Since implementation of the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, federal agencies have leveraged workplace flexibilities as a way to support an adaptable workforce capable of achieving objectives and navigating challenges and workforce needs, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

But what can federal employees expect with regard to telework following Election Day — under a new administration in place in January 2025 — with either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as president?

According to an August 2024 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report on telework based on data from May 2024, 2.28 million federal employees, the majority — 1.2 million or 54% — worked fully on-site, as their jobs require them to be physically present during all working hours. However, the remaining 1.1 million, or 46.4% of civilian personnel, were telework-eligible, the report stated. The question that remains is what the status of those 1.1 million federal workers may look like moving forward.

Currently, the Biden Administration, including Harris, has stated that it wants federal employees to work in-person more, although there seems to be some leeway in terms of how each agency implements it.

Republicans seem to generally want to put more restrictions on telework, while a number of different bills have been introduced by Republican lawmakers to change or restrict telework in various ways.

For example, Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Joe Manchin (I-WV) introduced the Back to Work Act of 2024, which seeks to limit telework for federal employees to no more than 40% of their workdays per pay period. The legislation is aimed at compelling federal employees to return to the office to address concerns about productivity, office underutilization, and the economic impact on local businesses that benefit from office worker traffic.

In addition, the Telework Reform Act, sponsored by Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), is aimed at modernizing federal work practices to better align with current needs.

What is likely to happen with the government’s telework policies under either a Harris or a Trump administration remains to be seen, but there are, however, some clues moving forward.

Future of Telework Under Kamala Harris

The Biden Administration, including Harris, has worked to implement increased in-person office presence at federal agencies, and worked with the OMB to issue guidance, Memorandum M-23-15: Measuring, Monitoring, and Improving Organizational Health and Organizational Performance in the Context of Evolving Agency Work Environments, in April 2023. The guidance is aimed at helping agencies make decisions about their in-office workplace postures as they prioritize mission delivery.

That guidance called for agencies to “substantially increase meaningful in-person work at Federal offices, particularly at headquarters and equivalents, while still using flexible operational policies as an important tool in talent recruitment and retention.” Further, the guidance directed agencies’ routine assessment of organizational health and organizational performance to ensure “ongoing optimization” of agency work environments, among other priorities.

Additionally, the aforementioned 2024 OMB report on telework states that since the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency in early 2023, OMB has worked closely with federal agencies to drive implementation of increased in-person office presence for the approximately half of the federal workforce eligible to telework.

Further, federal agencies are moving toward a posture where, on average, telework-eligible teams are working in-person at the office at least half of the time, in addition to the roughly half of federal employees that work entirely in person already, according to the report.

And most recently, OPM issued new guidance to agencies in August 2024 in an effort to help create remote work policies and programs post-pandemic.

Future of Telework Under Donald Trump

While Trump had publicly expressed some disapproval for telework prior to the pandemic, while president in March 2020, the Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to incorporate telework as part of their continuity of operations plans.

During the current presidential race, Trump does not appear to have specifically stated a position on federal teleworkers. However, in what could mirror any plans for teleworkers, his platform states that he has other plans for federal workers, saying that up to 100,000 government positions could be moved out of Washington, D.C. Further, he plans to re-issue a 2020 executive order restoring the president’s authority to fire “rogue” bureaucrats, the platform states.

The 2020 executive order, “Creating Schedule F In The Excepted Service,” states that “[s]eparating employees who cannot or will not meet required performance standards is important, and it is particularly important with regard to employees in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating positions. High performance by such employees can meaningfully enhance agency operations, while poor performance can significantly hinder them.”

Locality Pay

Also of note, locality pay for federal employees who telework has come under scrutiny after a bill was introduced in the Senate in August of this year by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Now, a similar bill has been introduced in the House by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA). The Federal Employee Return to Work Act would prevent federal employees who spend at least one day per week working from home from receiving locality pay. This means federal employees could see as much as a 30% decrease in their salary depending on how much money they received based on their location.

Both the House and the Senate drafted bills targeting locality pay for teleworkers following a 2023 Government Accountability Office report that indicated most federal agencies were using less than a quarter of their buildings’ offices because of work-from-home employees.

Those opposing the bill say locality pay is not designed to supplement federal employees’ income, but rather to help them remain competitive for jobseekers looking at both federal and private sector jobs. Newhouse has not introduced a companion bill for the other telework bill in the Senate that would remove locality pay when calculating retirement benefits for federal employees.

If you have questions about federal telework, our team of federal employment attorneys is available to assist you today. Please call 8885294543 to schedule a consultation or schedule a consultation online.