A senior official at the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday defended the Biden administration's approach to telework from continued Republican scrutiny of workplace flexibility.
Asked to explain the White House's position on telework to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Jason Miller, OMB's deputy director for management, said that current expectations are that “administrative employees” at federal agencies typically have limited working hours. He said they should be asked to spend at least half. hours on a traditional work site. However, some agencies deviate from that standard based on mission needs.
“It is important to understand the fact that approximately half of federal employees must be in the federal workplace to perform their jobs. [making them ineligible for telework]'' Miller said. “[For] Office workers are where there is consistency across agencies, so it's clear that agencies expect them to hit at least 50%. [in person work]At the same time, it provides flexibility to deliver best practices based on diverse mission spaces. This is consistent with the current situation in the private sector and we will continue to adjust as necessary. We should be able to compete for talent and we should be able to measure performance. ”
But Republicans, led by committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), have criticized federal agencies for not receiving timely data on telework and its impact on productivity and service delivery. I repeated my dissatisfaction. In the recently enacted minibus spending package that will keep the government going through September, Congress included a provision requiring the White House to provide a slew of new data on workplace flexibility.
“At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there was a legitimate need for large-scale telework for federal employees, but that need has long since ended,” Comer said. “But large-scale telework continues under the Biden administration, and the administration aims to make it a permanent part of federal working life. How do we know this is in the public interest? Is it? The only data we've seen on this is a survey of federal employees themselves, and they think it's working well.”
Miller said he is working with federal agencies to collect the data Congress is calling for in the latest spending deal, but including the roughly 50% of federal workers who don't have access to telework, 80 percent of the federal workforce % pointed out that they were working. Always face-to-face.
Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) asked about a March report by the Architect of the Capitol Inspector General. The report found that the company failed to renew regional benefits for 20 employees who signed remote work agreements that required employees to be allocated regional benefits. Depending on where you live rather than the office you work in, it will cost your agency about $120,000.
“The Capitol Police Inspector General's Architect found that 8% of employees eligible for telework received inadequate local pay,” Cloud said. “Is this happening? How many federal employees have had their telework agreements rescinded due to misconduct, fraud, other inappropriate conduct, or simply poor performance?”
Miller responded that agencies are responsible for complying with telework agreements they have with individual employees, but that they may be subject to additional scrutiny.
“What I hope is that agency leaders are holding them accountable to the agreements they sign,” Miller said. need to fix that. But I don't know that this is a widespread problem. . . We also hope that there will be an inspector general within the agency to investigate such issues. ”
Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, asked how issues such as improving diversity and improving the recruitment and retention of young workers will impact the administration's telework decisions.
“Opportunities like remote work and telework increase the diversity of the federal workforce for people who face all kinds of barriers, including access to transportation, caring for elderly relatives, and getting children to and from school. “It helps,” Brown said. “As we live in the post-pandemic 21st century, we need to make the most of the incredible benefits that technology offers us all.”
Miller said the reason the White House is trying to reflect the private sector in developing policies governing workplace flexibility is because of the need to attract young and diverse people to the public service.
“We're competing for talent,” he said. “We increasingly need advanced technical skills. That's one of the areas where we compete. Our workforce is older than the entire American workforce. We've put a lot of emphasis on increasing our early career federal workforce, which has increased by 13% so far, but we still have a long way to go if we leave some of our country on the bench. , if you don't give them access to [to federal jobs], we are missing out on potential skills and expertise that could serve the American public in these roles. ”
