More than five years after the COVID-19 emergency began, thousands of Wisconsin state employees still work from home — and no one in state government seems to know how many or why

According to data obtained by the Badger Institute, over half of the staff at the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and more than 40% of those in the Department of Administration (DOA) work remotely full-time. Many others split their time between home and office. Across all agencies, estimates suggest that over 24,000 of the state’s 29,000 employees now work remotely at least part-time.

But these figures are only guesses. State Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R–Pleasant Prairie) says no one — not the governor’s office, not DOA, and not the agencies themselves — can provide definitive data. More concerning, she says, there has been no productivity analysis or formal assessment of the continued use of remote work.

“There has been no productivity analysis, no data to support telework,” Nedweski told the Badger Institute. “From the agencies we’ve talked to, they can’t tell where an employee is on any given day.”

Nedweski is backing legislation that would require most state employees to return to their offices. Her bill, Assembly Bill 39, has drawn fierce opposition from public employees and a veto promise from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has shown no interest in reforming the state’s remote work policies.

Evers said in December he would veto any return-to-office provision in the state budget, arguing that telework makes jobs accessible to people outside major cities. “Not all the good workers are in the Madison and Milwaukee area,” he said.

But Nedweski insists this isn’t about ending remote work — it’s about bringing transparency and structure to a system that has evolved without oversight.

“What was an emergency situation just became permanent, with no framework in place for telework,” she said.

A December 2023 Legislative Audit Bureau report highlighted the lack of accountability. At 15 agencies, auditors found many offices nearly empty, with some having less than 35% workstation usage on any given day. Badge access logs showed many employees entered their offices just one or two days per week — some even less. Remote work agreements, which are required under state HR policies, were often missing or undocumented.

Despite these findings, little has changed. Nedweski says her bill is necessary because the Evers administration has refused to act on the audit’s recommendations.

At DWD, 51.2% of employees work remotely full-time and another 37% do so part-time. At DOA, 40.2% are fully remote and an additional 39.5% work from home part of the week. Other major agencies either refused to share data or claimed not to have any.

“There was no framework in place for telework, and maybe that was because of the emergency,” Nedweski said. “The trouble was no one told them they had to do it.”

Wisconsin is now an outlier. Other governors — including progressive Democrats like Gavin Newsom in California and Tim Walz in Minnesota — are scaling back remote work. Newsom is mandating four in-office days per week beginning July 1. Walz is requiring all state employees to be in the office at least 50% of the time starting June 1.

“In-person work makes us all stronger — period,” Newsom said. “When we work together, collaboration improves, innovation thrives, and accountability increases.”

Nedweski, a former tech consultant in her second Assembly term, says Wisconsin taxpayers deserve better.

“Our first obligation is to the taxpayers of Wisconsin,” she said. “I do not oppose telework and believe that under some circumstances it has its place. But we have no idea what is working and what isn’t. This bill gives us a starting place.”