Agencies Directed to Scale Back Telework
The Biden Administration is telling agencies to take a data driven approach to scaling back on telework and increasing “meaningful” in-person work at federal offices. The new guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) comes as the Covid-19 public health emergency comes to an end and about a year after agencies completed their return to office plans.
In a memo, OMB Director Shalanda D. Young, directs agencies to update their work environment plans and policies to improve organizational performance.
In the memo, Director Young writes that it is the “expectation that as a part of these assessments agencies will continue to substantially increase meaningful in-person work at Federal offices, particularly at headquarters and equivalents, while still using flexible operational policies as an important tool in talent recruitment and retention.”
OMB emphasizes that the increased in-person work must be “meaningful,” which OMB defines as “purposeful, well-planned, and optimized for in-person collaboration.”
As part of the work environment plan, agencies must outline current telework policies, related policies, as well as anticipated future changes and implementation timelines and take a holistic view of the impact of telework on the agency’s ability to deliver on its mission.
Agencies are also directed to establish routines to assess workplace changes, monitor progress on an ongoing basis, and identify indicators that each agency can use for measuring organizational health and performance. Those indicators may be adjusted if needed.
In an accompanying blog post, OMB Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller writes that there is “no one-size-fits-all approach; however, as a whole, it is important to establish overarching goals and benchmarks for consistency” and that the guidance will help agencies “improve efficiency and effectiveness, retain and compete for talent in the labor market, and streamline public services.”
Deputy Director Miller emphasizes that OMB will “scale and replicate best practices” in successful agencies and that agencies who fall short “must be held accountable and work to make responsible changes.”
The new guidance reportedly caught agency chief human capital officers (CHCOs) and federal employee groups off guard.
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers National President Matt Biggs told GovExec, ““This is a pro-labor president, but for OMB to unilaterally move forward and put this together in what appears to be a hasty manner without even so much as a heads up, much less the involvement of labor, is extremely disappointing.”
One organization expressed concern that significantly scaling back telework could hinder recruitment and retention efforts as the private sector embraces workplace flexibility.
Speaking on behalf of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs), Steve Wasserman of the National Association of AUSAs wrote in a statement, “As the nation’s premier federal civil and criminal attorneys, AUSAs know there are many obligations that require in person attendance. However, as the private sector embraces workplace flexibilities, U.S. Attorney Offices must recognize the recruitment and retention benefits of balanced remote work… While some U.S. Attorney Offices allow significant telework flexibility, others offer little to none. The patchwork of telework flexibility policies results in dramatically different and sometimes arbitrary access to an important work life benefit.”
House Republicans take a different view, repeatedly calling on federal employees to return to the office, and blaming the spike in telework for backlogs at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Social Security Administration, and other agencies.