The same old gross sales pitch for working from residence has been that the job can get carried out simply as successfully exterior the workplace, boosting morale and permitting staff to handle different commitments whereas assembly and even exceeding their skilled duties.
However a senior lawyer within the San Diego Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace could also be testing the boundaries of distant work.
Newly elected Metropolis Legal professional Heather Ferbert promoted one in all her prime deputies to a freshly created govt place paying nearly $300,000 a 12 months and permitted her to work remotely throughout an prolonged sea cruise world wide.
Jean Jordan, who was an appointed county counsel in Northern California earlier than she was lured to San Diego 4 years in the past, departed on the four-month circumnavigation in late January, the Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace acknowledged.
She’s simply over midway by means of her world tour and due residence late subsequent month. She’s additionally accumulating her full-time wage and advantages, together with trip.
In line with a spokesperson for Ferbert, the brand new metropolis legal professional personally authorised the work-at-sea association below her skilled discretion.
“As the head of an independent city department, the city attorney has the authority to allow temporary teleworking arrangements for office employees on a case-by-case basis,” Ferbert spokesperson Ibrahim Ahmed stated in a press release.
“In this case, the city attorney thoroughly examined the job responsibilities of the position and determined that all required work could be performed remotely on a temporary basis with no impact on office operations,” he added.
Ferbert “stays in constant communication with all members of her executive team,” and the workplace “has not experienced any delays or other negative impacts” because of the association, Ahmed stated.
Jordan was employed as one of many workplace’s six assistant metropolis attorneys in 2021, when she resigned as county counsel for Sutter County, a largely agricultural group north of Sacramento.
Ferbert authorised a reorganization of San Diego’s regulation workplace early in her time period, weeks after defeating state Assemblymember Brian Maienschein within the race to succeed former Metropolis Legal professional Mara Elliott.
The restructuring known as for placing a brand new govt assistant metropolis legal professional in command of three different assistants, the attorneys in command of civil litigation, the Metropolis Council, and authorities providers and mayoral departments.
Two different prime assistants, attorneys overseeing the felony division and administration, proceed to report on to town legal professional.
Ferbert’s workplace didn’t reply to questions on why Jordan was appointed to the senior job earlier than embarking on the prolonged journey, or why the workplace reorganization was not delayed till after the brand new govt returned.
Jordan, who’s now paid $282,651 a 12 months, declined to debate her work standing.
Jordan collected $239,000 a 12 months earlier than her promotion, in accordance with the net public-salary database Clear California. The identical database stated Jordan was paid $155,000 in 2020, her final full 12 months as prime legal professional in Sutter County.
Shelley Webb is a supervising deputy within the felony division of the Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace. She additionally serves as president of the Deputy Metropolis Attorneys Affiliation of San Diego, the union that represents rank-and-file metropolis attorneys.
Webb declined to touch upon Jordan’s abroad enterprise however confirmed that the No. 2 individual within the workplace didn’t broadly inform her employees attorneys that she can be touring over an prolonged interval.
However Marlea Dell’Anno, a lawyer in non-public observe who previously served as a San Diego assistant metropolis legal professional, stated permitting somebody to work off-site whereas engaged in a world cruise for months on finish is questionable, particularly a senior govt.
“It’s like being an absentee parent,” stated Dell’Anno, who was fired by former Metropolis Legal professional Jan Goldsmith after which gained a multimillion-dollar jury award in a wrongful-termination case.
“You are the No. 2 to the city attorney. How critical a role can you have if you’re not accessible to the people you are leading?” she stated. “This doesn’t seem like something a good steward of taxpayer dollars would allow.”
Worldwide cruises typically are booked months prematurely. A 115-day journey promoted by Princess Cruises, for instance, is accepting bookings that depart Los Angeles on Jan. 21, 2026, and returns Could 16. The roundtrip Circle Pacific cruise stops at 59 ports in additional than a dozen nations.
Many friends are retirees trying to sightsee globally from a cushty base at sea. However a rising variety of so-called digital nomads journey the world whereas sustaining their jobs with little greater than a laptop computer and dependable Wi-Fi.
In line with the MBO Companions consultancy, which tracks office tendencies and tradition, the variety of digital nomads climbed from 7.3 million in 2019 to greater than 18 million by 2024.
“This level of growth reflects a new normal of steady growth and a true entrance to the mainstream,” the corporate wrote in its 2024 State of Independence in America Report.
Town of San Diego has a complete coverage dictating how staff can apply to work remotely on a case-by-case foundation.
Contributors within the telework program want approval from their division head and the human assets workplace. Distant staff additionally should signal an settlement dictating their phrases of service, work circumstances and different guidelines.
In line with the present finances, the Metropolis Legal professional’s Workplace employs slightly below 425 folks and can spend $85 million this 12 months. The workplace is among the greatest regulation corporations in San Diego, with greater than 175 attorneys.
The vast majority of staff work each within the workplace and elsewhere, Ahmed stated.
“These schedules enable staff to meet their various job demands, including time spent in court, mediation, investigation, hearings and other job duties that take them out into the field,” he stated.
All advised, slightly below 2,000 of town’s 13,300 staff are authorised to work remotely with formal signed agreements, the Mayor’s Workplace stated.
Growth Companies leads all departments with 393 authorised staff, Public Utilities is second with 307 folks allowed to work exterior the workplace, and Engineering & Capital Tasks is third with 298 approvals.
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