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Donald Trump signed orders freezing government hiring as well as an order requiring federal workers to immediately return to full-time in-person work. In a memo, Trump asked federal workers return to the office full-time. The language in the statement is said to underscore the challenges that the new Trump administration is likely to face, given the strong opposition to ending remote work by unions representing public sector workers.
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Here's the memo titled 'Return to In-person Work'
Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary. This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law.Trump's decision would require most federal employees to return to work in person full time, a move that is likely to spark backlash and legal challenges from unions. Here are ten things you need to know:
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-Trump directed the heads of all federal agencies to "take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements" and require employees to report to "their respective duty stations" full time. The two-sentence order says the directive "shall be implemented consistent with applicable law."
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-Can Trump can prohibit federal employees from working remotely? Actually, it depends. The president has broad authority over the federal workforce, including the power to tell agencies to stop allowing remote work for employees who are not unionized. But, about 26% of federal employees are unionized and many are covered by bargaining agreements that allow for remote work or hybrid arrangements. The Trump administration will have to wait for those to expire or try to renegotiate the agreements, according to Reuters report.
-In some cases, federal agencies may also be required to allow employees with disabilities to work remotely. Federal law requires employers to grant "reasonable accommodations" to workers with chronic medical conditions as long as they can still perform their job duties.
-The Trump White House said on Monday that only 6% of federal employees currently work in person, but government data shows that remote work is more limited. About 46% of federal workers, or 1.1 million people, are eligible for remote work, and about 228,000 of them are fully remote, according to a report issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget in August.
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-Trump's order may also represent an effort to encourage some federal workers to quit, opening up positions that can be filled by political loyalists.
-Elon Musk, who will lead a commission created by Trump to rein in government spending, said in a Nov. 20 Wall Street Journal opinion piece that federal workers should not be paid for "the COVID-era privilege" of telework. "Requiring federal employees to come to the office five days a week would result in a wave of voluntary terminations that we welcome," Musk wrote.
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-Trump's agenda, including potentially repealing thousands of federal regulations, coordinating a large number of deportations, and overhauling U.S. health policy, will require fully staffed agencies to execute. Experts said that in many instances, Trump will likely have to choose between culling the federal workforce and carrying out other initiatives.
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-The president and agency heads have broad authority to fire non-union workers for cause, which could include defying a mandate to return to the office. But federal employees must be given written notice that they are being fired at least 30 days in advance, including an explanation of the reason for their termination and an opportunity to respond.
-And federal workers who lose their jobs can bring a challenge before the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent three-member panel appointed by the president, seeking to be reinstated. Employees could argue to the board that they were not fired for cause, that agencies did not follow the proper procedures and violated their due process rights, or that they were targeted for discriminatory reasons. The board's decisions are binding unless they are set aside by a federal appeals court.
Companies that have ended work from home
Amazon, JP Morgan, Disney, Dell, Zoom, IBM< Tesla, Snapchat, Uber, Twitter, Starbucks and Walmart are among the private companies that have ended work from home completely in the US. Most of these companies have seen resentment from some employees over the return to office mandate.ALSO READ: With top tech bosses in attendance, Trump's inauguration is hit by tech glitch
A memo from JPMorgan's operating committee stated that over half of its 316,000 global employees already work in the office full-time, and that "Now is the right time to solidify our full-time in-office approach" . "We think it is the best way to run the company," the executives wrote in the memo. Despite this justification, some JPMorgan staff expressed their displeasure with the directive on the company's intranet, citing concerns about increased commuting and childcare costs, as well as mental health and stress. Reportedly, the comment page was locked after more than 300 comments were posted within the first hour.
(With agency inputs)
