From Government Executive:
The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday
announced that it will end the use of maximum telework as part of the
federal government’s operating status next month, following President
Biden’s planned expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The
public health emergency is set to expire on May 11. In a memo to agency
heads Tuesday, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja announced that as a result, the
federal government’s HR agency will no longer recommend that agencies
remain “open with maximum telework flexibilities” as part of a
governmentwide operating status. ...
Ahuja stressed that although OPM’s recommendation for maximum telework
was ending, agencies should still balance the Office of Management and
Budget’s call for “substantially increased meaningful in-person work at
federal agencies” with the benefits associated with continued use of
workplace flexibilities, including increased productivity, employee
engagement and recruitment and retention of workers.
“OMB’s memorandum informed agencies of an expectation to increase
meaningful in-person work while still using flexible operational
policies,” she wrote. “Agencies should continue to strategically use
telework and remote work policies in support of their workforce plans
moving forward while capitalizing on the benefits of meaningful
in-person work.” ...
[T]he memo did not assuage the concerns of House Oversight and
Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who compared the
memo to a decades-long policy on LGBTQ+ Americans serving in the
military. ...
Cut the endless comments on the merits of telework. Don't you guys get tired?
