“The Office of Personnel Management is urging federal agencies to be prepared to offer telework to more employees amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus. OPM also is preparing for more questions on workplace rules and sick leave for feds whose children face school cancellation or who need to care for a stricken family member.”
“OPM Director Dale Cabaniss urged agency heads over the weekend to “ensure that written telework agreements are in place for as many employees as possible,” and encouraged agencies to “sign situational (ad hoc) telework agreements with all telework eligible employees currently without a signed telework agreement.”
“The March 7 update also signaled to agencies to have IT systems and network ready “should the conditions from COVID-19 so warrant a federal office closure…”
“In a separate, more detailed document, OPM explored issues that could come to bear on federal employees who are quarantined or asked to self-isolate as the result of an exposure, and how caring for children experiencing school closure or relatives dealing with exposure might affect individual telework agreements. Some agencies bar teleworking alongside dependents to avoid employees splitting time between caregiving and work…” Read the full article here.
Source: OPM presses agencies to prep for telework in updated COVID-19 guidance – By Adam Mazmanian, March 8, 2020. FCW.
