King County staffers say new executive's return-to-office push ignores crucial details

King County employees are pushing back hard over their return-to-office mandate, with questions both pragmatic and philosophical.

Their new boss, Executive Girmay Zahilay, is requiring they report to office buildings three days a week by June 1, while giving departments the discretion to figure out the details. He said the move is intended to improve service to the public.

But union leaders and employees said the planning has been rushed and unresponsive to their concerns.

King County closed its Administration Building next to the downtown Seattle courthouse during the pandemic, and never reopened it. The offices it housed have relocated. But standing in the lobby, King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn said its shadowy spaces are symbolic of a work-from-home culture that he’s determined to change.

“Let me just tell you, as I stand around here, I am the least popular person in King County government,” Dunn said on a recent weekday.

Last year Dunn, a Republican, introduced legislation requiring county employees to work in the office three days a week. The proposal didn’t pass, but Dunn said it created political momentum for the return-to-office process that Zahilay is now pursuing.

“It’s really hard to say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s draconian to bring us back three days a week,'” Dunn said, “because most Americans are out there working in the office — in most cases, more than that. So it was designed to force the hand of whomever was going to be the new exec.”

Office workers make up about a quarter of the county’s roughly 19,000 employees. Dunn said he wanted to head off attempts by labor unions to enshrine remote work for office workers permanently. He said in-person work is key for collaboration, morale, and building public trust.

Zahilay has delivered a similar message, calling for better visibility and customer service through what he calls “boots on the ground.”

But one employee with Public Health—Seattle & King County told KUOW the mandate feels performative and tone deaf, bemoaning everything from increased child care costs to the environmental impact of more commuting.

KUOW agreed to not use employees’ names because they feared repercussions to their jobs.

This employee said she’s not opposed to working in the office, but the current setup is inadequate for her to do her job.

“We need focused workspaces and the reality is that county buildings are not equipped to host the number of employees that are being mandated back,” she said.

In another county department, Natural Resources and Parks, employees said this change is even more wrenching, because 1,200 staffers are fully remote and have no dedicated space waiting for them. Some of those workers now live outside King County and said they’re accustomed to visiting work sites, but going to downtown Seattle would take hours each day.

One DNRP employee far outside King County said she applied for her current position when it was advertised as teleworking.

“I’ve actually cried. I’m starting to do it right now,” she said. “And all this angst that we get from these silly emails that we get over and over from people that know nothing about what we do.”

Another employee said: “I love my job, I love what I do, and this autonomy and flexibility allows me to do what I do best effectively.”

And a third said: “If they pumped the brakes and took time to really listen to the concerns of their employees and to try to work with people — to treat us like people, like they value us — I don’t think we’d be having these conversations.”

The return-to-office initiative is expected to cost $22 million at the outset, partly to add 1,700 new work spaces.

King County Executive Girmay said that’s because, since 2020, the county downsized its office space, “but also our workforce has grown pretty significantly.”

Zahilay said his own staff is coming in to work at least three days a week. He calls the difference “undeniable.”

“We’re able to build relationships amongst team members, especially new team members, in a new administration,” he said. “That is critical. Our decision-making is faster, and the environment is just more enjoyable and productive now that we’re all here.”

As a new dad, Zahilay said he also sees the family benefits of some remote work, which is why he’s pushing the hybrid schedule.

But employees said they still see chaos ahead, as departments commit to varying deadlines.

Cara Mattson is a union representative with Teamsters Local 117. She’s part of a coalition of several unions negotiating with county leadership over the impacts for employees with the Department of Natural Resources and Parks. In 2020, then-director Christie True informed 800 employees they would transition to “permanent teleworking.”

Mattson said meetings with King County leadership over the return-to-office mandate have been “frustrating.”

“These employees have built their lives around this, and they feel like they’ve been deceived or tricked,” she said.

Mattson said employees packed a recent meeting at King Street Center, sitting on the floor and elsewhere, highlighting the space constraints. She said employees are supposed to submit new telework agreements; the unions are advising them to submit agreements reflecting their "current or desired telework arrangements." Changes for DNRP employees are moving at a slightly slower pace than other departments. King County seeks to have them return two days per week — rather than three — by March 30.

Protec17 is another union representing King County employees, including staff at the Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

“Our Coalition Labor Agreement has telecommuting language that allows employees to request alternatives to the mandates,” a spokesperson said in an email. “Employees may also seek exemptions through the ADA process.”