SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time ever, some Utah state employees will be required to work from home Thursday due to poor air quality.
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The Surge Remote Work Day is the first declared since the Utah legislature passed a law allowing state employees to tele-work on bad air days. The state also encourages private employers in Utah to allow staff to work remotely when air quality is poor.
“Even just one day of remote work saves pounds of pollutants from being released to the atmosphere, and the ability of our workforce to quickly adapt during snowstorms and other emergencies allows impressive continuity of service for our customers,” Gov. Spencer Cox has said.
Temperatures across Utah are expected to hit the mid-90s Thursday.
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About 8,600 state workers have been doing their jobs remotely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the pandemic ends, about half of those employees will continue to work from home.
