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By Guy Page
The Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) says it is just 25 signatures shy of 3,000 on a petition opposing Gov. Phil Scott’s mandate requiring state workers to return to their workplace at least three days a week.
3,000 represents a majority of the members of the VSEA, “a non-profit, member-directed labor union representing nearly 6,000 public sector workers in Vermont. VSEA includes employees throughout the Vermont State government including the Vermont State Colleges, Vermont Judiciary, Defender General’s Office, Vermont State Housing Authority, State’s Attorneys’ Offices, as well as State Deputy Sheriffs,” its website says.
In a Sept. 24 letter to state employees, union leaders argue the policy — which they have branded a “return-to-commute” order — will make it harder for employees to do their jobs effectively and could weaken public services Vermonters depend on.
During the Covid crisis, the State of Vermont – like many employers – turned to remote work. However, state employees have resisted calls to return to the workplace in the same numbers as their private sector brethren. But it’s time, the Scott administration says.
“Now that the floods and pandemic are behind us, we’re now at a point where we can address the recovery of our operations as an employer,” Press Secretary Amanda Wheeler told VDC today. “The hybrid approach still gives those who can work from home the flexibility to do so up to two days per week.”
“This policy shift will create a consistent and predictable standard with a more universal ability to collaborate and connect to colleagues, constituents, and communities,” Wheeler said.
It’s also a poor use of the taxpayers’ money to have vacant office buildings, she added.
“As stewards of public dollars, it doesn’t make financial sense to have so many vacant buildings, some of which would be difficult to sell or impossible to terminate existing long-term leases,” Wheeler said.
Union leaders say that at-home work now makes more sense because since Covid, the employment world has changed. They cite prohibitively high housing costs in the Burlington – Montpelier corridor where many state offices are located. Commuter public transportation from ostensibly more affordable rural Vermont is almost non-existent. rivate sector employers can seduce valuable employees with offers to work from home.
“The work culture of the nation has changed,” the union wrote in its message to members. “Remote work is so common that we fear the state will not be able to attract or retain high-quality employees if forced back into the office.”
Working at home cuts down on sick days, and thus allows for more productivity, not less, said one worker in the Sept. 24 letter:
“Prior to switching to remote work, there were many times I had to take a sick day not because I was not capable of accomplishing anything, but because I feared infecting or disgusting my co-workers, or was injured and unable to sit at a cramped desk. Home, with access to a private work space, restrooms, vaporizers, and places to sit with injured legs elevated, I was able to continue working through most maladies.”
In a September 20 video addressed directly at state employees, Scott said his ‘hybrid’ work requirement will enhance work quality, worker collegiality, and transparency to the Vermonters the employees serve. (See extended excerpt below.)
The petition has also drawn hundreds of personal messages from state workers describing how remote work has improved productivity, morale, and retention. One employee wrote that remote work allowed them to remain on the job through illness or injury, avoiding unnecessary sick days. Another warned that Vermont risks losing skilled staff to private employers who continue offering full-time remote options.
Once the petition surpasses 3,000 signatures, VSEA leaders say they will announce a plan to formally deliver it to the governor. In the meantime, the union is calling on members to recruit additional support from friends, family, and neighbors.
In his video, Scott defended the return-to-office mandate as necessary to ensure collaboration, efficiency, and accountability in state government.
“I want you to know this wasn’t a decision we made lightly,” Scott said in a YouTube video aimed directly at state employees. “Now, we recognize the value of this type of flexibility, which is exactly why we’re moving to a hybrid schedule for most employees rather than prepandemic full-time office work.
“But we’re making this change because we need more consistency and predictability across the board. And the reality is we need to get together more in person across departments and agencies. It’s not hard to see that something has been lost when we only see each other on the screen.
“And it’s not just our co-workers, but our colleagues and mentors across state government. One of the things I’m most proud of as governor is the silos we’ve broken down between agencies and departments. But we’ve lost some of that camaraderie and collaboration because we don’t see each other in person. We can hear about what others are working on.”
Scott also said working at the office offers more transparency to Vermonters.
“Another thing I’m proud of is our work together to build faith and trust in government with more transparency, more access, but that too has been impacted by remote work because Vermoners want and need to access their government. They need to see us in their communities. They need to know where and how we work. Most importantly, they want and need us to be good stewards of their tax dollars.”
Federal labor statistics say the State of Vermont labor force at 18,600 annual workers, up from 17,400 in 2021. As of August 2025, 14,000 work in the executive branch alone. This figure does not include municipal or school district employees.
The next largest employer is the UVMMC Health Network, cited at 16,138 in a presentation to the Vermont Legislature Feb. 6 this year. However, that figure includes employees at the three upstate New York hospitals in the network. Employees at its four Vermont operations (Burlington, Middlebury, Berlin hospitals and home health & hospice) total about 12,500.
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Categories: State Government
Long term leases on office buildings. The question is, who owns all of these buildings that the taxpayers have been supporting for many years that are empty???? Now if the lease payments had stopped would these properties have gone broke and real estate values fallen???? Comment from Richard Day.
Amazing what a hyped-up pandemic and a few years will do to destroy the concept of “honey, I’m leaving for work”. Predictable that the union that represents the workers of the state with by far one of the highest state employees to taxpayers ratio claimed that going back to work will “disrupt families”. Agreed…since the dawn of history, the breadwinner making him/her self useful to the world does affect family dynamics. A union spokesperson stated that families will have to change their childcare plans. If your childcare plans included being paid to do work at home while you are simultaneously interacting with your kids, then it makes the case clear that you are not focusing on the taxpayers’ expectations.
