Pentagon, agencies must end telework, remote work in 30 days, OPM says
There are exceptions for military spouses and employees with disabilities in the policy, which DOGE leaders have touted as a way to shrink the federal civilian workforce.
Erich Wagner | January 23, 2025 12:11 PM ET
The Defense Department and other federal agencies have 30 days to implement President Trump's order to end telework and remote work, the Office of Personnel Management said on Wednesday.
[Nearly 62,000, or 8 percent, of the Defense Department's 783,000 civilian employees teleworked or worked remotely in April and May of 2024, OPM reported last year. About 10 percent of all federal workers do so.]
On Trump’s first day in office, he issued a 65-word memo ordering agencies to require employees return to in-person work “full-time.” But because the document referred only to terminating “remote work agreements,” it caused some confusion among agencies and government-watchers.
Telework and remote work are two distinct workplace flexibilities at federal agencies. Federal workers who telework commute to the office at least twice per biweekly pay period—or more, depending on their job responsibilities—while remote workers’ official duty station is typically their home and they are not expected to travel to a traditional federal facility on a regular basis.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/01/opm-demands-agencies-comply-trumps-telework-order-within-30-days/402440/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
