With Employees Returning to Work, Federal Managers Need Clarity
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Some members of the Federal Managers Association (FMA) are returning to their physical workplaces after more than a year of a maximum telework posture. Others have been given permission to transition to an indefinite future in which their jobs are conducted either fully or primarily remotely. Both options present real challenges to be overcome and FMA is working hard to assist our members in addressing them.
The Biden administration has issued guidance that feds physically working in federal facilities are required to either wear a mask indoors, get regular Covid tests at government expense, or be vaccinated against Covid-19.
There is no denying this guidance requires answering incredibly difficult, complex questions. There does not seem to be a magic bullet that will solve the problem, be consistent, and satisfy all stakeholders across the board. FMA National President Craig Carter regularly attends meetings with the White House Covid Response Team, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management. Regrettably, despite our discussions and reviewing the guidance published thus far, FMA is concerned that it is not clear to managers how to handle feds who categorically refuse to follow guidance issued by the administration.
Federal managers are currently on the job and are being told to enforce the guidance issued by the administration. However, they have no clear set of instructions for what tools should be used to do so. Hundreds of thousands of feds employed at the Department of Health and Human Services and at the Veterans Administration have been informed they must be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit paperwork for an exemption. Failing to do so within the next eight weeks means they “may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service.”
The key issue here is the word “may.” People can argue as to what penalties are proportionate, or not. Unclear penalties with no clear guidance for enforcement cannot be defended. If a wide range of penalties for the same offense are offered, some people will be fired while others will be given a friendly reminder to remember to wear a mask next time. This uneven enforcement will open managers and the government up to claims of bias and discrimination. Feds who are removed because of this guidance may wonder if they were actually fired for personal reasons, or for their politics, or their race, gender, sexuality, or religion. Many feds will see their colleagues ignoring these guidelines without consequences and assume that the same will reasonably apply to them – and some of them will probably be wrong.
Clear, explicit guidance, with minimal room for misinterpretation, is desperately needed. It needs to come from the administration, and it needs to come last week – but failing that, issuing it today would be the next best option.
For our members who have transitioned to more permanent remote or primarily remote work, FMA is working to ensure that guidance is issued on the new questions this poses. For feds who officially work in an office tied to an area with high locality pay, there is a real temptation to move to an area with a much lower cost of living while continuing to draw high locality pay. Much as is the issue with enforcing safety requirements, there may not be an answer to this that is both enforceable and satisfactory to all stakeholders. However, this is another area where clear, uniform guidance, regardless of what the guidance says, is needed immediately so that feds can make informed decisions. We will continue to work with OPM and other decision makers to ensure that this guidance is unambiguous, uniform across the federal government, and easily available.
The column from FMA is part of the FEDforum, an initiative to unite voices across the federal community. The FEDforum is a space for federal employee groups to share their organizations’ initiatives and activities with the FEDmanager audience.
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