"In January, the Office of Personnel Management said federal employees would have to return to the office full-time, with the exception of those "excused due to a disability, qualifying medical condition, or other compelling reason certified by the agency head and the employee's supervisor." Then, last month, the Department of Health and Human Services, the parent agency of the CDC, released an updated telework policy that does not include telework as a reasonable accommodation."
"NPR has obtained a copy of a memo with CDC branding from a person who was not authorized to release it. The memo, dated Sept. 16., says the new telework policy no longer includes telework as a reasonable accommodation available to employees. The CDC, it said, will defer to the HHS on how to proceed with disabled employees' telework accommodations, and that, "until additional clarification is received," approvals for any pending requests for remote work accommodations would be "paused until further notice.""
The Office of Personnel Management directed federal employees to return to the office full-time in January, except for those excused for disability, qualifying medical conditions, or other compelling reasons certified by agency leadership and supervisors. The Department of Health and Human Services issued an updated telework policy that omits telework as a reasonable accommodation. The American Federation of Government Employees says the revised policy lacks clarity and has caused confusion among CDC staff with remote-work arrangements and their supervisors. Union leaders report disabled CDC employees are awaiting decisions on whether offsite work remains an accommodation and are often informed secondhand. A CDC-branded memo dated Sept. 16 states that approvals for pending telework accommodation requests have been paused pending HHS clarification.
Read at www.npr.org
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