A quick return to pre-pandemic - or even stricter - federal office policies is not likely to happen with the stroke of a presidential pen. Trump's expected return-to-office mandate faces furious resistance from federal employees, many of whom are covered by union agreements that guarantee work-from-home policies. About 56 percent of the civil service is covered by collective bargaining contracts, many of which include provisions for telework.
It's in a lot of labor contracts,” said Cathie McQuiston, deputy general counsel at the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE). “At a lot of these agencies, the reality is, they don't have the place to put people to force them back five days a week.
The threat was the latest and loudest signal yet that Trump, his allies and Republicans in Congress are committed to ending a remote-work culture that became widespread for the civil service during the coronavirus pandemic. Conservatives now decry telework as an outdated taxpayer-funded perk that has hurt performance across the government.
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