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Hayward staff, residents press council to keep hybrid work policy after city manager directive
Summary
At a special joint meeting April 15, more than a half-dozen Hayward city employees and residents urged the City Council and City Manager to reconsider a recent directive requiring all staff to return to the office full time, saying the change would harm morale and work–life balance and asking for collaborative, data-driven alternatives.
More than a dozen speakers at Hayward’s April 15 joint City Council and redevelopment-successor-agency meeting urged the council and City Manager Alvarez to preserve hybrid work options after an email directive required staff to return to the office full time.
The pleas came during the meeting’s public comment period, when city employees described how a permanent hybrid policy established after the COVID-19 pandemic had become an important part of recruitment, retention and daily service. “I was disheartened to receive an email from the city manager yesterday directing all staff to come back into the office full time,” said Elizabeth Lisonbee, senior planner in the Development Services Department. “The decision was made without consulting staff.”
Why it matters: speakers linked the hybrid schedule to staff morale, retention and service continuity. Several employees — including assistant planners and transportation and community services staff — described long commutes, caregiving responsibilities and productivity benefits they attributed to remote days.
Rick Rivera, an analyst in the Community Services Division, cited peer-reviewed research on hybrid schedules and told the council the literature does not show productivity losses and does show reductions in attrition for hybrid workers. “The experimental group, which was provided a hybrid work schedule, experienced a 33% reduction in overall attrition,” Rivera said, summarizing a June 2024 study published in Nature.
Several planners described personal impacts. Sachiko Riddle, an assistant planner, said the hybrid option allowed her an hour and a half of evening time with her young son on days she commutes to City Hall: “The flexibility, along with the option to work from home a couple days a week, is what made it possible for me to accept this position.” Colin Patterson, an associate transportation planner, said losing hybrid options would make the city a less competitive employer: “I have nearly an hour-long commute each way… Losing that flexibility makes it much harder to pursue something that’s incredibly meaningful to me.”
City manager response and next steps: Mayor Salinas closed public comment by promising to listen and to work with the city manager and staff. City Manager Alvarez addressed the council and public, saying she had heard the concerns and that the operational shift is intended to “strengthen connections, collaboration, and our ability to serve the public with excellence,” while committing to continued communication with employees.
Council context: speakers asked for a collaborative, data-driven approach rather than a one-size-fits-all directive. Multiple commenters asked the city manager to invite staff to help design measures of service quality and to present data showing where in-person coverage is required and where hybrid arrangements work.
Ending: Council members acknowledged the emails and comments they have received and said they would continue conversations with the city manager and staff; no formal decision to reverse the directive was made at the meeting.
