions. They are not carrying out their duties. They are failing the American people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the federal workforce stayed home. They relied on telework because they could. But as the rest of America went back to work in-person, federal workers did not."