The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has new Orientation aid to federal agencies to help them design their post-pandemic remote work policies and programs.
The guidelines are based on the OPM guidelines from November 2021 Guide to teleworking and remote workingencourages federal agencies to “fully integrate telework into their culture.” While the new guidelines do not provide mandatory new policies, they do provide resources and information to help agencies update their own telework or remote work policies.
“Agencies have moved from a pandemic-driven posture of maximum telework to new hybrid work arrangements that balance remote work, telework and in-person work to best promote organizational health and performance,” wrote Rob Shriver, acting director of OPM, in the guidance.
“When implemented thoughtfully and intentionally, remote work can be of great benefit to employers,” he added. “This memo provides agencies with additional considerations to evaluate and determine their current and future remote work postures.”
The 8-page document complements the 79-page document from 2021 and includes, among other things, important considerations for agencies when designing or reviewing remote work programs.
Specifically, the guidelines remind agencies that they should have up-to-date, written remote work policies that include clear criteria “for job designation and employee eligibility and participation in remote work.”
OPM recommends that remote work policies for executives, new hires and agency junior talent should be “carefully reviewed” because these employees may benefit more from meaningful in-person work.
For employees who live in the local commuter area, flexible telework – where they are still expected to show up at the office a certain number of days in each period – may be more beneficial than a remote work arrangement, OPM said.
“The presence of employees in the office often promotes work culture and facilitates training and engagement opportunities between new employees and experienced team members,” the guide states.
When deciding whether to set up largely or fully remote teams, the guidance states that agencies should “conduct a rigorous assessment of the health and performance of the organization to support mission sustainability and effectiveness.”
“Agencies should generally make consistent remote work eligibility decisions based on job function categories and mission-critical occupations, as well as broader position or team criteria, rather than based on individual employee requests and positions,” the guidance states.
The guidelines also advise agencies to conduct a formal assessment of the benefits and costs of remote work, including the potential impact on the organization’s mission requirements.
Finally, the guidance reminds agencies to provide OPM with accurate data on their workforce’s remote work through the Enterprise Human Resources Integration (EHRI) system.
In the 2022 fiscal year, federal authorities will reported that 46 percent of all federal employees teleworked routinely or situationally. In comparison, Shriver said, “a relatively small percentage of federal employees have remote work arrangements” – in fiscal year 2022, less than six percent of federal employees worked from home.
“Data collection is important to understanding agencies’ telework programs and promoting equity across the agency and federal enterprise, as well as in similar occupations,” Shriver concluded.
