Work From Home as a State Worker

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I came across a bill in the state senate allowing state workers to work remotely. Here is an excerpt from the Hawaii Senate Bill 3296. A lawmaker introduced the bill on January 24, 2024.

Here is section I of the bill:

"The legislature finds that there are a meaningful number of state jobs that can be performed by working remotely rather than reporting to work in a physical state office."

The state legislators want to turn several state jobs into remote work for specific jobs. According to the bill status, there appears to be strong support for creating remote work for specific state jobs.

I'm curious to see how this unfolds and if remote jobs become available to some state workers. There also appears to be strong union support to create remote work for some state workers. If telework becomes a norm for some state workers, guidelines must be in place to ensure all workers are doing their jobs.

Here is a Hawaii telework document I found online:

Teleworkers retain all rights, salary, benefits, and insurance coverage pertaining to their conditions of employment as provided for in the departmental and civil service rules and regulations, relevant collective bargaining agreements or Executive Orders, and the Hawaii Revised Statutes, as applicable, except for those conditions which are specified herein. In addition, the employer shall not be obligated to retain office space for teleworkers for the duration of their telework agreement.

Final Thoughts

The bill does seem to have strong support, with backing from at least one of the major unions for state workers. The question next is what types of jobs would be designated as work-from-home jobs for state employees because not all state employees can work from home.

Let's see if we'll see remote work for some state workers.