Guidance on Collective Bargaining Obligations in Connection with Return to In-Person Work

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued this memorandum on February 3, 2025, as a follow-up to an earlier memorandum that the Office of Management and Budget and OPM had jointly issued on on January 22, 2025 ("Guidance on Presidential Memorandum Return to In-Person Work"). This memo provides agencies with guidance regarding implementation of a January 20, 2025 presidential memorandum ordering a return to in-person work at federal agencies. The memo asserts that determining the "substantive" amount of telework appropriate for agency employees is part of "management rights" and cannot be controlled by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), while some procedural aspects of telework rules can be controlled by CBAs. The memorandum advised agencies to disregard some collective bargaining agreements on telework, including provisions relating to minimum or maximum amounts of telework or provisions guaranteeing telework eligibility for certain positions, asserting that 5 U.S.C. § 7106(a) permits agencies to refuse to negotiate over "substantive" telework rules.