Federal Employees Push Back on Strict Return-to-Office Policies

U.S. federal employees are advocating for more flexible return-to-office (RTO) policies as the sector is moving more quickly than the private sector to bring workers back to the office.  

The Federal News Network reports The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and The Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) are both reeling-in workers using recent updates to their remote work policies.  

The DLA for instance, has implemented a telework policy mandating in-office presence three days a week — which is contributing to employee dissatisfaction and formal complaints.  

The mandates are being issued even while it’s clear there is no consensus among federal policy makers on this key policy for the massive governmental workforce. 

Individual agency are taking varied approaches to telework while moves arrive legislative debate rages. Last month, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced what is known as the Telework Reform Act (S. 3015), with a 9-2 vote. 

The two senators opposing the bill in the 9-2 vote were Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). On May 7, Romney and Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) introduced the “Back to Work Act” (S. 4266), a bipartisan bill which proposes limiting telework for federal employees at 40% of their total work hours. 

The Federal News Network reports federal workers have expressed a strong preference for flexible work arrangements, with full-time remote workers reporting the highest job satisfaction levels. 

The 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government Rankings, which included responses from over 1 million federal employees, revealed an overall engagement and job satisfaction index score of 65.7 out of 100, which is a 2.3-point increase from the previous year.  

The increase in job satisfaction is correlated with increased teleworking opportunities.  

Despite this clear signal from the workforce, agencies like the CDC have started to scale back full-time remote work. 

Congressional Budget Office data reveals that the federal sector has been more proactive than the private sector in bringing employees back to physical offices.  

Despite legislative delays fueled by debate, the push for workplace flexibility among employees remains strong. Proponents of stricter telework policies argue that it ensures a more engaged and present federal workforce, while critics warn it could undermine some of the benefits of remote work arrangements that have proven to be advantageous for attraction and retention efforts.