Agencies have until the end of Friday to revise their telework policies and begin directing federal employees to work on-site full time, according to a memo back to the office from the Office of Personnel Management Wednesday evening.
OPM recommends that agencies set a 30-day deadline to fully comply with the return to office directive signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. Trump’s executive order asked agencies to return their federal employees to work in the office “as soon as possible.” The order also calls on agencies to end “remote work arrangements” and require employees to work in person full time, while leaving room for certain exemptions.
OPM’s latest memo offers more details on Trump’s initial executive order. Since the order only referred to remote work arrangements, and not telework arrangements, the January 20 directive led to some confusion initially.
“The executive order is not very clear as to what exactly it covers, because it uses the term remote work,” Max Stier, president and CEO of the Public Service Partnership, told reporters during a press conference Tuesday.
For the federal workforce, “telework” and “remote work” are two distinct types of work arrangements for federal employees. Generally, federal employees with a telework arrangement are expected to report to their “official duty station” on a “regular and recurring” basis. However, remote arrangements for federal employees allow employees to work from an “alternative work location,” and remote employees are generally not expected to report to work on-site at an agency.
OPM’s memo now calls for a full return to in-person work for the majority of federal employees currently teleworking. Federal agencies and supervisors may grant exemptions from the return-to-office mandate for individuals with a disability, qualifying health condition or other “compelling reason,” the memo said.
Additionally, employees located more than 50 miles from an agency office must be designated to “the most appropriate agency office, based on their duties and function,” the memo states.
The OPM memo also asks agencies to submit their expected date to be in full compliance with the return to office directive. Agencies should inform all employees of Trump’s return mandate and instruct their telework managers to oversee compliance with the guidelines, OPM said.
Actual implementation of the mandate will likely vary among agencies. But some agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security, have already announced return-to-office guidelines for their teleworking employees following Trump’s order this week.
Currently, 54% of the federal workforce works entirely onsite due to job requirements. Federal employees eligible to telework make up about 46% of the federal workforce and spend an average of 60% of their work hours in person, according to May 2024 data from the Office of Management and Budget. About 10% of federal employees work entirely remotely.
The shift toward a more hybrid federal workforce began in April 2023 when the Biden administration called on agencies to strike a balance between in-person work and telework for eligible federal employees. But the Trump administration has taken a tougher stance on returning to power.
“The (presidential mandate) reflects a simple reality. The only way to bring employees back to the office is to adopt a centralized return-to-work policy for all federal government agencies,” Acting OPM Director Charles Ezell wrote in the memo. “Seeking to cajole individual agencies to try to encourage employees to return to the site has not been successful. »
In the memo, Ezell also said fully in-person work was necessary for greater efficiency and accountability, as well as to fill federal offices.
“Virtually unlimited teleworking has led to a degradation of government services and made it more difficult to supervise and train civil servants,” Ezell wrote.
Critics of the full return-to-office mandate, however, said telework options have been available to eligible federal employees for years — long before the COVID-19 pandemic — and are an important tool for the workforce. federal work.
“The reality is that there has been bipartisan support for teleworking in the federal space for many, many years, because it has been shown – in certain circumstances and when properly implemented – to enable both better performance and better ability to recruit candidates. top talent for federal positions,” Stier told reporters earlier this week.
“Telecommuting began decades ago in the federal government as a smart, cost-effective program for agencies to reduce the size of their offices and reduce real estate costs,” said Doreen Greenwald, national chair of the National Treasury. Employees Union, in a press release. “Some government positions have been eligible to telework part of each week for years – well before the pandemic – and they have done so successfully under strict supervision while being held to the same standards of productivity and accountability as employees who do not telework.”
Many federal employees themselves also said they were more productive while having the option to telework, according to a recent survey conducted by Federal News Network. Many respondents expressed concerns about the negative consequences of a “one size fits all” return to office policy on productivity, efficiency, employee retention, and more. When asked about office space, 44% of respondents said they were “extremely concerned” about their agency having enough space to accommodate a full return-to-office mandate.
Federal unions also highlighted existing provisions in collective agreements that guarantee teleworking arrangements for federal employees.
“OPM guidance explicitly states that collective bargaining obligations and applicable law must be followed when executing the President’s Memorandum, so the hybrid work schedules detailed in our collective bargaining agreements remain legally binding ” American Federation of Government Employees spokesman Tim Kauffman said in an email to Federal Information Network. “If agencies implement policies contrary to our contracts, employees must comply, but we, as a union, will be prepared to file complaints. »
Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located in the European Economic Area.
