President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order requiring most federal employees to return to work in person full-time, a move that is likely to spark backlash and legal challenges from unions.
WHAT DOES TRUMP’S ORDER DO?
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.”
CAN TRUMP PROHIBIT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES FROM WORKING REMOTELY?
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. That includes supervisors and managers, who cannot join unions, and Trump could move quickly to order them back to the office.
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. Bargaining agreements between federal agencies and unions can only be challenged in court if they contain illegal terms or were the product of coercion, bribery, or some other wrongdoing.
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.
HOW MANY FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WORK REMOTELY?
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.
The U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, which have far more employees than other agencies, have the most remote workers, along with the Department of Health and Human Services. For federal employees who are eligible for remote work, about 61% of regular working hours are spent in person, according to OMB. That figure excludes fully remote workers.
