UPE met with Merced County’s Human Services Agency (HSA) on March 19, 2025, to discuss the department’s Telework Policy for a third time. Our goal was to make the policy fairer and more flexible for employees.
UPE pushed to allow more job classifications to be eligible, across several branches. At first, the County seemed open to these changes—but they later reversed course to keep their original eligibility list.
UPE raised concerns about how tech issues are handled while teleworking. UPE believed it was unfair for employees to be forced back to the office right away if VPN or IT problems occur. The final agreement allows employees to first contact IT if there’s a tech issue. If the issue isn’t fixed by 3:00 pm, the employee will report to the office on the next workday. VPN and network access are required for telework, and if those go down and don’t come back up by 3:00 pm, the same rule applies.
There was a discussion around dependent care while teleworking. The County clarified that employees must have a workspace free of distractions, and if employees have dependents, arrangements may be made as needed.
UPE requested more flexibility be added to the scheduling language. Now, telework days can be agreed upon beyond a set A/B track system if approved by a supervisor.
UPE clarified with the County that alternative work schedules and telework can be used together. UPE also advocated for protection against unfair denials, requesting that members not be denied telework arbitrarily or capriciously. However, the County rejected this, stating it would be too difficult to define what qualifies as arbitrary or capricious. UPE and the County were in disagreement over the County’s refusal to have to provide reasons in the event of telework denials.
UPE will continue to advocate for our members and keep fighting for policies that support county workers. UPE hopes this telework policy will promote more work life balance for our members.
UPE WOULD LIKE TO THANK UPE MERCED COUNTY UNIT 3 GOVERNING BOARD MEMBERS LISA SYKES AND MELISSA HERNANDEZ FOR THEIR ADVOCACY AND PARTICIPATION.
