OPM announced it will be formally removing the COVID-19 operating status on May 15th.
Back in March of 2020, a government-wide operating status was put into effect by OPM when the pandemic first struck. It allowed federal agencies to maximize remote work for all telework-eligible individuals. After almost 40 months later, the special operating status will be removed on May 15, 2023, as stated by an OPM memo dated April 18th. But does this mean that droves of teleworking feds will be returning to the office for five days a week, eight hours per day? The answer is most likely no, but depending on who leads a given agency, some workers might see some more days with on-site requirements.
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The memo from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) even states that the removal of the operating status is not expected to have any significant impact. It merely gets rid of a requirement for the pandemic to steer all teleworking decisions that agency leaders might face. The correspondence from OPM also refers to instructions given a week earlier by OMB (the Office of Management and Budget), which directed agencies to increase “meaningful” in-person work while balancing remote work as a tool for retaining and hiring employees.
So with COVID-19 health concerns no longer a driving factor in determining how and when feds work, the government is expected to mostly maintain the current levels of on-site versus remote duties.
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