Insufficient office space in Waterbury will delay some Agency of Human Services staff from returning to the office as planned on Dec. 1, Jenney Samuelson, the agency’s secretary, announced last week in an email to staff.
The state is seeking to lease additional space in Waterbury to accommodate the workforce, Samuelson wrote. In the meantime, some employees within the Department for Children and Families, the Department of Health, the Department of Vermont Health Access and the Agency of Human Service’s central office will delay the return to at least three days per week in their offices, according to an agency spokesperson.
“Some departments have sufficient seating capacity today and will be able to meet the Hybrid Work Standard on December 1, 2025. Other departments will require additional time to transition based on current space constraints,” Samuelson wrote in the Oct. 30 email. “The State is currently in negotiations for additional office space in Waterbury to help close the seat gap.”
The announcement arrived days after state employees showed up to work at the Waterbury State Office Complex en masse to demonstrate the space restraints of the state-owned property, which houses much of the Agency of Human Services. As of September, the Department of Health was more than 250 desks short at its Waterbury office.
This summer, Gov. Phil Scott and his top officials announced the hybrid return-to-office plan, a transition for many employees who began regularly teleworking during the Covid-19 pandemic. State leaders have argued working in-person increases collaboration and helps facilitate customer service.
The Vermont State Employees’ Association, the union representing state workers, has lambasted the mandate, citing state survey data showing the vast majority of employees value remote work and believe it positively impacts their performance.
“There’s almost no communication with the administration on this subject,” Steve Howard, the union’s executive director, said Monday. Billing the state initiative as “return-to-commute,” Howard said the union is focused on the added lease costs and time required to pull off the in-person pivot.
Samuelson’s email last week did not name the specific divisions that will be given extra time to meet the office mandate. She did write that Department of Vermont Health Access staff located at the Waterbury complex will move to newly leased space “when it becomes available.”
In an email, Ashley Roy, an agency spokesperson, said the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living and the Department of Corrections will fully meet the hybrid standard within their existing spaces. Divisions in other departments unable to meet the requirements may work three days in-person one week and two days the next, she suggested.
Roy did not respond to a question about where the state intends to lease new office space and said it was unclear how many employees will not meet the in-person requirements on Dec. 1.
