OPM Issues Additional Guidance on Agency Reentry Plans

On July 23, 2021, Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Kiran Ahuja issued guidance on telework, pay, and travel as federal employees return to their offices. This new guidance supplements a June memo released by OPM, GSA, and OMB detailing reentry plans for federal employees, as FEDmanager reported last month.

Director Ahuja explains in the additional guidance, “As agencies consider personnel policies and associated flexibilities in their post-reentry work environments, informed by consultation with agency leadership, supervisors, employees and employee representatives, we strongly encourage agency travel and human resources offices to collaborate when establishing telework and remote work policies that may affect location-based pay entitlements and travel benefits.”

The new guidance is meant to assist agencies as they make short term and long term re-opening plans and bring their employees back into the workplace in a safe and secure manner. Agencies had up until July 19, 2021 to submit re-opening plans to the Biden administration. While some agencies have issued broad re-opening plans, various local offices are still working out the details, as well as bargaining with employee unions.

The OPM guidance also includes consideration for remote work and telework, as both of these methods of completing work were used by much of the federal workforce during the pandemic. According to the guidance, “supervisors may see mission delivery, productivity or employee engagement benefits in extending flexibilities related to telework and alternative work schedules.”

In a July 16, 2021 letter to the leaders of OPM, GSA, and OMB, several Republican lawmakers expressed that they would like to see federal offices opened sooner rather than later. The letter, signed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA_ and others, reads, “as the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more widely distributed and states, localities, and businesses begin to resume pre-COVID operations, it is time for the federal government to also reopen its offices throughout the country.”

The rise of the Delta variant also raises concerns about agency re-opening plans. A senior Biden administration official told Government Executive, “Agencies are working through reentry plans, but we don’t have anything new to share at this time. We will continue to follow the science and listen to doctors and adhere to CDC guidelines.”