DOE issues return to office schedule for most employees

The Department of Energy issued a memo dated Thursday Feb. 27 saying telework and remote work agreements will be terminated, with exceptions, and all employees will return to in-person work.

The memo, obtained by the Exchange Monitor on Feb. 28, said DOE was pursuing President Donald Trump’s executive order from his first full day in office, Return to In-Person Work. Exceptions were granted for employees with a telework agreement approved for a “reasonable accommodation due to a disability or qualifying medical condition,” military spouses, and employees approved to work overseas.

The following must return to work at a DOE facility:

• Political appointees, senior executive service, senior level, scientific and professional managers and supervisors by March 17
• Non-bargaining unit employees with telework agreements by March 24
• Non-bargaining unit employees with remote agreements with a duty station within 50 miles from a DOE facility where primary work is located by March 31
• Non-bargaining unit employees with remote work agreements whose duty station is more than 50 miles from a DOE facility where primary work is located by May 5
• Bargaining unit employees by a date to be determined

It has been widely rumored in the weapons complex that the White House’s hard line toward returning to the office, figured into Candice Robertson’s decision to leave as the highest-ranking career person at the DOE Office of Environmental Management.

Meanwhile, almost two weeks after Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told his department’s employees they didn’t need to respond to an email from Elon Musk inquiring about their work product, Trump told his Senate-confirmed cabinet Thursday that the heads of each of the departments, not Musk, are in charge of staffing.