COLOMBIA – One in four state agencies – including several of the largest in South Carolina – will bring workers back to their full-time workplaces a little more than a week after a request from Governor Henry McMaster.
Despite concerns expressed on social media by some state government officials, 26 agencies will begin or resume face-to-face operations on March 15.
They include the University of South Carolina and the State Departments of Social Services, Mental Health, Corrections and Natural Resources. They cover about 20,000 employees or more than a quarter of all civil servants.
Employees at 77 other state agencies and colleges are expected to return to work by April 5, according to the state Department of Administration.
McMaster told the heads of the agency on March 5, when he issued a new executive order to draft reentry plans to bring workers back to the workplace “quickly”, but did not give a deadline. The governor called on state officials to return as COVID-19 vaccines became more widely available and four of the five Southern Carolinians were eligible to receive the doses.
The 77 agencies that will not be returning next week sought extensions to make modifications to workspaces, such as installing barriers, obtaining personal protective equipment and time for employees to make arrangements for the care of addicts, said the Department of Health spokeswoman. Kelly Coakley Administration.
Individual agency workers may ask to continue working from home if they have problems with care for dependents or are at high risk if they become infected with COVID-19 or live with someone who is at high risk.
Coakley did not provide a complete list of which agencies are returning to personal work in the next week and which are taking the longest.
Most state employees were back on the job on March 11, according to the Administration Department.
About 43,000 state payroll employees have reported to their workplaces, while 24,300 are still doing their work remotely. Another 6,548 employees were on leave or not scheduled to work.
State officials began to return last May. The first wave included managers, call center employees and others who are unable to do their jobs easily at home, said state administrative director Marcia Adams at the time.
Last month, agency heads told lawmakers that they needed some employees to stay on the job in person due to the nature of their work, such as road repair teams.
“Some of our work tasks do not lead to teleworking. You can’t fix a hole by working at home, “SC Transportation Department chief Christy Hall told a House Ways and Means subcommittee in February, while considering a bill that would give vaccine priority to K- 12.
The shipping agency’s return plan was not immediately available.
Bryan Stirling, who heads the SC Penitentiary Department, told the Post and Courier on March 12 that his agency needed to be creative, as 21 institutions require employees 24 hours a day.
At certain points in the past year, National Guard troops helped with medical examinations for quarantined prisoners or preparing meals. The authorities also created virtual classrooms and schedules for ongoing educational programs within state prisons.
Some agencies started asking lawmakers in January to make it easier for their employees to take pictures.
As of February 16, 550 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported among the 4,200 workers in the Department of Social Work, the agency’s director of communications, Connelly-Anne Ragley, told lawmakers.
“We realized that frontline child protection and welfare workers who are going to nursing homes and assisted living centers are essential public workers who continued to do their jobs during the pandemic,” she said.
A DSS spokeswoman said 2,473 workers were already back at work on March 12 and 932 were working remotely.
Follow Adam Benson on Twitter @ AdamNewshound12.