One of President Trump’s first Executive Orders upon returning to the White House was to require all federal employees to return to the office full-time. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued guidance for agencies on January 27, requiring agencies to submit compliance plans by February 7, 2025. “You have to show up to work,” Trump said. “You have to go to your office and work. Otherwise, you’re not going to have a job.”

The guidance from OPM requires the following of the plans:

• Describe the steps agencies will take to refine telework agreements.

• Provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as “expeditiously as possible” including date of compliance with the order.

• Describe steps agencies will take to bring Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) into compliance with the presidents’ orders, consistent with applicable laws.

• Describe steps agencies will take to determine a permanent workplace for employees who telework or work remotely.

• Identify any barriers to getting workers back to the office.

• Describe the agency’s process for determining exceptions.

In subsequent guidance from the Department of Defense (DOD), Secretary Hegseth terminated telework and remote work agreements for all DOD employees who work “within 50 miles of their Agency worksite.” The memo, dated January 31, 2025, requires all DOD employees to report full-time to their worksites “no later than 7 days” from the date of the memo, meaning telework is not authorized for the vast majority of DOD employees after February 7, 2025.

“The President has been clear – a culture of accountability is necessary to ensure federal agencies, including the Department, carry out their missions with excellence,” Hegseth wrote. “A return to the office will drive us toward that goal.”

OPM is also moving forward on its return-to-office push with agencies that negotiated telework agreements with federal unions, such as the Social Security Administration.

OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell issued a memo on Monday, February 3, prohibiting agencies from implementing provisions from collective bargaining agreements that “purport to restrict the agency’s right to determine overall levels of telework.”

“Provisions of collective bargaining agreements that conflict with management rights are unlawful and cannot be enforced,” Ezell wrote.

The Social Security Administration signed a collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in November 2024 finalizing telework for bargaining unit employees through 2029. They established a similar agreement with the Department of Education in January 2025, shortly before President Trump was inaugurated. AFGE has pledged to “aggressively defend” these contracts.

In its letter to President Trump, FMA expressed concerns with the blanket return to work order, citing the many benefits of telework where feasible, including positive outcomes for agency missions, federal employees, and the effective and efficient service for American taxpayers.

The letter noted FMA’s support for the Telework Reform Act (S. 82), sponsored by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), which would collect important data, including expected cost savings and productivity outcomes related to remote work and telework. Importantly, it would also enhance training, monitoring, accountability, and reporting. Among its specific provisions, S. 82 would:

• Require telework and remote work agreements between employees and agencies be renewed on an annual basis, including a review of agency needs;

• Require employees to take telework training every year;

• Require biannual surveys on telework usage; and,

• Require an annual review of telework guidelines by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

We at FMA believe this is a more reasonable approach to managing telework in the federal workforce in the 21st century, while better serving American taxpayers.