Gov. Parson’s back-to-office order ‘came out of nowhere,’ Missouri state workers say

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday ordered all state employees back to their offices in less than two weeks’ time, prompting protests and concern among workers who said they were blindsided by the decision.

About 15,000 Missouri employees with office jobs have been working from home since the coronavirus pandemic began last March. With COVID-19 vaccines now more readily available, Parson said Wednesday workers will all be called to return to their department buildings by May 17.

“We are confident that it is safe to return to pre-COVID-19 work settings and schedules,” he said in a statement. “As public servants in state government, it is important that we maintain a front-facing presence for those we serve, and it’s time we take this step towards normalcy for ourselves and the people of Missouri.”

The decision appeared to upend some state agencies’ own plans for a slower return to the office. Several employees across four state departments — education, labor, health and social services — told The Star that as recently as last week their departments’ plans called for them to continue working on a mostly-remote basis until at least July.

The Wednesday announcement sent workers scrambling to find someone to watch school-age children who will still be home attending classes online. Others worried about returning to the workplace with just a third of the state’s population fully vaccinated.

“It just came out of nowhere,” said Amy Gavin, of St. Louis, who processes disability determinations for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Even supervisors, she said, were “so blindsided by this they have no answers.”

Gavin, who is legally blind and unable to drive, relied on her partner to take her to and from the office. She said working from home was “life-changing.”

Last year, she said she applied for an accommodation to work from home permanently, as part of plans each state department had separately been drawing up for months to increase remote and hybrid work even after the pandemic. Those proposals had not been finalized, but slides from a DESE staff meeting dated Monday show the department expected its plan to go into effect in July for some divisions.

Under that plan, the slides show, workers would have been called to the office one or two days a week, and required to work in-person more often if their performance was suffering.

When she saw Parson’s order, Gavin said she asked Human Resources about the status of her request, and was told the governor’s order superseded the other plans.

“This announcement had completely undercut all of that,” she said. “It overrode what all these independent agencies were doing, they had specific plans in place.”

Parson’s spokeswoman Kelli Jones said departments could still propose remote work plans, but for now, all state personnel must be back in the office on May 17, and that won’t change before July.

“Governor Parson never approved remote work as a permanent option,” she said in a statement. “The plan was always to return to pre-COVID-19 work settings.”

“Cabinet leaders were notified of the directive two full weeks in advance and provided with a plan to communicate to the workforce,” Jones said. “State workers adapted quickly to remote work at the start of the pandemic, and we expect the transition back to be the same.”

There will be no mandates on mask-wearing or other preventive measures, though such precautions are encouraged, Jones said.

In a recorded meeting with department staff on Wednesday after the announcement, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Dr. Margie Vandeven said she found out about the order on Monday.

“I just think the sense was, ‘If we’re ready to go, we’re ready to go, and 10 days is plenty of time,’” Vandeven told staff.

One Kansas City-area DESE employee said he was worried the decision had been made rashly. His wife has an immune system disorder, and though they are both vaccinated, under the department’s plan he would have only been required to work in the office once a week starting July.

“I also wanted to remain at home as much as my agency would approve me,” he said. “We still don’t want to take the risk she could be exposed. There’s so little data available about the effects of COVID on a vaccinated person with lupus, and we don’t know what the complications are yet.”

A Department of Social Services customer service center employee in Southeast Missouri said as recently as last week, she was told to come to the office just two days per month in May. With daycares full and school ending, the single mother is asking family members if they can watch her children.

“I didn’t plan for child care,” she said. “It’s just a bit of a shock.”