The Washington Post - 11.03.2020

wednesday, march 11 , 2020. the washington post eZ re A23

The Trump administration, concerned that remote work was being a bused, has p ushed t o strict- ly limit it. “A lot of people look at telework and think, it’s just some nice-to-have thing for employees,” said Jeffrey Neal, a former Home- land Security personnel chief w ho writes a blog on federal personnel policies. “ What they don’t talk about much is the emergency planning aspect of i t,” Neal said. “It’s not like you can pull the trigger now and say, ‘Poof! We have a telework program.”

not so simple About 43 p ercent of federal employees were eligible to work from home in fiscal 2017, the last year for which data is available. The number has declined since then, but i t’s unclear by how much. With coronavirus planning, managers are realizing that shift- ing gears is not as simple as telling someone to power up their com- puter at home. Not everyone has broadband access at home — or a government-issued laptop that’s generally required to telework. Employees need access to agency networks. Some of t heir work con- tains sensitive material that can’t be exposed in a home setting. “A gencies will have a hard time retrofitting what they’ve been scaling down, and now they’re in the middle of a World Health or- ganization-designated pandemic,” said David Cann, director of

down concerns over disruptions to tax season. “Normal IrS operations are continuing, and we are seeing a strong, smooth filing season f or the nation,” t he a gency said in a statement. Documents known as continu- ity of operations plans have guid- ed federal emergency planners since the Cold War, when Presi- dent Dwight Eisenhower issued the first measures to ensure the government could continue to function after a nuclear attack. A fter the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, new blueprints evolved to protect t he homeland from a noth- er terrorist attack, and eventually from flu pandemics. T hey lay out how agencies would operate essential services with skeletal staffs and a lternative work sites where agency leaders would go. About 12 years ago, with broadband technology in most homes, telework became a key feature of the plans. But they have yet to be activated on a wide scale. The closest call was during the H1N1 pandemic o f 2009, a novel influen- za virus known as the swine flu. The government ramped up for a robust response, but no federal offices were affected. “We were racing the clock,” r e- called W. Craig fugate, who ran the disaster relief agency for eight years during the obama administration, “but we never got to the point of closing anything in government down.”

virus and give it to them?” Social Security’s top managers are at o dds with m any of its 60,000 employees across the country after canceling a six-year-old telework pilot program for 12,000 operations employees in November — then slashing it in multiple of other departments l ast month.

vague public statements In Seattle, Carlson says he’s fielding calls from managers whose staffs must report to the office, f rom w eather f orecasters to Secret Service a gents. They’re part of the massive workforce with public-facing or h igh-security jobs — IrS call-center e mployees, pass- port processors, food-safety in- spectors, shipbuilders, wildland firefighters, nurses caring for vet- erans, postal w orkers. They d irect- ly serve the p ublic, every day. So far their agencies have issued only vague p ublic statements about their welfare. “We are working closely with the [Centers for Disease Control] and monitoring the situation, and we remain prepared to deal with contingencies under our continu- ity of government plans,” mark Hinkle, a Social Security spokesman, said. other departments have canceled nonessential travel and meetings. Cleaning crews are dis- infecting bathrooms and other public services more frequently than u sual. on monday, the IrS played

happens if the kids are home because school is canceled — but telework p olicy doesn’t allow their parents to work with them in the house? (The answer: Agencies might be flexible in an emergency like this, but employees will have to keep close track of their work hours). oPm cannot force an office to shift its staff to remote work. “Each agency is responsible for determining how and when to employ telework when consider- ing the u nique n eeds o f its mission and employees,” spokesman An- thony marucci said in a n email. But President Trump has ex- pansive authority to close a n agency, whether he declares a national emergency or not. Just 15 percent of the workforce works in the Dis- trict region, and every state has a federal presence. officials a re n ot publicly releas- ing details of their emergency plans as they try to balance trans- parency with alarmism. Some unions that represent federal employees, though, say they’ve had little communication from managers. “We’re hearing crickets,” said James muhammad-mason, a debt specialist at the Social Security Administration in Chicago, where several of the state’s coronavirus cases have been diagnosed. “Peo- ple are concerned. I have a col- league taking care of an ill parent. I have kids. What if we get the

the coronavirus outbreak

BY ERIC YODER

federal employees are on the
front lines of the coronavirus out-
break i n many ways, from Centers
for Disease Control and Preven-
tion researchers t o airport screen-
ers and others who come in con-
tact with the public as part of their
jobs. But federal offices also are
workplaces, with the same types
of day-to-day considerations as
other workplaces.
The office of Personnel man-
agement, as the government’s
central personnel agency, has is-
sued several sets of guidance on
those concerns, the most recent
and most detailed on Saturday.
That f ollowed criticism by a group
of senators and two federal em-
ployee unions that the prior guid-
ance did not address many issues
of concern to employees.
Here are some common ques-
tions and answers for federal
workers drawn from those in-
structions about the coronavirus
and covid-19, the respiratory dis-
ease the virus causes.

