City Council Staff Ordered Back to Office Four Days a Week; Workers Hold Out Hope for Earlier Retroactive Pay

1. City Council President Sara Nelson told legislative staffers this week that they will be required to work in the office four days a week, rather than the two-day citywide minimum, starting on June 24.

“Councilmembers have reported to me that they are most productive when the staff who support them are available for in-person meetings and impromptu consultations,” Nelson wrote in a memo to staff. “Moreover, professional relationships, which are essential for a legislative body to thrive, are best developed and maintained in an atmosphere where key staff are available onsite for direct person-to-person contact, whether scheduled or serendipitous.”

“Given the significant advantages associated with being in the office, and after lengthy consultation with my fellow Councilmembers and Legislative Department division heads, I am writing today to announce that the Legislative Department will be transitioning to an increased in-office presence of four days a week to more effectively meet internal and external business needs,” Nelson wrote. “This new policy will acknowledge the specific circumstances of individual employees and their roles in the Department, and each supervisor will have the flexibility to address such circumstances, on a case-by-case basis.”

PubliCola asked Nelson whether there was data to back up the statement that working from an office has “significant advantages” for legislative staff, but has not heard back yet. A number of legislative employees, including the city clerk’s office, have unionized over the past few years; one issue clerk’s office raised in their union drive was a new requirement that they commute to downtown Seattle two days a week regardless of their job duties, how far away they live, or whether they could do their jobs more effectively from home.

Although Nelson and Mayor Bruce Harrell have suggested that downtown recovery depends on city employees coming back to their offices and spending money in the area, the cost to city employees isn’t just the price of lunch. The pandemic made many workers aware of how much unpaid time they lose to daily commutes, and many discovered they were more productive when they worked from home. Adding cars to the roads also counteracts the city’s climate efforts, and works against efforts to achieve Vision Zero—the city’s goal of zero traffic deaths or serious injuries by 2030.

It’s unclear whether the return-to-office mandate is a working condition that will require additional bargaining for unionized legislative employees. Nelson’s memo says “a policy change of this nature should not be implemented without the Department’s leadership engaging in discussions with PROTEC-17, which represents staff across the Department”—though not individual council members’ staff.

PubliCola reached out to PROTEC17 and Nelson and will update this post if we hear back.

2. City employees and their unions have expressed dismay over the slow timeline for their retroactive pay increases, which represent back pay for 2023 and 2024. As PubliCola reported earlier this week, thousands of workers finally got a contract earlier this month, but won’t see their retroactive wages until October. According to emails HR managers sent to employees in various city departments Monday morning, the delay is purportedly related to the implementation of Workday, the city’s new payroll and finance system. City employees will receive the regular pay increases included in the contract, which amount to a total of 9.5 percent, next month.

However, a spokeswoman for the city’s finance office, Julie Johnson, confirmed that at least two groups of employees—unionized Seattle Fire Department employees and library staff—will get their retroactive pay on May 31. ‘For library staff, this is because the agreement is signed by the Library Board of Trustees, not City Council, and thus can be implemented earlier than the [Coalition of City Unions[ legislation,” Johnson said. “For fire department staff, this is because Local 27’s agreement was legislated earlier this year so can be completed in May prior to the City moving off of our current system and onto Workday.”

In an email to members, Local 17, which represents about 3,000 city employees, said Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office “acknowledges the fall date is a problem, and is actively working to move the timeline forward.” A spokesman for the mayor, Jamie Housen, said the mayor’s office is “continuing to work with labor partners, the Office of Finance, and the Seattle Department of Human Resources to ensure wage adjustments are made and retroactive pay is paid as quickly as possible.”