FILE - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine introduces Ohio state senator and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Matt Dolan during a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, March 18, 2024.
FILE - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine introduces Ohio state senator and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Matt Dolan during a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, March 18, 2024.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered state employees back to their offices full-time starting next month.
In an executive order issued Tuesday, DeWine required all permanent employees of state agencies, boards and commissions to resume five-day, in-office work weeks no later than March 17. He said the move will allow the state to best serve the public and to make best use of its remaining office space. Both are in the best interests of Ohio citizens, he wrote.
The return date set by DeWine falls almost five years to the day after the state declared an emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 9, 2020, and allowed certain employees to work remotely.
Many of those workers either returned to their offices full-time or on a hybrid basis starting in June 2021, when the emergency was lifted.
Tuesday's order requires virtually all employees to now return. It allows agencies to grant exceptions in cases where some or all of their real estate portfolios have been eliminated. Lease terminations and space reallocations that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic saved Ohio taxpayers millions of dollars, the order says.
According to the document, a majority of Ohio's state employees actually never worked remotely, due to the nature of their work at state hospitals, prisons, law enforcement agencies or in other jobs requiring a physical presence.
DeWine's mandate comes as some major Columbus employers, including American Electric Power and JPMorganChase, also have required a return to five-day work weeks in March. Republican President Donald Trump also is requiring federal workers to return full-time to offices, an order that's as part of an unprecedented series of steps aimed at shrinking the federal government.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login.
You must be logged in to rate. Click any rating to login.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Post a comment as Anonymous Commenter
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.