SACRAMENTO — Monday, June 17 marked the first official day of California’s new hybrid work model for state employees.
Under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new policy, state workers have to work in-office at least two days a week .
Department of Education employee Sean Kaviani was back downtown for the first time Monday paying for parking and finding a place for lunch for the first time in two years.
He stepped inside Sam’s Market for a sandwich on his first lunch break in a long time.
“Were you mandated to come back?” Sam’s Market employee Kenton Fong asked him. “You haven’t been back in the office, right?
Fong said his business is still struggling, but he is starting to see a slow return of state workers.
“It started probably in the beginning of January that some of them started coming back,” Fong said.
Gov Newsom set June 17 as the deadline for all state departments to adopt the new policy.
“It’s actually great,” Kaviani said. “Today is kind of like initiation, like a ‘welcome back.’ ”