DoD also extended the circumstances in which employees may have a dependent in the home while teleworking. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Pentagon has revised a number of the pandemic-related policies affecting its civilian workforce—the government’s largest—as well as military and contractor personnel, replacing some prior mandates with standards allowing for more flexibility.
For example, while the new guidance continues to vary policies according to four levels of community transmission framework above the “normal baseline”—A to D in ascending order of seriousness—it no longer specifies building occupancy limits at each level that had ranged down to as little as 25 percent. In the process, it ended prior policies for local commanders to make exceptions to those limits.
Also generally dropped were prior policies on physical distancing in indoor settings, while mask-wearing is now only recommended rather than required on DoD-provided transportation such as buses. Stricter policies continue to apply in certain settings such as medical facilities, however, and “commanders and supervisors may implement additional, more stringent requirements with respect to masking and physical distancing, as appropriate, to mitigate risk” in any setting.
Also, a policy applying at the highest three risk levels was changed from “permit liberal telework where possible, especially for individuals who self-identify as immunocompromised or being at high risk for severe disease” to “reduce potential workplace SARS-CoV-2 exposures through telework, remote work, flexible scheduling, and other methods, as appropriate.”
It also extended the circumstances in which employees may have a dependent in the home while teleworking, as an exception to the general policy against it. Such employees “must still account for work and non-work hours during their tour of duty and take appropriate leave (paid or unpaid) to account for time spent away from normal work-related duties to care for a child or other person requiring care or supervision.”
It adds that civilian employees who are out of the workplace because of COVID-19 symptoms and who are waiting for a test result, or who test positive, “may telework if able to do so.” If they are not able, they should use paid leave such as sick leave or unpaid leave, it says. Administrative leave—paid time off from work without charge to another form of leave—is to be limited to no more than 1 day and only to those who have symptoms and are “remaining out of the workplace while actively seeking to be tested.”
Also, in light of the recent change in law overturning the vaccination mandate for uniformed personnel, that requirement was dropped for them; instead they “are strongly encouraged to be up to date with COVID-19 vaccination, including booster doses.”
Language regarding the vaccination mandate for civilian employees—including potential exceptions and discipline for not complying—is not being enforced due to the court injunction that has been in effect against that mandate since January 2022. However, it remains in the document in strike-out form “for ease of reinstitution should the injunction be lifted.” A decision remains pending from a federal appeals court that heard oral arguments in that case last September.
The guidance meanwhile retains language stating that civilian employees are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at any DoD vaccination site, including military medical treatment facilities. They also continue to be eligible for up to four hours of paid time off for per dose—for themselves or to accompany certain family members—plus up to two days for recovery from any side effects.
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