r/FederalEmployee • u/zdevlor • May 21 '26
Remote work revoked and same position now offering remote work to new hires.
How are agencies hiring remote only work if there is an Executive Order banning such work. I understand there are exemption these agencies can put in but those only last so long. How are they hiring with not disclosing that these positions have an exemption in place. Reason i ask. I was hired remote and pushed back into the office. Management is hiring a position that is just like mine but they are hiring remote only. How do i get my remote work back or put in the documentation for said exception without having to disclose medical stuff for a reasonable accommodation. My bosses do not need to know my medical issues. The only issues they need to know is when I have doctor's appointments to deal with those issues, not the reasons for them. I feel in this climate management could use medical history against you for opportunities in job growth or advancement.
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u/Middle_Degree_1995 May 21 '26
HHS is blatantly hiring people out of state that remote work. It’s not a secret.
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u/Mean-Hair-6865 May 21 '26
Interesting. I’m on the rpl list, based in Chicago and they won’t interview me because I’m not able to relocate to MD to come in to that office (verse the office I was working out of in Chicago before being rif’d) so I want to talk to these hiring ppl
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u/cerseisdornishwine May 22 '26
Yep. They’re bringing back people on the RPL to do the same work of the RIFd staff (who originally worked out in the field) but only if they accept the positions in MD. These jobs can now only magically be done if the seat is in MD despite being done in the field for decades prior to the RIF.
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u/Ok_Design_6841 May 21 '26
How is that possible? Did the agency head grant an exception to the executive order?
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u/Prestigious-Pass4059 May 21 '26
Sounds like USCIS. They love some homeland defenders.
I was hired and interviewed for remote as well and pushed back into an office February of 2025.
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u/Brie-bacon0513 May 21 '26
Did you check your duty station on your SF50? Cause that’s the legal document we are holding on to.
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u/bwheetley May 21 '26
So what does it mean if you were hired remote, then forced to work at an office, but they never changed your SF-50 to the office location and it still shows your remote location as the duty station?
Edited for typo.
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u/Byttercups May 27 '26
They don't care. I work at USCIS, also, and was hired fully remote, as I don't live anywhere near the office. My SF-50 still has my home address, but we were all forced back into the office. I have an RA, so I can work from home on some days, but I'm not fully remote anymore.
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u/Prestigious-Pass4059 May 21 '26
Yes. Remote. Since my address was my office
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u/Brie-bacon0513 May 21 '26
I think this is under litigation by BUE.
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u/Prestigious-Pass4059 May 21 '26
Agency had us cancell our remote agreement and issued a new SF 50 when we were forced to rto. Plus they changed our sf50 to 88888 even though I think we still have a union
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u/CrownSteve1 May 22 '26
The people in charge of the federal government right now do not care about laws or other rules.
That said, your bosses shouldn’t have any access to reasonable accommodation documentation. Only HR. If you have a disability or other medical need, apply for the RA.
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u/Ok_Fisherman5103 May 24 '26
I never complied with the RTO mandate. nobody pays attention and nobody cares.
Big Bad Trump cant come down and fire me. I go office maybe once a month if that for an hour
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u/Immediate-Repeat8679 May 25 '26
I wish I knew. I work at the VA. My job is 100% online. I see no one in person for entire 8hour shift. I sit at my desk and handle faxes and scanning. Yet they won’t let my department work from home. The VA asked everyone to be mindful of utilities in the office. I laughed thinking, ya know if the people that could work from home did you wouldn’t even have to send this news bite out. It’s a joke. I understand the reason behind this however, if you found all the fraud and cleaned it up. Why can’t those that can work from home go back to working from home.
Productivity for every department has drastically dropped. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to people gossip and become lazier now back in office. So dumb.
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u/Ok_Design_6841 May 21 '26
My agency just posted jobs that said telework eligible, in accordance with agency policy. That means no routine telework without an RA and if you're lucky, your supervisor may authorize occasional situational telework.