Q: How should I decide whether
I should call in sick?
A: The oPm has told agencies
that employees “who have
symptoms of acute respiratory
illness are recommended to stay
home and not come to work until
they are free of fever (100.4
degrees fahrenheit [37.8 Celsius]
or greater using an oral
thermometer), signs of a fever,
and any other symptoms for at
least 24 hours, without the use of
fever-reducing or other
symptom-altering medicines (e.g.
cough suppressants). Employees
should notify their supervisor
and stay home if they are sick.”
Agencies must grant sick leave
when an illness prevents an
employee from performing work.

Q: must I have medical proof to
take sick leave?
A: Normally, “administratively

Q: If my office is closed, do telework-ready employees have to continue working? A: Generally, yes; telework program participants are ineligible for weather and safety leave during a closure, except in rare circumstances. They must telework for the entire workday, take other leave (paid or unpaid) or other time off, or use a combination of telework and leave or other paid time off.

Q: Are federal employees eligible for extra pay for potential exposure to the coronavirus? A: White-collar employees may be eligible for a “hazardous duty pay” a dd-on (25 percent of salary) if the agency determines that the employee “is exposed to a qualifying hazard through the performance of his or her assigned duties and that the hazardous duty has not been taken into account in the classification of the employee’s position.” Blue-collar employees may be eligible for a similar program for them called “environmental differential pay.”

Q: Are federal employees eligible for workers’ compensation due to the coronavirus? A: Not for exposure alone. The employee must be diagnosed with covid-19 to potentially be afforded coverage under the federal Employees’ Compensation Act program. Employees would “have the same burden to establish the basic requirements of coverage as other claimants and must submit medical evidence in support of an identifiable injury in the course of their federal employment and any related period of disability,” according to the Labor Department, which runs the fECA program.

[email protected]

acceptable evidence” of sickness — typically a doctor’s note — is required for sick leave for three days or more. However, an agency “may consider an employee’s self-certification as to the reason for his or her absence as administratively acceptable evidence... Supervisors should use their best judgment and follow their agency’s internal practices for granting sick leave. Agencies should also be mindful about the burden and impact of requiring a medical certificate.”

Q: What happens if I go to work with no symptoms but start feeling symptoms during the day? A: The same guidance states that “CDC recommends that employees who appear to have acute respiratory illness symptoms (i.e. cough, shortness of breath) upon arrival to work or become sick during the day should be separated from other employees and be sent home immediately.”

Q: What if I’m symptom-free but providing care for a family member who is quarantined? A: You may request annual leave, advanced annual leave, other paid time off (such as earned compensatory time off or earned credit hours) or leave without pay. If you are covered by a telework agreement, you may request to telework on an ad hoc basis. If your family member starts showing symptoms of the disease, you may invoke your entitlement to use sick leave to

care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Q: What’s my status if I’m quarantined? A: That depends on whether you have been deemed telework- ready — meaning you have been deemed eligible to telework and have an agreement regarding the terms with your agency. for those not telework-ready, the agency is to authorize “weather and safety leave,” which is paid time off without a reduction of another form of leave. for telework-ready employees, the home is generally an approved location. Those employees would generally be expected to perform telework at home as long as they are not showing symptoms. An employee who is diagnosed as being infected, or likely has been infected, with a quarantinable communicable disease such as covid-19 normally would go on sick leave, regardless of whether the employee has been approved for telework.

Q: What happens if I run out of leave? A: An agency may advance leave at its discretion beyond what an employee has accumulated. full-time employees are credited with 13 days of sick leave per year, with no limit on how much can be carried to the next year. Employees accrue 13, 20 or 26 days of annual leave (vacation time) per year, depending on their years of service, with a general limit of carrying no more

than 30 days from one year to the next. The maximum for advanced sick leave is 30 days for an employee who would “jeopardize the health of others by his or her presence on the job” because of exposure to a quarantinable communicable disease; and 13 days for those “providing care for a family member who would jeopardize the health of others by his or her presence in the community” because of exposure to a quarantinable communicable disease. The maximum for advanced annual leave is the amount you would accrue in the remainder of the leave year. Advanced leave is paid back over time by deducting the leave an employee otherwise would accrue. Up to 12 weeks of leave without pay also may be available under the family and medical Leave Act.

Q: What if my child’s school is closed? A: Generally, if school is closed but your office is open, you must report to work or take annual leave to be home with your child. Agencies generally bar home- based telework when there are young children or other individuals requiring care and supervision in the home. However, they may make an exception for emergency situations, allowing employees to telework for part of a day and take leave for the rest. If both the school and your office are closed, the agency is to

authorize “weather and safety leave” f or employees who cannot telework under agency policy.

