Council members debate telecommuting standard; many favor flexibility over a fixed rule

Councilman Toole placed a discussion of the council's telecommuting policy on the Personnel Subcommittee agenda and said the administration currently uses inconsistent policies. He proposed considering a standard that would require roughly 60% in-office work and 40% remote work (about three days in the office and two days remote) to improve continuity of services.

Toole noted legislative-assistant coverage concerns and suggested at least one legislative assistant be available on Fridays. "Our current policy allows employees to work up to 60% from home, 40% in the office," he said, framing the proposed change as a continuity measure for council operations.

Council reactions were mixed. Mr. Carter and Mr. Sheldon said they prefer flexibility, emphasizing that council members already have authority to set their staff's schedules and that many aides perform productive work offsite. Mr. Carter said aides frequently handle work effectively while remote and suggested keeping existing job descriptions and providing a simple set of posting tasks for any staff assigned communications duties. Mr. Sheldon and others reported their aides sometimes work additional days or weekend hours as needed and that scheduling is handled between members and their aides.

Clerk Neli Hill confirmed that currently two legislative staff (Mike and Rachel) are in the office five days a week, and members agreed the matter requires further discussion rather than an immediate uniform mandate. The subcommittee did not adopt a formal change to telecommuting policy during the meeting; members indicated they would continue the conversation and review job descriptions and operational coverage as needed.