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By: FEDweek StaffUPDATED: Several recent statements by President Biden and a new pandemic policy document have increased speculation about accelerating the return of more teleworking federal employees to the office and for more often, but so far there have been few specifics.
In an open letter to federal employees and in the State of the Union speech on Tuesday Biden referenced what the administration calls “reentry” in the context of declining rates of Coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths—a development that resulted in the administration easing policies on mask wearing and virus testing in the federal workplace.
In the letter, he said that “because of our progress combatting the pandemic, we can safely increase in-person work, while continuing to protect your health and safety” while in the speech he said that “people working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office. We’re doing that here in the federal government. The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.”
However, those statements did not contain any goals in terms of timing, numbers or frequency. Also, an intent to have the “vast majority” of federal employees working in person is not a new policy but rather a reflection of intent behind long-standing plans that have been delayed repeatedly by spikes in infections.
Administration policy generally leaves it up to individual agencies to decide their levels of telework vs. onsite work. Only a few have announced definite plans, with the SSA and Agriculture for example planning general recalls of teleworkers later this month into early April.
In the open letter, Biden also referenced an intent to “build on the innovations and technologies that we put to work serving the American people throughout the pandemic” which is widely being read as a commitment to higher levels of telework than before—also not a new policy position, since prior guidance also anticipated that.
A “National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan” issued afterward repeated those themes while addressing reentry in two brief, largely duplicative paragraphs within a nearly 100-page document.
“The administration will announce that employers can safely increase in-person work and that COVID-19 no longer needs to dictate where Americans work. Federal agencies will lead by example, increasing the hours public-facing federal offices are open, in-person appointments, and in-person interactions in April, building on the innovations and online tools developed during the pandemic to deliver high-quality services,” it says.
However, it specifically named only the boost in staffing at SSA field offices that had been announced weeks ago.
Many Republicans in Congress—in some cases joined by Democrats—have repeatedly called on the administration to accelerate the return of teleworkers to regular worksites, citing backlogs and customer service issues especially at agencies such as the VA, IRS and SSA. Most recently, bills (HR-6703 and S-3672) have been offered to require agencies to produce and begin carrying out general return-to-office plans within 30 days—bills that federal unions in turn say would cause agencies to violate some bargaining agreements already in place.
Republicans also have offered amendments to several spending bills seeking to require a general recall of teleworkers. While those amendments have been defeated, another attempt is possible during upcoming voting on a new budget measure as the current temporary spending authority is due to expire March 11.
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