Philadelphia Mandates In-Office Work Days for City Employees

Talk about a Philly special.

While some business leaders push for a four-day workweek or enact hybrid office shifts following a change in workplace preferences after the pandemic, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has doubled down on the traditional — by requiring all 26,000 city workers to return to the office five days a week, effective Monday.

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The new ordinance was signed on Friday by Judge Sierra Thomas Street. Unions in the city pushed to delay the new mandate but were met with opposition.

It’s estimated that 80% of Philadelphia city workers are already working on-site five days a week.

“July 15th, in the middle of the summer, people are scrambling, trying to find childcare, trying to find summer camps,” April Gigetts, president of District Council 47 in Philadelphia, told NPR.

Parker claimed that the decision was made for the city of Philadelphia and its government to “create a more visible and accessible government, a city government that our residents can see, touch and feel.”

Chief Administration Officer for Philadelphia, Camille Duchaussee, said that the decision was not made due to lack of productivity, but rather based on an overarching “leadership” strategy.

“We want to ensure that we continue to build on the culture and experience that’s positive in the workplace,” Duchaussee said, in a statement. “We understand that work from home is something that our employees were taking part in, but we all have a shared purpose and our workforce is committed to the shared purpose.”

Philadelphia is the first major U.S. city to enact such a mandate.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly wage for a city worker is $22.84.

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Philly isn’t alone in cracking down on working time frames for city employees.

Earlier this month, Greece enacted a mandate that required a six-day workweek for employees working for private business and manufacturing plants that operate 24 hours a day, including certain retail and agricultural workers.