{"id":23373,"date":"2020-03-12T19:59:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T19:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/12\/agencies-are-falling-short-in-preparing-employees-for-coronavirus\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:53:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:53:50","slug":"agencies-are-falling-short-in-preparing-employees-for-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/2020\/03\/12\/agencies-are-falling-short-in-preparing-employees-for-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Agencies are \u2018falling short\u2019 in preparing employees for coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federal agencies have, on the whole, been slow to issue guidance and take appropriate actions in the face of the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>, according to one federal employee union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Treasury Employees Union National President Tony Reardon told reporters on a March 12 call that despite persistent efforts on their part to meet with agencies and assess preparedness plans, a large number have provided only the bare minimum response to their employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe offered our assistance, and we gave the agencies time and space to get it done, but I\u2019m sorry to say that, today, the overall government efforts to protect federal employees have fallen far short,\u201d said Reardon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCommunication has been sorely lacking. We asked all of our agencies to provide their pandemic plans or any other guidance they had for employees so that we could help share the information with federal workers. Some agencies have been responsive. Some have not. The majority of our chapter leaders say that they their agencies have only provided general information from the [Centers for Disease Control] or [Office of Personnel Management] and nothing specific. And nothing about what will happen when one of their coworkers contracts COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t