Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that while state legislators can telecommute to work during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Kathy Hochul is insisting state employees report to their offices every day. The Public Employees Federation, the state's second-largest public labor union, does not agree with Hochul on this issue. "By the state’s own reports, this is the worst spread of infection we have seen at any time during this pandemic, and health experts predict this surge has not peaked yet," PEF President Wayne Spence said in a statement issued Jan. 11. "Rather than allow its workforce to protect themselves, their families and the public from this surge by telecommuting as they did during previous surges, the state ignores this simple and effective strategy and, instead, chooses to broaden vaccine mandates, requires workers to wear masks all day at their desks, wastes its limited supply of COVID tests and now forces another dose of the vaccine upon its strained workforce." But while Hochul wants all state employees working normally, not all state employees are. back in the office. The state comptroller's office, for instance, gave employees until Jan. 12 to decide whether they need to continue telecommuting through Jan. 24. The attorney general's office in New York City is relying heavily on telecommuting while their regional offices, including in Albany, are generally at below 50 percent of the workforce in the office. Other offices have less than perfect attendance, as employees who catch coronavirus call in sick. New York's largest union, the Civil Services Employees Association, is not complaining. "As I’ve stated previously, the majority of the CSEA-represented state workforce has been working at their workplaces since before the start of the pandemic and continue to report to their places of employment," said Mark Kotzin, a CSEA spokesman. "We have no further public comment on this at the present time." Read more about this story in the Times Union.