Threats to flexible work options
Hi everyone,
First, we want to share a new report from the EEOC finding that federal employees 40 and over face a disproportionately large gender pay gap. By some measures, the gap can three times as large for these workers than for feds under 40. The Federal News Network’s coverage of the report includes a comment from DOJ GEN.
Second, here are some updates on telework:
A December report called Out of Office from the new Senate DOGE Caucus claimed that 90% of federal employees telework, only 6% of federal employees work entirely in-person, and nearly 33% of federal workers are entirely remote. The chair of the caucus stated that for “years, I have been tracking down bureaucrats relaxing in bubble baths, playing golf, getting arrested, and doing just about everything besides their jobs.” While it’s true that just about everyone loves a bubble bath, these claims are belied by government data. The nearly 3,000-page, August 2024 OMB Report to Congress and Real Property Utilization (happy reading!) showed that 54% of federal employees spent all their work hours at their agency offices, those who telework still spent on average 61.2% of their work hours in person, and just 10% of the civilian federal workforce is approved for remote work. AFGE, the largest federal employee union, laid out the facts in a December 6 press release.
The Government Accountability Office released a report in November showing that in the federal agencies it examined, providing federal employees generous telework privileges helps the agencies recruit talent, and that strict in-person requirements led to high rates of attrition.
There’s been a slew of bills introduced in Congress that would scale back federal employees’ ability to telework. A Senate bill introduced in December, called the REMOTE Act, would require agencies to use software to gather data on the adverse impacts of federal employee teleworking. A House bill introduced in December, called the Show Up to Work Act, would cap agencies’ use of telework to 25% per pay period. And a House bill introduced in October, called the Federal Employee Return to Work Act, would bar federal employees who telework at least one day per week from receiving the locality pay of their official work station.
President-elect Trump commented last month on a five-year extension to the Social Security Administration employees’ telework privileges, signed by AFGE and agency leadership: “It’s ridiculous. So it was like a gift to a union, and we’re going to obviously be in court to stop it.”
Stay tuned, and have a good week.
Best,
Stacey
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