Trump Administration Provides Guidance on Telework Exception Rules
The Trump administration issued new guidance detailing when agencies must grant exceptions to its five-day-a-week, in-office mandate.
The joint technical assistance document from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) attempts to answer common agency questions in implementing the return-to-office policy while ensuring compliance with federal disability accommodation requirements. It includes information on when requests for telework due to a disability should be granted, modified or denied, as well as information to help agencies improve their methods of processing such requests.
“In these FAQs, the EEOC and OPM remind federal agencies of the importance of engaging in the interactive accommodations process while they continue to serve the American people efficiently and effectively,” said EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas.
Key directives in the guidance include:
Agencies should make an “individualized determination” for each employee and avoid a blanket approach.
Agencies should attempt to find other accommodations such as alternative schedules or specialized equipment before granting telework accommodation.
Agencies are encouraged to centralize reasonable accommodation decisions rather than leave them solely to front-line managers.
Agencies may reassess existing telework arrangements to determine whether in-office work is feasible.
In a recent blog, OPM Director Scott Kupor estimated that ten percent of federal employees have received exemptions from the return-to-office mandate.
HUD Ordered to Reinstate Telework
Meanwhile, a third-party arbitrator ordered the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reinstate telework for thousands of employees.
Arbitrator Michael T. Loconto determined that HUD breached its union contract when it implemented the return-to-office mandate. Loconto said the agency’s actions amounted to a prohibited personnel practice, violating both its collective bargaining agreement and federal statute.
The decision covers roughly 7,000 employees represented by American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council 222.
However, implementation is expected to be delayed as HUD is expected to appeal to the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA).