Q: What are the considerations regarding travel? A: Agencies have been told to “review their travel policies and begin to reduce nonessential travel as appropriate,” a lthough there is no government-wide restriction. Certain countries or regions within countries have been designated by the State Department as Level 4 (Do Not Travel). Employees returning from those places “are advised to stay at home and monitor their health for 14 days after returning to the U.S.” Travel to other foreign destinations remains allowed, although employees are to consult State Department guidance.

Q: Will federal buildings be closed to the public? A: That’s a local decision made by the agency occupying a building, if there’s only one, or by the building’s facility security committee, for those with more than one agency. one federal building that has been closed is the Seattle-area field office of Citizenship and Immigration Services, due to the exposure to coronavirus of an employee working there. That building also houses some employees of several other components of the Department of Homeland Security. Employees are to telework if they are able.

When should I call in sick?

A Q&A for federal employees.

field services and education at the American federation of Govern- ment Employees, the largest union representing federal workers. Some D.C.-area House Demo- crats are so furious about the cuts that last week they introduced legislation to force the administration to reinstate telework where i t has b een curtailed. Agencies have said little publicly about their workforce plans. The Department of Homeland Se- curity announced last week that it had closed its Seattle field office for two weeks after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. But the agency declined to say how many employees were affected or could work remotely. Then on monday, U.S. Citizen- ship and Immigration Services told employees in an email that it was reopening a week early after professionally cleaning the o ffice. At Housing and Urban Devel- opment, some employees are re- sisting signing agreements because they don’t want to be required to work if colleagues who can’t telework get paid to stay home anyway, according to Asha- ki robinson Johns, president of AfGE Local 476, which represents HUD e mployees around Washing- ton. A senior HUD official, who spoke on the condition of ano- nymity because he was not autho- rized to discuss the coronavirus preparations, acknowledged that employees cannot be forced to sign a telework agreement. A bout 2,300 scientists and other staff at NASA’s Ames research Center in mountain View, Calif., have been on mandatory telework since friday, a directive that fol- lowed a nationwide work-from- home test r un for all e mployees. A nyone who didn’t happen to bring their laptop home over the weekend was unable access their work, though. As the virus spread in Seattle, employees at the EPA’s field office asked their managers last week to work from h ome full time u ntil the infections abate but were told no: They could telework only once a week. Kate Spaulding, an enforce- ment compliance officer, said she was told she would need a note from her doctor stating that she was a “vulnerable person” by the Centers for Disease Control’s defi- nition. “A s a federal employee, I am being blocked from putting into place strategies that have been strongly suggested by my local government and health advisors,” she w rote in a n email l ast week. The office finally was cleared to telework last friday “until further notice.” [email protected]

s arah Kaplan and Missy ryan contributed to this report.

sending s taff home to self-quaran-
tine if t hey have traveled o ut of the
country. The State Department
told its staff to set up emergency
teleconference drills — and alter-
nate who comes into the office to
use classified systems to ensure
that colleagues only gather in
small groups, according to an in-
ternal memo.
The virus’s fast spread led m any
private companies weeks ago to
send their staffs home to work
remotely. But some corners of the
federal government, the country’s
largest employer, are only now
confronting what could be an un-
precedented shift to how they
serve the public — for weeks or
even months.
Close to half the federal work-
force was eligible to telework
when P resident Trump took o ffice,
on average one o r two days a week,
for snow days or sporadically. But
few did it full time. Then the
Trump administration scaled
back working from home as a
regular practice at multiple large
agencies.
Now managers are scrambling
to expand the policy. Employees
who now telework a day or two a
week could expand to full time.
others could work from home for
the first time.
remote work is the linchpin of
the White House’s escalating
emergency planning efforts,
which could be deployed as the
crisis worsens. With coronavirus
cases now in 36 states and the
District, the outbreak is forcing
agencies to assess who on their
staffs is set up to telework, who
must stay on the job to serve the
public and how to ensure their
safety while keeping essential ser-
vices going.
Expanding telework already is
bringing complications, among
them administrative and equip-
ment hurdles and restrictions for
thousands o f employees w ho work
with classified material and can’t
bring i t home.
Anxious employees are waiting
for instructions that have so far
been uneven. The Pentagon says
it’s moving quickly to ask employ-
ees who can to sign new telework
agreements. T he Internal reve-
nue Service, at the height of tax
season, i s not. officials are expect-
ing large numbers of absences in
either case.
“This is uncharted territory,”
said Paul Carlson, director of the
Seattle federal Executive Board,
an association of senior officials
that last week recommended tele-
work for the a rea’s 22,000 employ-
ees.
f ederal personnel director Dale
Cabaniss described a “rapidly
evolving situation” as she provid-
ed more detailed guidance over
the w eekend to address workplace
rules, including a question that
until now was unheard of: What

government from A1

Federal government runs behind private sector on decisions about telework

stuart isett for the Washington Post the virus’s fast spread led many private companies weeks ago to send their staffs home to work remotely. But some corners of the federal government, the country’s largest employer, are only now confronting what could be an unprecedented shift to how they serve the public.

The Washington Post - 11.03.2020

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