Coronavirus spreads telework confusion as state workers fear for their lives

With Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order to Floridians to be "safer at home" starting Friday morning, state workers are wondering how the directive applies to them.

DeSantis directed “all people” in Florida to limit personal interactions outside their home to only "essential" activities as defined by the federal government but said he's willing to add to the list.  

But many state workers have been denied an option to work away from centralized offices still staffed with dozens of coworkers.  

Earlier this month, DeSantis encouraged state agencies under him to maximize remote working and telecommuting opportunities during the coronavirus crisis. He also issued an executive order that included a public health advisory urging people to work remotely. 

But state workers, their representatives in the Legislature, and labor leaders said agencies have been inconsistent in granting telework options when possible. 

There's one way to solve that, said Gautier Kitchen, a Tallahassee attorney who represents state employees in employment-related cases: “All the governor has to say is, 'the business of the state is essential and state workers are essential workers.' ”  

Workers this week told the Tallahassee Democrat rules and procedures differ from agency to agency — and sometimes even within agencies — and they're feeling forced to violate social-distancing guidelines recommended by health officials. 

Both the Governor's Office and the Department of Management Services were asked about the workers' assertions. A DMS spokesperson Thursday said the department would be issuing new guidance to clarify the telework policy "shortly," but didn't say exactly when. 

“It’s business as usual," a Florida Highway Patrol trooper this week told a reporter, saying he was told to still pull over drivers for even the most "petty" of infractions.

An FHP spokesperson said while traffic is rather light on state highways, the agency continues doing its job and has its members follow federal safety guidance for law enforcement. 

But the trooper, who requested confidentially, questions whether those standards are adequate for a job that may require up to 30 minutes of interaction with a motorist.  

“This stuff is airborne," the trooper said. "It spreads like wildfire, and they want us to pull people over and risk our health for something that we could really hold off for a month or two until this is under control.

“I understand pulling over drunk drivers," he went on. "I understand the criminal stuff, crashes. But to pull (people) over for small speed (violations) while our country has an epidemic? That’s ridiculous.”

More than 40 Florida Highway Patrol employees are self-isolating because of exposure to the novel coronavirus, including three state troopers who tested positive for COVID-19, a spokesman confirmed to The News Service of Florida on Thursday.

Agencies given latitude on telework

DeSantis has given wide latitude to the Department of Management Services in how it permits state agencies to implement his social-distancing and telework directives.  

While the Florida Department of Education has allowed more than 1,500 — or over 70% of staff — to work partially or fully from home, numbers are harder to come by for other agencies. 

One state worker, a Navy veteran with a compromised immune system because of diabetes, said he waited more than two weeks to get permission to work remotely.   

Joseph Bigelow, a 15-year employee of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said he had to put his request in an email to his supervisor — who was already working from home.

“It is so hypocritical," he said. "Management can basically do what they want."

A red flag went up when he mentioned COVID-19 in his request, triggering a whole new layer of bureaucracy for him to navigate, Bigelow also said. 

“People who are sick may be in jeopardy and are stuck in office cubicles just because they wrapped this up in so much red tape,” he said.  

A DBPR spokesperson said that Bigelow was among the first wave of employees granted a telework option and that more than 80% of its staff have arrangements to work remotely.

Tallahassee state representatives Loranne Ausley and Ramon Alexander, both Democrats, along with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees wrote to DeSantis about telework policy concerns before the latest executive order. 

None received an official reply in writing. 

Kitchen, the Tallahassee lawyer, said the executive orders pose more questions than solutions with the use of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s definition of essential activities and DeSantis’ willingness to add to the list. 

“If you have a ton of exceptions to a rule, do you have a rule?” Kitchen said. “We need clarity. You can’t ask people to follow if you don’t tell them where you are going.” 

James Call, a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capitol Bureau, can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CallTallahassee

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat.