My View: Is the state a family-friendly employee?

By Beth Gudbrandsen · Published in the Santa Fe New Mexican · December 31, 2022

After the recent announcement by the State Personnel Office precipitously canceling a permanent, post-COVID-19 Non-Mandatory Telework Policy for state employees, Communications Workers of America Local 7076 has heard overwhelmingly from our members that this is going to force working parents — mostly working mothers — to make a choice between their careers and their children’s well-being.

For an administration so focused on child welfare, one has to wonder: How was this decision made? Were the needs of working mothers considered at all?

In a recent survey of our members, we identified that one-third will need to make different child care arrangements if they are required to return to the office. For anyone commuting from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, this means spending, at a minimum, an additional 2.5 hours per day away from their children. And that’s assuming they can find a child care provider with adequate hours and availability before Sunday in Albuquerque. Employees are back at work Tuesday, after the observed New Year’s holiday on Monday.

Emails have recently been sent to employees at some agencies stating that “The Early Childhood Education and Care Department has resources available to assist employees with locating childcare.” By using the “New Mexico Childcare Finder” on the department’s website, you will see there is only one facility within a 10-mile radius of Santa Fe with any availability, and it only accepts children over 2 years of age.

Is this administration under the illusion that one facility can accommodate the child care needs of all state employees forced to return to the office this week? Did anyone even check the website before sending it out as a “resource”?

Not to mention, are after-school programs ready to accommodate an influx of elementary- and middle school-aged kids? Parents will have to find options for children who were old enough to entertain themselves at home while their parents were teleworking, but not old enough to be left home alone.

With the advent of telework, it seemed like the “latchkey” kid era was becoming just a bad memory, but apparently it’s no longer a thing of the past for the children of state employees.

While the governor has lofty goals for reforming child care in our state, we simply aren’t there yet, and forcing employees back to the office is only hurting working parents. Our members have been told by managers that they will need to take extended leave until they are able to sort out their child care needs, which means state employees will be able to provide even fewer services to our constituents — services that we were successfully providing while teleworking.

In fact, our members at the Early Childhood Education and Care Department also are impacted by the decision to cancel telework. Many may be forced to take indefinite leave or quit state service because of this decision.

The department currently has a 40 percent vacancy rate among rank-and-file employees. If the telework cancellation causes the vacancy rate at the Early Childhood Education and Care Department to rise further, it will perpetuate the cycle of a state unable to provide sufficient child care for its working families.

For the sake of New Mexico’s working families, reverse the decision to cancel telework.

Beth Gudbrandsen is the agency vice president for the Public Education Department.