On Friday, WRIC reported that more than 300 Virginia state employees have resigned since Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin instituted an order sharply limiting when they can work from home.
“On May 5, Youngkin updated the state’s telework policy for all state employees to begin working in-person full-time by July 5, a change the governor’s office stressed would provide ‘options for and supports the use of telework where appropriate,'” reported Dean Mirshahi. “Youngkin said it would help ‘balance the demands of government services with the needs of our public servants.'”
According to the report, the resignations have been across a wide variety of state agencies, with some departing workers explicitly citing the new telework policy as the reason for their exit.
“This includes 183 Virginia Department of Transportation employees, 28 of whom cited ‘telework options’ as the reason for leaving. Two VDOT workers who listed telework as the reason did move to another state agency, records obtained by 8News after filing a Freedom of Information Act request show,” said the report. “Other state agencies and divisions, including the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), provided employment resignations since Youngkin’s announcement in May after 8News filed public record requests.”
“According to those records, VDH had 78 resignations and VEC had 37 resignations from May 5 to June 27,” said the report. “Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) had seven resignations from May 5 to July 6 and Virginia’s Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) had six resignations from May 4 to July 7.”
Youngkin, the first Republican governor elected in Virginia since 2009, has found himself in multiple controversies in recent weeks. He came under fire for adding religious language to mandatory state diversity training. He also has signaled, in the wake of Roe v. Wade‘s undoing, he will sign “any bill” that comes before him to restrict abortion, although he has been cagey about how much he personally wants to limit the procedure.