California Telework Bill Heads to Senate Hearing as Four-Day Office Rule Takes Effect

California’s Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider AB 1729 on August 3, a pending telework bill that would require state agencies to document remote-work policies and attendance requirements. The hearing would not change current workplace rules for state employees.

Assembly Bill 1729 remains active legislation in committee. It would take effect only if it clears the Legislature and is signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Until then, the state’s current four-in-person-days default and case-by-case exception process remain in place.

Four in-person days remain the current default

Newsom’s return-to-office policy took effect July 1, 2026. For departments that offer telework, the statewide default minimum is four in-person days per work week, up from two days under the prior arrangement.

California Department of Human Resources guidance says departments must consider requests for more than one telework day per week individually. Decisions must account for operational needs, applicable labor agreements and governing law, including disability-accommodation requirements.

The guidance also allows exceptions for some positions whose duties require work at an alternate location, including examples such as telehealth, investigative and inspection work. Employees who live at least 50 miles from their designated headquarters or duty station and had a qualifying telework agreement before March 3, 2025, may also be allowed to continue that arrangement if the department determines it meets operational needs.

Field work, off-site meetings and work-related travel can count as in-person days under the guidance. The scheduled AB 1729 hearing does not suspend or replace any of those rules.

What AB 1729 would require

The bill would require each state agency to develop and implement a telework plan in work areas where telework is identified as practical and beneficial to the organization.

When an agency’s unique operational needs and programmatic mission require employees to report to a workplace, the agency would have to provide a detailed written justification to the Department of General Services and to the agency’s employees. That requirement would create a more formal record of attendance decisions, while leaving agencies to assess their own missions and operational needs.

AB 1729 would also direct the Department of General Services to establish a telework dashboard. The bill says the dashboard would display reported benefits including reduced office-space and operating costs, emissions, energy use and vehicle miles traveled.

Each agency would evaluate its telework program every 10 years under the proposal. The bill says those reviews would be intended to align telework with agency missions and support recruitment and retention of qualified workers.

The savings figures are estimates, not realized results

AB 1729 cites a Department of General Services estimate that telework schedules could reduce state-owned and leased office space by approximately 30%. It also cites a California State Auditor estimate of annual savings of as much as $225 million.

Those figures are estimates included in the bill to support the proposal. They are not savings already produced by AB 1729, and the bill would not automatically produce either result.

The proposed dashboard would give the state a way to track future effects on facilities and operations. For residents and taxpayers, the accountability question would be whether any reduction in office-space or operating costs is documented alongside the effects on service delivery and agency operations.

Why the dispute matters beyond state offices

The policy directly affects state employees and can also affect commuting, parking, childcare arrangements and office capacity. CapRadio reported that workers raised concerns about traffic, childcare and whether departments had enough seating for a large-scale return to the office. Those are reported worker concerns, not established findings about the policy’s statewide effects.

CalMatters reported that roughly 108,000 of California’s more than 245,900 state employees are affected by the four-day mandate. Employees in jobs that generally require a fixed work location, including many prison, firefighting, law-enforcement and custodial positions, are generally not covered in the same way.

The broader debate also involves recruitment and retention, service delivery and the state’s use of government-owned and leased space. Newsom’s administration has argued that more in-person work can support collaboration and productivity, while opponents have questioned whether a broad default sufficiently accounts for different job duties, workplace capacity and employee costs.

What happens next

AB 1729 passed the Assembly on May 27, 2026, by a 67-7 vote. It was read for the first time in the Senate on May 28, referred to Senate committees in June, and on June 23 was ordered to be re-referred to Senate Appropriations after a committee vote. The Senate Appropriations hearing is scheduled for August 3, 2026.

A scheduled hearing does not guarantee a vote, passage or advancement. If the bill moves forward, it would still need to complete the Senate process. If the Senate changes it, the Assembly would have to consider concurrence or otherwise resolve the differences. The measure would then require the governor’s signature to become law.

AB 1729 contains an urgency clause stating that it would take effect immediately if enacted. That clause has no effect while the bill remains pending.

For now, state employees remain subject to the current four-in-person-days default where applicable, along with the existing case-by-case exception process. The next date to watch is August 3, when Senate Appropriations is scheduled to consider whether the telework bill should move forward.

Sources

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