- Two managers at the State Controller’s Office spent significant time teleworking from other states, an investigation by the California State Auditor found.
- The discovery was part of the state auditor’s yearly investigation into whistleblower complaints.
- The State Controller’s Office now plans to periodically monitor employees’ telework locations, the report said.
Two managers at the California State Controller’s Office teleworked regularly from other states without disclosing their locations, an investigation by state auditors found.
In response, the State Controller’s Office plans to periodically monitor employee teleworking locations, the auditors said in a recent report.
One manager worked remotely from Idaho for about five years starting in November 2020, auditors found. Another logged on from Alabama and Tennessee.
Auditors recorded both managers teleworking from other states as late as last year, the report said.
The discovery was one of nine cases of inefficiency, misuse of state resources and other “improper government activities” the California State Auditor’s office disclosed following its yearly investigation into whistleblower claims.
Sign Up for the Morning Newsletter
The Abridged morning newsletter lands in your inbox every weekday morning with the latest news from the Sacramento region.
This year’s report followed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s September veto of a bill that would have required state agencies to provide a “detailed, written justification” for requiring in-office work.
The veto punctuated Newsom’s push over the past two years for state workers to report to the office most days, after departments had allowed them to work remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
After supporting remote work at first, in March 2025 the governor ordered state workers to return to their offices four days per week, starting that July. The return was delayed until July 2026.
Multiple unions representing state workers pushed back, and workers scrambled to find childcare and readjust to parking downtown.
Working across the country
Both of the managers state auditors investigated were staff services managers, but the report did not identify either by name.
In the report, auditors changed the genders of some people involved to protect their identities.
The first manager had signed telework plans for three consecutive years stating his remote-work location was in California, auditors found.
On the surface, things seemed above-board: While California law contains no explicit standard for determining if a worker lives in-state for telework purposes, the state’s human resources department has told agencies not to allow out-of-state telework, with few exceptions, the report said.
And State Controller’s Office rules say workers can telework “either at home or in a location conducive to being able to return to their assigned work location within their normal commute time,” the report says.
Yet the California address the manager had provided on his telework plan was actually for a family member’s property, he later admitted to auditors.
Meanwhile, he had been working remotely from Idaho, the report said.
Investigators found that his IP address records showed regular logins from Idaho — it did not say where specifically — and that the manager owns property in Idaho and has an Idaho driver’s license.
“When we interviewed Manager A, he admitted to working from Idaho ‘just about every day’ for about five years since he moved to Idaho in November 2020,” the report stated.
The report did not say when auditors interviewed the manager, or whether the interview was in-person.
“Despite living and working in Idaho for approximately five years, Manager A did not disclose to anyone at the SCO his actual location,” auditors concluded.
‘Fear of losing his job’
The manager kept his location hidden “out of fear of losing his job, which afforded him work‑life balance,” the report said.
The second manager also stated in three consecutive yearly telework plans that her remote-work location was an address in California, the report said.
Yet from June through September last year, IP address data shows she logged in from Alabama roughly half the time, auditors found.
For the following two months, the manager logged in exclusively from Alabama, the report said. It did not say where specifically in the state the manager was working.
Furthermore, IP address data also showed some logins — the report did not say how many — from Tennessee.
A 2024 court order identified the manager as a Tennessee resident, and she reported a Tennessee home address on 2023 tax documents, auditors found.
”When we questioned Manager B about either the IP address information or the documentation purporting her residency outside of California, she reiterated that although she worked from Alabama and Tennessee, she did not live outside of California,” the report stated.
Auditors added, “We found her explanation not credible and believe that she is more likely than not a resident of another state.”
The manager told auditors she had planned to move to Alabama after leaving state service. Both managers have separated from the State Controller’s Office, the report said.
Crafting new telework rules
Overall, the investigation uncovered gaps in how the State Controller’s Office manages its remote workers, auditors said in the report.
The agency’s policies do not explicitly say employees must telework from California, and both managers maintained that it was unclear whether out-of-state telework was allowed, the report said.
Moreover, the State Controller’s Office lacked a strong system for detecting long-term out-of-state remote work, the report said.
Following the investigation, the office is refreshing its telework rules — which will include a process for periodically checking where employees are teleworking.
Auditors suggested reviewing the locations of department-issued cellphones.
“SCO will continue to leverage technology to ensure compliance with our telework policy. The SCO will not discuss the timing or frequency associated with internal controls,” State Controller’s Office spokesperson Mariana Carine said in an email responding to questions about what the monitoring will entail.
“Our focus is ensuring compliance with workplace policies while protecting employee privacy and public resources,” she said.
Auditors also recommended that California legislators change state law “to clearly provide that state employees may not regularly telework from locations outside of California,” the report said.
