A return-to-office mandate from the SF mayor's office has been pushed back following a negotiation with the union that represents city workers. But by the end of summer, most city employees will only be allowed to work remotely one day per week.

You may not know that San Francisco city government employees, like many tech workers, have enjoyed hybrid work schedules and lots of remote work since the pandemic — at least those with non-public-facing desk jobs. The mayor's office says that 70% of the city's workforce, around 24,000 workers, are back to work in person five days per week, particularly those in critical public safety, health care, transportation, and infrastructure jobs.

But among those remaining 30%, many still have hybrid schedules and Mayor Daniel Lurie has been pulling an Elon Musk and demanding that everyone be back to work in the office at least four days per week. The deadline for that was set for April 28 — next week — but as the Chronicle reports, the employees' union, Local 21, negotiated an extension, so the deadline is now August 18.

Some employees are still seeking special accommodations for workplace safety, and a new agreement reportedly addresses this. And, per the Chronicle, city departments that lack adequate office space are allowed make special arrangements with the city for more remote workdays.

But the general rule will be four days back in the office, which means Mondays and Tuesdays may start to look a bit busier around Civic Center again — which is one of Lurie's goals.

Lurie's mandate is similar to those being imposed across the private sector after several years of leniency around hybrid work — and as some companies have decided that productivity has suffered as a result.

The new back-to-office date primarily impacts around 10,000 "non-essential" city workers, the Chronicle reports, like IT, human resources, accounting, and legal services.

The original mandate, issued in February, discussed how in-person workdays allowed more in-person requests from the public and other government workers to get fulfilled more quickly, and would improve "overall personnel and departmental performance through enhanced communication and collaboration."

We'll just have to see if new federal policies around public health — or a potential national measles outbreak or other pandemic! — further effect how these back-to-office mandates are implemented.

Photo: Mazin Omron