{"id":27536,"date":"2024-03-07T19:14:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T19:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/03\/07\/interior-dept-expands-return-to-office-orders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:07:35","slug":"interior-dept-expands-return-to-office-orders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2024\/03\/07\/interior-dept-expands-return-to-office-orders\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior Dept. expands return-to-office orders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Department of the Interior is again expanding return-to-office orders for select employees after officials already set attendance requirements for managers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/career\/2023\/12\/19\/interior-dept-mandates-50-in-office-presence-for-dc-area-employees\/\" target=\"_blank\">Capital-area staff <\/a>at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/leadership\/2023\/10\/31\/interior-dept-promotes-daniel-davis-to-acting-no-2-position\/\" target=\"_blank\">Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis<\/a> announced non-bargaining unit teleworkers in regional and national offices around the country will be required to work onsite 50% of the time beginning April 21, according to an email obtained by Federal Times. Employees had been previously required to report to their official duty stations at least twice per biweekly pay period, according to Interior\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doi.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/pb-21-07-telework-program-faqs-sept-2023-508.pdf\">policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI have to be honest: it\u2019s really nice to see so many of you in person,\u201d Daniel-Davis said in the email. \u201cYes, the parking lots are filling up earlier, and the elevators are fuller, but I so appreciate the chance to engage with more of our dedicated workforce. It is undeniable that in-person engagement has led to more meaningful interactions across the [national capital region].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/career-management\/2023\/11\/06\/almost-70-of-federal-employees-still-telework-opm-poll-finds\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"212\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1415504975.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Almost 70% of federal employees still telework, OPM poll finds<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">According to the 2023 results, 17% telework one or two days per week.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel-Davis said the latest decision was \u201cbased on valuable insight gained from implementation of the NCR policies.\u201d The change does not apply to those with approved remote work agreements, which is different from telework in that it never requires reporting in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The department is also seeking to eventually apply this change to bargaining unit teleworkers. The official announcement said this would be done consistent with labor obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a somewhat consistent basis since the COVID-19 emergency was declared over in May of last year, cabinet-level agency leaders have been heeding instruction <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/08\/04\/biden-end-remote-work-federal-employees\" target=\"_blank\">by the White House<\/a> to call federal workers back to offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Biden administration, which has tried to posture itself as worker friendly, seeks a balance between the demands of telework-skeptical lawmakers and the very real reality of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/management\/career\/2024\/01\/03\/federal-telework-plays-into-employee-retention-opm-finds\/#:~:text=A%20survey%20conducted%20by%20Federal,deciding%20factor%2C%20per%20the%20results.\" target=\"_blank\">governmentwide recruitment and retention dilemma.<\/a> Recent studies by the Government Accountability Office have also shown many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.federaltimes.com\/federal-oversight\/congress\/2023\/07\/13\/federal-office-space-sitting-empty-at-most-agencies-gao-review-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\">federal offices are underutilized,<\/a> and have been since before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, unions say agencies are not consulting the workforce before making reentry mandates, nor do they feel such policies are justified for teams who work requires very little interaction with the public or other stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, Meka Lawson, president of AFGE local 1114, represents employees of the Interior Business Center in Denver, Colorado. The majority of the work employees do can be done from home, she said, as it mostly involves payroll processing, contract auditing, accounting and personnel security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IBC serves 150 different federal organizations, so the work is geographically decentralized to begin with, Lawson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The National Treasury Employees Union said its members in the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management are not immediately affected by the recent telework announcement, but the union will \u201coppose any attempt by management to expand this new telework guidance to bargaining unit employees,\u201d President Doreen Greenwald said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/career-management\/2023\/09\/05\/office-reentry-pushing-feds-to-job-hunt-federal-times-survey-shows\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"171\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1340955779.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Office reentry pushing feds to job hunt, Federal Times survey shows<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Of those who left their government job, more than a third said the ability to work to telework was the deciding factor.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe 50% in-office standard, based on unwise and counterproductive guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget, is arbitrary and unjustified, especially when federal employees have been teleworking successfully for decades, well before the pandemic,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Negative attention from Republicans on the Hill, coupled with generational differences in ideas about the workplace and uncertainty about federal real estate, seem to be the driving forces behind these top-down decisions, Lawson added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Empty buildings abandoned by federal employees \u201cworking\u201d from home are costing taxpayers BILLIONS every year.<br><br>I\u2019m proud to force an audit of federal telework policies.<br><br>It\u2019s time for \u201cbubble bath\u201d bureaucrats to get back to work. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vCFt19Elgt\">pic.twitter.com\/vCFt19Elgt<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenJoniErnst\/status\/1715060776547778938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 19, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steven Baird, whose local represents Bureau of Land Management employees under the American Federation of Government Employees union, pointed out that telework decisions may be better made by managers who can make those calls for their own teams. He acknowledged that telework is a privilege and may not be suitable for every worker, but blanket decisions may not be effective either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think this is a knee jerk reaction to the ending of COVID,\u201d Baird said in an interview. And seeing people\u2019s faces in person \u201cis not a policy; it\u2019s a feeling,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said his union is certainly to be affected if the department further expands the scope of this order, and he has already initiated communication with members and other unions, including NTEU, to have a unified front when it\u2019s time to negotiate.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/home\/2023\/08\/07\/unions-push-back-on-biden-plan-to-bring-federal-workers-back\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1338107362.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Unions push back on Biden plan to bring federal workers back<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Friday email from White House Chief of Staff shows Biden&#039;s plans for more in-person work for federal employees.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are going to be at the table for this whether they want us to or not,\u201d he said. \u201cIt affects our employees, and it\u2019s a change in conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Baird added that, in general, it would help for management to be better educated about how bargaining units can help them achieve the outcomes they\u2019re being tasked with reaching. But a lot of the time, the union is viewed as the enemy, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s let\u2019s be open and honest,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s negotiate terms that fit the employee and let\u2019s get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unions say agencies are not consulting the workforce before making reentry mandates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":79334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[66,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3269],"class_list":["post-27536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-management","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"Q7M4DZCR5JE3PAJNE3KZ3O7UHI","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/leadership\/2024\/03\/07\/interior-dept-expands-return-to-office-orders\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Interior Dept. expands return-to-office orders - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Unions say agencies are not consulting the workforce before making reentry mandates.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2024\/03\/07\/interior-dept-expands-return-to-office-orders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interior Dept. expands return-to-office orders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Unions say agencies are not consulting the workforce before making reentry mandates.\" 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