DOJ GEN sent this letter today to the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General, and Associate Attorney General to express concern about the Department’s plan to propose a new policy for substantially increasing in-person work following the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s April 13, 2023, memorandum M-23-15, Measuring, Monitoring, and Improving Organizational Health and Organizational Performance in the Context of Evolving Agency Work Environments. DOJ GEN is concerned that the Department’s apparent haste and lack of comprehensive study, including constructive employee feedback, in the development of such a policy will have a negative impact on the Department’s ability to retain and recruit a productive, diverse, and talented workforce.

DOJ GEN asks that, at a minimum, the Department not issue a policy that eliminates components’ ability to provide the most expansive array of flexible work options consistent with components’ needs. If the Department issues any further guidance to components, the Department should first conduct a more robust assessment of how a new policy would impact employee productivity; affect the Department’s ability to build—and retain—a diverse and effective workforce; and add to Department and component overhead and expenses, among other considerations.

Additional details are included in our letter. To assist leadership in more fully understanding the real impact that a new policy substantially increasing in-person requirements would have on employees, our letter also includes a sampling of personal testimonies that were provided by Department employees across the country.