/ Modified may 13, 2020 5:06 p.m.

Work from home ending for many county employees

Two supervisors say the plan runs counter to the governor's proposal.

chuck huckelberry hero Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry at his desk in 2019.
Nate Huffman/AZPM

Gov. Doug Ducey this week suggested that employers still consider letting their employees work from home, even after his stay-at-home order is lifted on Friday. But Pima County is taking the opposite approach.

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry says about 1,100 county workers have been doing their jobs from home since the pandemic began. Starting next week, most will be expected to show back up at the office unless they have a family member to care for, or a medical reason to stay home.

"We're a public agency, and as a public agency we've got to provide public services," Huckelberry said at a Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday morning.

Supervisor Betty Villegas questioned Huckelberry's plan, saying it appeared to contradict Ducey's statements Tuesday.

"[Ducey] was continuing to recommend those that are telecommuting to continue to telecommute, and I would that have thought that that would mean us as a public agency as well," Villegas said.

Huckelberry published his so-called Return to Work Guidelines last week, although employees who've been telecommuting never actually stopped working, they just did their work from home. Supervisors accepted Huckelberry's plan despite their objections.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona