Several bills pending in Congress would either prod or require agencies to reduce their real estate footprint if usage fell below 60 percent on average. Image: OmerYontar/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA White House report on offsite work presents nearly 3,000 pages of policies, but few specifics regarding the impact, of offsite work on two issues that have become central to the debate over those practices: employee productivity and the potential for reducing federal office space.
The report says that agencies are expected to “continue to optimize their work environment and telework posture with mission delivery as their north star” and that they “have written policies, including legally binding collective bargaining agreements, in place to govern their telework program and ensure high levels of employee performance.”
“Typically, these agency policies require all teleworking employees to enter into a mutually agreed-upon written telework agreement with their supervisor, on behalf of the agency, that defines baseline expectations for participation in the telework program as well as any regular schedule for telework if applicable,” it says.
Teleworking employees remain subject to performance evaluations and agencies are expected to “ensure employees are complying with telework and performance management policies and to take action in places where individual or work unit performance is negatively impacted.” Such actions can include revoking permission to telework and potentially disciplinary action, it says.
The two dozen departments and agencies that provided details on their offsite work programs made similar points individually, although only several reported data on productivity—showing recent improvements but not specifically tied to increased offsite work.
The report also addressed reducing office space—and the associated costs—in light of reduced usage compared with prior to the pandemic. Several bills pending in Congress would either prod or require agencies to reduce their real estate footprint if usage fell below 60 percent on average, following a GAO report last summer finding that 17 of 24 headquarters buildings were using less than 25 percent of their capacity on average.
Says the report, “Data is not currently collected to calculate an average office space utilization rate, but OMB is developing occupancy metrics that will require the calculation of annual average occupancy in the near term.” Even before the pandemic, “many agencies recognized that they had more office space than needed” but downsizing is difficult for reasons including “lack of funding from Congress to both reconfigure and consolidate office space to support mission needs.”
“It is OMB’s expectation that all agencies will arrive at intentional, competitive, and durable work environments that set agencies up for success in both the short and long-term, and that they appropriately manage their real property portfolio to support those decisions,” it says.
Individual agencies said they regularly evaluate their space needs and several cited reductions being planned or already carried out, but mostly tied to longstanding initiatives rather than the increase in offsite work of recent years in particular.
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