The claim that sick days will be reduced is also bogus. If you claim a sick day that should by common courtesy make you stay home for the sake of your co-workers’ health, then you can work from home. Thank you governor for taking the bull by the horns on this matter.
This program also permits State employees to have a second on line job at the same time they are being paid to work for Vermont. There is currently legislation proposed in Congress to prohibit Federal Workers from having a second job for reasons as above and to keep conflicts of interest out. Surely Union would opposed any prohibition like this in Vermont like the Federal Workers unions are doing
What’s wrong with commuting 3 days a week ? Back in the olden days, you know, waayyyy back seven years ago, before I retired, or even five years ago, before COVID, we (State employees) were expected to go into work 5 days a week . Boy, what suckers we were huh ? Reminds me of an old Deep Purple song . “You’re lazy, you just stay in bed, you’re lazy, you just stay in bed, you don’t want no money, you don’t want no bread !” Yup, I’m jealous !
This con job was like paying fifty thousand dollars per room per year at the hotels for the homeless. Comment from Richard Day.
Let’s find out and see what happens.
I bet we can find all sorts of employees to tackle the hard 3 day commute.
State workers being forced to go from 7-day weekends to 4-day weekends.
It takes some testicular fortitude that many will find they just don’t have. Sigh…
What a bunch of BS. Our taxes are paying for people to work, not do laundry!
Sick days??? Ha ha, its curious that NO ONE takes a sick day when they’re already at home. ut boy, they sure do bank them up and sell them back later!!
The sniveling of the remote state worker class is beyond disgusting; why that one person took an actual job that was only supposed to be temporarily remote, then complain about being too far from his actual permanent office is laughable, and shows you what a scam this entire WFH racket has been, YEARS after everyone else has gone back to the office.
But sniveling unionized state workers is what we’ve tolerated, and thus the bleating is reaching a crescendo.
Vermont taxpayers can only benefit by an overall reduction in the number of people on the state payroll…including bloated school faculty/staff, which for some strange reason are not considered “state workers”, even though we have a statewide structure to collect the taxes to pay them.
That’s insane. Grow a pair and go back to work
Just imagine what would ensue if Phil had decided they had to return to work full time. My Word! The Horror!! Arrgh!! Hell Noooo! And so on. I wonder what the rest of the state work force is thinking about their government counterparts.
Get your asses back to work like the rest of us! I am the taxpayer, I am the owner, the boss, the manager.. I am the employer. And I’m not paying for you to work in your pajamas. I’m paying for you to be at your station, doing your job, working where the work is. You’re overly paid, underworked and have been given latitude unheard of. The free ride is over, you’re coming back to work at your place of work or you’re fired!
“To be sure, many out-of-state employees regularly report to a Vermont job site. Of the 552 state employees who lived out of state as of September 2025, 433 lived across Vermont’s borders in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York or Quebec. But another 119 lived further afield in states like Florida or North Carolina. As of this month, state employees reside in 31 different states and one Canadian province. ”
https://vtdigger.org/2025/09/25/data-how-many-vermont-state-government-employees-live-out-of-state/
Now let’s see….it would appear that the state employees recognize only about 2/3 ( more or less) the are needed to cover the work how about reducing the extra 1/3 providing them the opportunity to work like the rest of the state who go to work 5 days a week. It would help to cover the labor shortage.
From where does this sense of entitlement originate ?????
The “sense of entitlement” is bestowed on state workers by their being represented by the VTNEA and VSEA, public-sector unions which OWN the democrat party in Vermont, lock, stock and barrel.
An increase of 1200 employees since 2021? How was such an increase warranted under Convid-19? Was this due to the slush and flush of Biden bucks or the annual increase of $1 billion in the State budgets since then – aka taxpayer dimes – Operation Tincup? How is it that so many private sector jobs lost and the State bureaucracy gained 1200?
What does AI say about State employee compensation: “The average salary for a State of Vermont employee varies by role, with an overall average reported as approximately $67,968 in 2023, though specific roles like a newly hired trooper begin at over $82,000 annually. Benefits are a significant part of the total compensation, with employee contributions to the Vermont State Teachers’ Retirement System (VSTRS) and a pension replacing 53.3% of pre-retirement income for teachers with 30 years of service. Other benefits include shift work compensation, overtime pay, and on-call pay for roles like troopers. ”
We know we have a shortage of State troopers and Corrections officers, so the math on 1200 newer employees is quite amazing considering the economy never recovered since 2020 – increased homelessness, delinquent consumer loans, affordability issues, inflation, etc. The welfare industrial complex likely the culprit.
The bloat can no longer float. The positions added plus is what is holding up our teetering economy. My guess is there will be reduction in force coming, there will be positions eliminated – AI doesn’t need to commute, benefits, or salaries. In the meantime, making employees commute boosts the coffer hog troughs a little – but not enough. The insolvency will continue until the new world order, depopulation, wealth transfer, reset to digital currency, robotic economy is fully implemented.
We could DOGE 75 percent of these paper pushers away! And no one would notice. Most of the in office work WAS done in the buildings of the former Waterbury State Hospital, which we own and pay to maintain and heat!
That was also one of the most expensive and extravagant remodels in the history of our State……over the top.
This may be is off topic, but doesn’t this thread resurrect the issue of downsizing the government? Can we look to privatizing viable services …consolidating functions …restructuring inflated manpower?