Monitoring would come from PIV data collected from card readers at the agency's entry points, those used for space access, or both. Image: XanderSt/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOMB has told agencies that they have until July 4 to fully carry out new requirements to more closely monitor on-site attendance by their employees, although they should “immediately implement solutions that will be used to track and manage return to work implementation across the government.”
OMB memo M-25-25 says that under the “USE IT Act”—included in an unrelated measure enacted earlier this year—“agencies must implement one or more of the utilization methodologies or technologies specified by GSA” at federally owned or leased space.
In many cases that would be PIV data collected from card readers at the agency’s entry points, those used for space access, or both; agencies without such systems may use “other technologies that can meet the requirements of the Act such as sensors.”
“Regardless of the method of measurement selected by the agency, accuracy of occupancy counts is imperative. Agencies should leverage occupancy tools that gather the most accurate data,” it says.
That data is to be used to measure occupancy levels under that law, which sets a target of 60 percent utilization, based on a benchmark of 150 usable square feet per person assigned to that location. If a building’s usage is below that level on average for a year, the agency would be put on notice and if it stays that low for a second year, the GSA and OMB would “take steps to reduce the space” including by consolidating with another agency and disposing of the excess space.
The data reporting “will also ensure compliance with the Return to Office directives of the President,” the memo says.
It notes that while the USE IT Act applies only to the two dozen Cabinet departments and largest independent agencies, “this guidance sets the requirement for all agencies to support efforts to eliminate unnecessary space and costs.”
However, “Any head of an agency may exempt individual public buildings from utilization monitoring if they determine that such monitoring would be detrimental to national security,” it adds.
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