Agencies Ordered to Start Tracking How Many Workers Show Up to the Office

The Trump Administration wants to know exactly how many employees are showing up to work in the office. 

The administration ordered agencies to start tracking building occupancy data immediately, with full implementation of the measure required by July 4. Reports are due every two weeks on both daily occupancy rates and annual occupancy rates. 

In a memo, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), says the goal is to both track attendance and to better measure federal office space usage, as required by the Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act (USE IT Act).  

“Implementation and reporting of occupancy data are priorities to allow swift action to reduce wasteful spending and ensure compliance with return to work policies,” said the OMB memo. 

While the USE IT Act only applies to CFO Act agencies, the “guidance sets the requirement for all agencies to support efforts to eliminate unnecessary space and costs.”

Tracking Employees

When it comes to tracking attendance, OMB told agencies that to ensure consistency they “must implement one or more of the utilization methodologies or technologies specified by GSA (General Services Administration)” noting that accuracy is “imperative.” 

Among the options is Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card data, which collects employee data at agency entry points and at other access points within a building. If PIV card data is not available, agencies are authorized to use sensors, WiFi and Bluetooth trackers, daily check in surveys, video analytics, and other approved methods. 

Exemptions do exist if the head of an agency believes that monitoring a certain building “would be detrimental to national security.”

60 Percent Threshold

Under the USE IT Act, agencies are required to meet a minimum 60 percent weekly average occupancy based on a calculation that assumes each employee gets 150 square feet of space. If a building’s usage is below that level on average for a year, the agency is put on notice. If it stays below average, GSA and OMB would take action to reduce the space, which may include selling the real estate. 

The tracking will also be used to monitor compliance with President Trump’s return to office policy. Hours after taking office, the president ordered all federal employees, with limited exceptions, to return to the office five days a week.