Members of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are requesting additional documents and information from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding federal agencies’ telework and remote policies.
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky), Government Operations Subcommittee and Federal Labor Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas). letter Reported to OMB Director Shalanda Young on January 31 to better understand federal agencies’ implementation of the OMB memo starting in April 2023.
among them memo (M-23-15), OMB urged federal agencies to increase in-person office work while balancing telework as an important retention tool. Secretary Young directed agencies to develop updated “work environment plans” based on their post-pandemic re-entry plans.
The request for additional information came after the Republican committee letter sent Last spring, we worked with 25 federal agencies to obtain more detailed data on their work-from-home rates.
“After OMB issued M-23-15, it was no surprise that the agency would compile the data we requested. However, any response was delayed for a long time. Yet, agencies generally submitted little quantitative data to support telework or remote work policies,” the lawmakers wrote in a Jan. 31 letter.
About November hearing On this issue, Congressman Sessions explained that the committee has received little quantitative data from agencies, stating that “11 of the 25 agencies are reporting on how many of their employees are currently working from home.” It did not include any figures.”
Seeking better telework data, lawmakers are now asking OMB to provide copies of federal agencies’ work environment plans and a status report on all agencies’ plans to increase in-person work.
We also want more information about employee resistance to increased in-person work. Data on the impact of increased telework on agency performance. Challenges faced by federal government leaders, managers, and supervisors in “maximizing organizational performance and organizational health.”
“Ultimately, the telework debate is about agency performance,” they write. “The more agencies can measure their performance, the better customer satisfaction they will have and the more efficiently they will be able to use tax dollars. Both Congress and the administration will have better oversight and control policy and budget You will be able to make decisions about it.”
Lawmakers are asking OMB to respond by no later than February 14, 2024.
