State employees enter the state office complex in Waterbury as the Vermont State Employees Association opposes Gov. Phil Scott’s return to work mandate on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDig ger. The Vermont Labor Relations Board said Friday that it would not pause its earlier order requiring Gov. Phil Scott’s administration to end its return-to-office requirement for state employees.  The board did pause one provision from the original decision, which would mandate reimbursement for staff who have suffered financial losses as a result of the governor’s policy. On April 1, the labor board — a quasi-judicial body appointed by the governor according to particular rules — ordered the state to “rescind” a policy created last year requiring employees to return to their physical offices three days per week. Many state staff had begun working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Vermont State Employees’ Association brought concerns about the mandate to the board last November. Scott lambasted the board’s decision and the body itself last month, and administration officials quickly asked the labor board to pause its order while the state appealed it to the Vermont Supreme Court. The high court agreed last week to accelerate that process and has set aside time for a potential hearing on June 18.  In its request for a pause, the state argued that such action was needed to prevent “irreparable harm,” due in part to the significant financial ramifications of the labor board order. The state has leased office space at considerable expense in preparation for a larger in-person workforce, and the cost of reimbursing staff for expenses incurred by that transition would also likely be significant, state lawyers said.  READ MORE In general, many parts of the order are “ambiguous and unworkable,” state attorneys said, citing questions and confusion from a number of administrative staff as evidence favoring a pause. The labor board’s answer was for the most part a strongly worded “no.” “That the State has questions does not qualify as irreparable harm,” read Friday’s decision, pointing out that part of the board’s intended role is to hash out the specifics of compliance with its orders. Further, financial losses and other disruption would be “a product of the State’s actions,” the board said. And state employees saddled with additional costs as a result of the return-to-office policy would themselves be harmed by a pause, the decision added. The board did agree Friday to pause a requirement in its April order that said the state must make staff whole for “any monetary losses” resulting from the new return-to-office policy. Since union leadership did not challenge that part of the state’s request, the board said Friday, there was no dispute over a temporary pause for that provision. Steve Howard, the union’s executive director, called Friday’s order a victory. The governor’s return-to-office policy scrapped a flexible work arrangement that benefited both taxpayers and his members, Howard said in an interview. “His attempts to delay the remedy for that will not succeed,” he said. A pause on the reimbursement mandate was essentially common sense, he said: If the Vermont Supreme Court lets the administration’s return-to-office policy stand, then reversing that flow of money would be difficult. “We’re continuing to review the decision made by the Labor Relations Board this morning after submitting our request for a stay nearly a month ago,” said Amanda Wheeler, a spokesperson for Scott, in an email Friday. Officials in the governor’s office are “appreciative of the Supreme Court’s willingness to expedite the appeal,” she added. Last month, the high court declined to weigh in on a similar request from the state to pause the labor board’s order. The administration needed to start by asking the board itself, the court said. In previous filings, the state said it would return to the high court with the same ask if the board refused. Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont labor board declines state’s request to pause order blocking return-to-office policy. ...read more read less