Workers in state government feeling COVID-19’s impact on the workplace

TALLAHASSEE

Eighteen months into the pandemic, Florida’s state workers are struggling.

COVID-19 outbreaks have closed departments and offices. Three state prisons are closing because of the lack of corrections officers. When their colleagues fall ill, some state employees say they aren’t being told.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to keep Florida open have been felt acutely by many state workers, some of whom have been among the earliest to return to in-office meetings.

“The workers are very scared,” said Vicki Hall, president of AFSCME

Florida Council 79, which represents about 47,000, or nearly half, of state workers. “The governor wants everything open and running.”

At the start of the pandemic, many of the state’s roughly 105,000 state employees shifted to remote work, with some, such as those in the unemployment and child welfare agencies, facing unprecedented demand from applicants seeking aid. Agencies under DeSantis’ control began ordering employees back to their offices last October. Masks and social distancing were optional.

Since then, state agencies have disclosed little publicly about how their employees have fared. But there are signs that some agencies have struggled. One of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offices was closed this summer because of an outbreak. Employees at the departments of State, Economic Opportunity and Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles have complained to their union that they don’t learn about colleagues testing positive for COVID-19 until 14 days after the person was sent home.

“Management is not taking it seriously,” Hall said.

On Facebook, Department of Revenue employees publicly complained last month of not knowing when their coworkers fall ill.

“They don’t tell us when people have been in the building sick,” one Department of Revenue employee wrote. “We have to hear through the grapevine that someone is in the hospital or dead. If we complain, we are offered demotions.”

Department of Revenue spokesperson Will Butler told the Herald/Times that the department has over 4,000 employees, “and like the community at large, has lost team members to this terrible illness. We feel that loss greatly.”

Butler said wearing masks is encouraged, and supervisors have tracked potential exposures to the virus. He did not respond when asked how many employees have been quarantined or fallen ill from the virus.

Two Democratic state lawmakers who represent portions of Tallahassee, where many state workers reside, say they’ve been getting messages daily from workers concerned about the state’s COVID precautions.

“Many state employees live in fear of making any noise,” said Sen. Loranne Ausley. “They call us and don’t even say what agency they’re calling from.”

Last month, Ausley, Rep. Allison Tant and Rep. Ramon Alexander wrote to DeSantis pleading for a return to remote work, citing a “lack of precautions” at some state offices.

“One state office in Tallahassee was recently closed to the public due to an outbreak of COVID-19 among staff,” the letter stated. “We are witnessing a daily spike in numbers, and our state employees’ health and safety should be a priority.”

DeSantis’ office didn’t respond to the lawmakers. The office also didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Herald/ Times.

In his effort to keep Florida government offices open, DeSantis has banned school districts from imposing mask requirements and threatened to fine cities and counties “millions” of dollars for requiring employees get vaccinated. State university professors and staff, citing a surge in coronavirus cases this summer, urged DeSantis to drop those mandates and allow universities to set their own policies on masks and vaccines, without success.

Texas has imposed similar mandates. But some states, such as California, are requiring state workers to be vaccinated or submit to weekly tests. (California also didn’t start ordering state workers back to the office until last month.)

Georgia is offering incentives to get state workers vaccinated: $150 gift cards or $480 in health credits for people on the state health plan who get vaccinated.

And state workers in Kansas returned to inperson work in June, only to be ordered back to teleworking last month amid a surge in coronavirus cases.