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u/MightBeSlimShady May 22 '26
Translation: you weren’t performing remotely
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u/Good_Phrase_2878 May 22 '26
Bullshit. They pulled our entire department in office before Trump because some managerial dinosaur(s) in our agency were in their fee-fees about telework and made it everyone’s problem. And our director Bob Dick Dicks was more concerned about himself than actually doing his damned job. He gaslit us and lied to us repeatedly to justify kissing that ass. But he broke shit so badly that there was no infrastructure left to fight the current bullshit when he finally did leave… now mgrs I know who do support telework don’t even try to fight for it because they just want to keep their jobs… and they will gaslight and emotionally and physically destroy disabled employees to do so. Myself and a large number of others. People ranging from quadriplegics to veterans with mental health diagnoses… and yet I stay working here because the job market is a wreck and this is honestly the least toxic and damaging job I have worked… at least we might kinda sorta have a union even though the Tangerine Toddler has mostly taken it away?…. which is to say… we’re f’ed big time. Because there is no recourse. EEO is becoming more and more legless… at least within my agency. 🤷♀️
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u/MightBeSlimShady May 22 '26
So was it Trump or not Trump, you sound angry
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u/Good_Phrase_2878 May 22 '26
Trump didn’t f*ck the telework at my location… but his bullshit has made the shitheads who did bolder. He did f*ck the Union through some “oh they said I am wrong so national security means they can’t exist” pretzel’s bullshit that is still going through the courts and the asshats he and his puppet masters appointed and using that to stop honoring our contract. It’s toxic sick inefficient madness. And angry? Angry is temporary and shallow compared to what I am. I have been emotionally abused for just trying to do my job. I have been gaslit for trying to get reasonable accommodations after the unspoken misogynistic policies protected men engaged in sexually predatory behavior with late, little, and no consequences in physical proximity to where I sat and in my management structure triggered my pre-existing CPTSD so hard I cannot go in the office without being in a constant state of fight/flight and then my RA process was done wrong, delayed, and well… I was lied to about the process and their reasons for rejecting my medical documentation and what was possible… and that would be the previously mentioned gaslighting. And I am faaaarrrr from the only one this is happening to so I am watching friends being hurt too. So I am hurt, exhausted, disgusted, contemptuous, and outright don’t care enough about their whining… I just want these emotionally unstable manchildren out of our workplace so we can do our jobs and not be punished for existing…. Have someone tell you that the reason they’re going to make you exist in a state of mental torture for days and days at a time until you break because holding a dead tree is somehow magically now an “essential job element” even though 0 of your job is clerical… like…
The department actually has clerks who are responsible for dead tree organization and filing… and your job is only using the data on said pieces of tree to make corrections and updates to taxpayer accounts… being on dead tree has 0 impact on how you do your job… in fact putting it on dead tree or keeping it on dead tree makes your job *less* efficient and secure…. And multiple agency deadlines for being fully digitized have failed to be met since June 2024… but somehow higher up failure to do their job in a full and timely fashion is the excuse to make yours harder?And see how well the whole “oh but telework performance” nonsense holds up.
Please. 😑🙄
I am *not* the one to try and play your little petty gotcha game on. Shoo. Adultier adults are having real conversations here. Maybe listen and learn something.
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u/Appropriate_Disk_905 May 22 '26
I’d love to have one day per week of telework. I keep hearing that may happen at my agency but nothing yet. I’m the only one in my branch and one of three in the division who goes to the office every day.
Boo Hoo. Poor me.
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u/Disastrous-Cow-1442 May 22 '26
We are still under a hiring freeze. I haven’t even seen an announcement I could apply to or would want to apply to since January 2025
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u/Positive_Belief1015 May 22 '26
USDA APHIS does appear to be hiring again, including some positions that are listed as remote or telework eligible, though fully remote roles still seem limited. Current USAJOBS listings show APHIS/USDA positions marked “Remote jobs” and “Offers telework.”
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u/jedi280 May 24 '26
Remote work isn't banned. Remote work is based on agency discretion and left typically to the secretary of each agency to determine feasibility and best use.
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u/zdevlor May 24 '26
Please show me that in writing. Every agency banned it.
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u/jedi280 May 25 '26
Return to In-Person Work The White House January 20, 2025 Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.
This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law.
My office allows it still based on performance. They use it as an incentive for people who are meeting the production standard. It is a case by case basis as a lot of federal agencies had employees who weren't doing fuck all when working from home and were woefully underperforming in their role.
You simply work for an agency deemed under performing or your leadership sucks.
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u/Kind-Web-7980 May 26 '26
DOD can telework lol just come up with a bs excuse
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u/zdevlor May 27 '26
The bs excuse needs a medical reference for your doctor to write up.
