KY Transportation Cabinet could lose staff if remote work is eliminated, groups say
Some Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employees who may no longer be able to work remotely say the ability to work from home has benefitted travelers, taxpayers and legislators.
Without it, good employees may leave, two worker associations told the Herald-Leader.
Threats to the cabinet’s remote work option were included in a bill passed by the Kentucky General Assembly over the governor’s line-item veto. Under House Bill 501, “employees of the Transportation Cabinet shall not be permitted to telecommute unless specifically exempted by the Secretary of the Transportation Cabinet.”
The rule requires exemptions be reported quarterly to the Legislative Research Commission. A provision in another policy — Senate Bill 197, which awaits action from the governor — implements the remote work guidance starting July 1, 2027.
In a joint statement, the Kentucky Transportation Employee’s Association and the Kentucky Association of Transportation Engineers said they support accountability for the cabinet’s workers and look forward to having more conversations about how best to “effectively deliver Kentucky’s transportation system for the taxpayer.”
“Kentucky depends on a workforce of engineers and technical professionals at KYTC to safely deliver an efficient transportation system,” the statement said. “State agencies can rarely compete with the private sector on salary, but the risk of knowledge loss is accelerated when the private sector can offer remote work in addition to a higher salary.”
Both associations are dedicated to promoting improvements and employee benefits for staff at the state’s Transportation Cabinet.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employs more than 4,000 people to oversee road construction projects, maintain highways and bridges, inspect airports and runways and respond to bad weather. The cabinet is also responsible for motor vehicle and driver services, including driver’s license issuing, renewals and vehicle registration.
The move in House Bill 501, which funds the operations of the Transportation Cabinet, is the most recent success by the legislature to limit the amount of state workers doing their jobs remotely. An “on-site work” provision is not included in bills that allocate money and outline conditions for the operation of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.
In 2025, lawmakers unsuccessfully tried to send state employees back to the office.
Thousands shifted to at least part-time remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shut down multiple state buildings in 2020. Since then, Beshear has touted “expanded telecommuting options” as one of the benefits of taking a job with the state government.
But last year, legislators said their constituents were tired of paperwork backlogs, numerous unreturned phone calls and other delays.
The two transportation employee associations acknowledged that while remote work is not appropriate for all staff of the Transportation Cabinet, it has been shown to provide “significant” benefits.
“When disruptions or emergencies threaten normal operations, an established remote work infrastructure ensures continuity is maintained,” the groups said. “Delays on project questions or decisions have decreased as remote accessibility has increased.”
Managers in the cabinet use policies and tools to ensure productivity of their workers, “which has exceeded pre-pandemic levels,” the groups continued.
The 2025 personnel manual for the transportation cabinet says managers and department heads are responsible for approving telecommuting hours and days for its staff to work away from the office.
Regular, scheduled telecommuting requires a formal agreement, while periodic or intermittent telecommuting for a short time frame requires only a verbal agreement, the manual said.
All employees who partially telecommute are required, according to the manual, to work from their official workstation at least three days per week.
Similar rules became effective for all state employee in August 2025, according to a memo distributed to Kentucky’s cabinet secretaries, agency heads and human resources administrators by the secretary of the personnel cabinet.
.JPG)