The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has released a second round of instructions for agencies on how to continue the process of implementing President Trump’s memorandumrequiring most federal employees to return to in-office work.

OPM issued its first round of guidance last week. This latest memo was issued on January 27, 2025.

Federal agencies have to submit detailed implementation plans to OPM and the Office of Management and Budget for review and approval by 5 PM EST on Friday, February 7, 2025.

Of note, OPM is instructing agencies to focus on bringing their collective bargaining agreements into compliance with the presidential memorandum.

It also specifically addresses remote work, that is, federal employees who work full-time offsite, and says that agencies must outline steps to determine the number of those employees that they have and the steps that need to be taken to move those employees’ duty stations to the most appropriate federal offices.

OPM’s memo directs agencies to take the following steps:

1. describe the steps the agency will take to revise telework agreements for all eligible employees including major milestones for implementation;
2. provide timelines for the return of all eligible employees to in-person work as expeditiously as possible, including the date that the agency will be in full compliance with the PM [presidential memorandum];
3. describe the steps the agency will take to bring any relevant Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) into compliance with the new PM, consistent with applicable law, to include an examination of the process by which agencies put new CBAs into place in the last four years;
4. describe the steps the agency will take to determine permanent worksites for all eligible employees currently teleworking on a full-time basis (i.e., remote workers), the number of those employees, and the steps the agency will take to move these employees’ duty stations to the most appropriate Federal office based on the employees’ duties and job functions. This information must include estimated costs and resource implications when the new duty station is greater than 50 miles from current alternative worksites, a description of what policy, regulation, or statute requires or permits payment of relocation benefits, and where those employees will be located—whether in a home agency’s office or in another agency’s federal office space;
5. identify any risks, barriers, or resource constraints that would prevent the expeditious return of all eligible employees to in-person work (e.g., availability of suitable office space, budgetary impacts, resource capacity, etc.) and a plan to overcome those barriers;
6. describe agency’s process for determining exceptions based on disability, qualifying medical condition, and or other compelling reason; and
7. describe the agency’s criteria for determining “other compelling reasons” for exemptions from return-to-office, including any limited, discrete categories (such as military spouses working remotely) where categorical or indefinite exemptions may be granted.

OPM’s memo adds that agencies should use these principles in guiding the development of their plans:

1. Prioritizing for return to in-person work those agency headquarters and eligible employees who can do so expeditiously, and phasing in the return of remote workers who are more than 50 miles from a current agency office, which may present unique challenges.
2. Maximize use of existing federally-owned or leased space before adding net-new space to the federal real property portfolio, in consultation with the General Services Administration, OMB, and local Federal Executive Boards (FEBs), as applicable, to consider options for sharing space and consolidating the federal real property footprint among agencies in a given geographical area.
3. In determining new duty stations or reallocating internal office space consider grouping organizations and employees based on like duties and job functions, where possible, to promote effective collaboration and management.

Source: https://www.fedsmith.com/2025/01/27/opm-releases-more-guidance-on-implementing-return-to-office-directive/?utm_source=fedsmith-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fedsmith-2025-01-29&utm_content=post