Agencies set to outline strategies to bypass union obstacles and address office space concerns for full in-person staff return
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have directed federal agencies to submit plans within two weeks for bringing employees back to their offices or duty stations. This new guidance, as reported by Google News, comes as the Trump administration prioritizes in-person work for agency headquarters staff.
The plans, due on Feb. 7, will detail steps for revising telework agreements and ensuring in-person work as soon as possible. Agencies will determine associated costs with finding workplaces for employees who have been working remotely full-time, including potential relocation benefits.
Bringing remote workers more than 50 miles from a current agency office may present unique challenges. To address this, agencies have been instructed to use federally owned or leased spaces for all employees who will no longer telework, acknowledging that some cases may require adding net-new space to the federal real estate portfolio.
Many agencies have undergone transformations to realign their workspaces for less in-person work, including the establishment of 'hoteling' for desk space and piloting interagency coworking spaces. These arrangements may now need to be reworked for full-time in-person attendance.
The agency's telework policy has been revised to remove routine telework and remote work categories, except in qualifying or compelling circumstances. Employees working on similar functions should, where possible, work in the same spaces to promote effective collaboration and management, according to the new guidance.
The plans will include a process for determining if employees have medical conditions that allow remote work and the criteria for determining other exemptions. Only employees with disability, a qualifying medical condition, or other compelling reasons certified by the agency head are not covered by the directive.
Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian of the General Services Administration has set up a task force to evaluate physical space and IT needs for full implementation of the new policy within 30 days. The reviews will examine the process of putting new Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) into place under the Biden administration.
Agencies have already notified their workforces of their intentions to ensure all eligible employees are working in person. Congressional Republicans have largely sought to roll back telework use to pre-pandemic levels rather than attempting to eliminate it entirely.
The goal is to ensure GSA has the most collaborative and fun work environment across all locations. However, President Trump has commented that any federal worker who is not reporting to their duty stations full time will be fired.
The new guidance comes as the agencies review agreements with unions concerning the return of employees covered by these agreements to the offices. It remains to be seen how these changes will be implemented and how they will impact federal employees and their work arrangements moving forward.
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