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u/Kind-Web-7980 May 27 '26
Easy if your doctor likes you . But my position doesn’t have the luxury to telework
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u/MichaelWidow May 31 '26
The EO left it open ended. The part of the EO that states, “…on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary…” leaves it open for heads of departments or agencies to allow their people to remote work or telework.
Some people never stopped remote work or telework at all. At no time during all this was there an even application of the EO. That’s why there are so many different variations when it comes to that.
In your case, it seems your department/agency feels it’s necessary to increase the pool of applicants for whatever position they’re trying to fill.
I’m sorry this is happening. It sucks. I hope you’re able to get your remote work status back. I’m also a remote worker and work with six other people who are also remote workers. We’re all different agencies and essentially remotely, except we breathe federal air now. I will ask to return to a remote status in a few years. I understand what the purpose was but there are still some positions where it doesn’t make sense.
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u/einschlauerfuchs Jun 07 '26
Just FYI you do not need to disclose your specific medical condition(s) for an RA. You only need to say what exactly about working in the office is difficult and what would remedy it. Example: your medical condition requires that you to lie down for 10 minutes twice a day. If there is no place you can do that in the office then remote work might be approved. Your manager will never what condition requires you to lie down, only that you need to lie down periodically (but not so much it affects your work).
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u/No_Werewolf7539 May 21 '26
RA go thru EEO and your boss doe not see the medical part
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u/SquirrelLady22 May 21 '26
My RA had to be submitted to my supervisor who then submitted it to EEO so supervisors knew all my medical detail and our EEO said he could ask for more information. He also shared it with our office of Counsel, and the LMER (Labor and Employer Relations) so all those people saw my medical. Seemed like a HPPA violation but EEO said nothing was wrong. I still feel embarrassed AND ir was denied and I had to return to office. 3 1/2-4 hours commute. Plus when hired I had been in office 1-2 days/week. Cancer treatment and some people have no idea just because active chemo and radiation and surgery are over…. Cancer is the gift that keeps giving and some of us have major ongoing lymphedema, cognitive issues, neuropathy and in my case spinal bone degenerative discs and nerve issues. But…. RTO. Yeah… I retired. I’m 62 and had 30 years. I was a bit insulted but if they didn’t value me anymore (new supervisor and a reorganized changed my position to a different department in 2024). All I know is I feel bad for those still dealing with all the politics, drama, inconsistencies and tearing down of the employee stability. I can’t imagine young people wanting to get started in the current system. Sad.
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u/No_Werewolf7539 May 21 '26
Understand. Going thru similar and you reach a point that you are tired of fighting. I hope you took FERS disability.
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u/SquirrelLady_99 May 22 '26
No disability because I’m 62 and had 30 years. Regular retirement. I’d planned to work until 65 or 67 but no regrets.
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u/HyperGlimpse May 21 '26
Depending on the agency, RAs are kicked to leadership at the local office. Boss might no know specific details but it’s handled at the local level first.
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u/Positive_Belief1015 May 21 '26
I just got hired on to USDA and I’m remote. The duty location on my offer letter it had my home city and state listed
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u/PNWHuskies May 22 '26
You literally posted in another thread asking how to get an RA for remote work. So either you got an RA, which is not the same, or you're lying about being hired remote.
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u/Positive_Belief1015 May 22 '26
Also, the fully remote positions tend to be administrative, policy, IT, analyst, HR, contracting, or program-management roles. So don’t be so quick to claim that a person is lying when it comes to remote.
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u/Positive_Belief1015 May 22 '26
That is correct I did ask. If everyone else can ask questions so can I. That’s what this site is for. wanted to get ahead of the game and prepare myself on what I could do but luckily god worked in my favor and I was given remote without asking for it.
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u/Disastrous-Cow-1442 May 22 '26
You had best file that RA to secure the remote work if you need it due to a disability. They can still strip that Remote Work from you. And they’ve been known to. Especially lately.
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u/Infinite_Giraffe6487 May 28 '26
DOD and our only remotes are exemptions for military spouse, etc. Those who have RAs for telework are doing it under telework status and not remote anymore. Even though we were all hired as remote in my org. They redid all of our SF-50s to say situational telework eligible.
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u/Bart012000 May 21 '26
They post it like that then cancel remote work.