Arbitrator Orders U.S. Forest Service to Restore Telework Agreements for 20,000 Employees

A third-party arbitrator ordered the U.S. Forest Service to restore telework and remote work agreements for roughly 20,000 employees represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE).

In his decision, Arbitrator Robert T. Simmelkjaer ruled that the Forest Service violated its collective bargaining agreement with NFFE and the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, when it unilaterally canceled telework and remote work agreements shortly after President Trump took office. 

“The agency’s violation was a clear and patent breach that went to the heart of the parties’ agreement,” read the decision. 

It orders the Forest Service to restore telework and remote work as well as leave balances. It also orders the agency to give employees who left over return to in-person work requirements the opportunity to rejoin the agency.

The Forest Service has 30 days from the date of the decision (July 10) to appeal to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).

Union Hails Decision

NFFE filed its grievance in March 2025, shortly after the return to workplace order from President Trump. NFFE said that under its CBA, telework and remote work could only be revoked based on performance or conduct, and that changes required advance notice. 

Simmelkjaer ruled that the Forest Service breached multiple union contract provisions, including one requiring union negotiations over changes in employment conditions, and another defining the parameters for changes to employee telework and remote work arrangements.

The arbitrator also found that the Forest Service’s actions constituted an unfair labor practice and amounted to a prohibited personnel practice. 

The union hailed the decision and said it couldn’t have come at a better time as employees may be relocated as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) reorganization plan. 

“Our employees are currently being threatened to move across the country and uproot their lives – supposedly to cut costs – or being forced to leave the agency,” said NFFE Forest Service Council President Genny Kotyk. “With telework and remote work agreements lawfully reimplemented, many employees will be relieved of having to make that difficult decision, while also saving taxpayers the substantial cost to relocate.”

Forest Service Position

The Forest Service argued that management retained authority to modify telework agreements and that the changes were required by presidential directives. 

It stated it “had no choice regarding whether or not it implemented the directives set forth in the presidential memo and therefore had no duty to bargain over the changes.”

Independent arbitrators have ruled in unions’ favor in other recent cases involving return-to-office requirements, including at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).