Federal employee telework rules come from two places that don’t fully agree. The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, at 5 U.S.C. Chapter 65, requires executive agencies to let eligible employees work from approved alternative locations under written agreements.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. Chapter 65 – Telework A January 20, 2025 Presidential Memorandum then directed all executive branch agencies to “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,” while allowing agency heads to “make exemptions they deem necessary” and requiring implementation “consistent with applicable law.”2The White House. Return to In-Person Work The statute is still in force, so where an agency head has not specifically pulled a position or arrangement back in, the underlying rules below still govern what you can and cannot do.
Telework Is Not the Same as Remote Work
OPM treats these as two different arrangements, and the difference drives your paycheck. Telework means you split your time between the agency office and an approved alternative site, with regularly scheduled in-office days. Remote work means you perform all of your duties from an alternative site and are not expected to appear at an agency office on any recurring basis.3U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Remote Work FAQ
A teleworker who reports to the agency office at least twice each biweekly pay period keeps that office as the official worksite and continues to receive locality pay tied to that location. A remote worker’s official worksite is wherever the remote site is, usually the home address, and locality pay adjusts to that geographic area.4U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Guide to Telework and Remote Work in the Federal Government For someone living far from a high-locality metro, the swing can be thousands of dollars a year.
Who Is Eligible
Not every federal job qualifies. Positions that require physical presence to handle classified materials, provide direct patient care, operate specialized equipment, or perform on-site security functions generally cannot be done from home. Each agency head identifies which positions are eligible and which are not.
The statute also permanently bars two categories of employees, regardless of what any agency policy says. You cannot telework if you have been officially disciplined for being absent without permission for more than five days in a calendar year. You also cannot telework if you have been officially disciplined for using a government computer to view, download, or exchange pornography while on duty.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. 6502 – Executive Agencies Telework Requirement The second bar is narrow: it targets pornography-related violations of Subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct, not ethics violations generally.
Many agencies add a performance-based screen, typically requiring a “fully successful” or higher rating before approval. That threshold is set at the agency level, so it can vary. And once you are teleworking, the statute requires that you be treated identically to non-teleworkers for performance appraisals, promotions, training, and other managerial decisions.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. 6503 – Training and Monitoring
Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation
Even where an agency has broadly cut telework, the Rehabilitation Act still requires an individualized look at telework requested as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. The EEOC and OPM have jointly said that agencies cannot take a “blanket approach” to denying these requests. If telework would let a qualified employee with a disability perform essential job functions and no equally effective alternative exists, the agency must consider it.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Frequently Asked Questions from the Federal Sector About Telework Accommodations for Disabilities
Agencies do get to choose among effective accommodations. If your agency granted telework during the pandemic but can now offer an equally effective in-office accommodation, it may do so. What it cannot do is apply one policy to everyone without looking at the individual case.
Mandatory Training and the Written Agreement
Two things have to happen before you can start teleworking. First, you and your manager both have to complete an interactive training program. That requirement is statutory, and OPM provides standardized courses for employees and a separate course for managers.8U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Telework Training The only exception is for employees who were already teleworking under an arrangement in place before the Telework Enhancement Act took effect in December 2010; in those cases the agency head can waive the training.
Second, you need a signed written agreement.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 U.S.C. 6502 – Executive Agencies Telework Requirement Each agency uses its own form; USDA employees, for example, use Form AD-3018.9United States Department of Agriculture. Telework Agreement The agreement typically covers the address of your alternative worksite, your scheduled telework days and duty hours, availability expectations, and a list of any government-furnished equipment you’ll take home. That equipment list matters because it fixes responsibility if a government laptop or phone is lost or damaged.
Dependent Care Is Not Covered
This one catches people. Telework is not a substitute for childcare or other dependent care. OPM guidance says explicitly that you must arrange for dependent care during work hours just as you would if you were in the office. Brief, occasional interruptions are tolerated, but if caregiving is preventing you from working, you’re expected to notify your supervisor and request leave.10U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Telework and Dependent Care Policy Guidance Failing to comply can end your telework agreement.
Unplanned situations like a school closure have some flexibility. You might telework during hours when you are not actively providing care and take leave for the hours you are. What cannot be routine is overlapping duty time and caregiving.
Home Internet Reimbursement
Agencies are permitted, but not required, to reimburse home internet used for telework. A GAO decision allows coverage of the basic connection rate but not installation, equipment rental, taxes, or other add-ons; when internet is bundled with cable or phone, only the internet share is reimbursable, and if that share cannot be determined the agency may deny reimbursement entirely.11U.S. Government Accountability Office. Patent and Trademark Office – High-Speed Internet Access in Employees Homes Whether your agency actually reimburses depends on its own policy. Ask your Telework Managing Officer.
Official Worksite and Locality Pay
Locality pay follows your official worksite, and 5 CFR 531.605 sets the rule. If you are covered by a telework agreement and report to your agency office at least twice each biweekly pay period on a regular and recurring basis, the agency office remains your official worksite and your locality pay stays where it is.12eCFR. 5 CFR 531.605 – Determining an Employees Official Worksite
Miss that twice-per-pay-period threshold without a qualifying temporary exception and your official worksite shifts to where you actually work, usually your home. Locality pay is recalculated for that pay area. Temporary exceptions exist for medical recovery, emergency conditions, extended leave, and temporary duty travel, where an authorized official can waive the in-office requirement without changing the official worksite.12eCFR. 5 CFR 531.605 – Determining an Employees Official Worksite
For a fully remote worker who never reports in on a recurring basis, the home address is the official worksite from the start. A GS employee moving from a D.C.-locality office to a remote arrangement in a lower-cost area can see a real pay cut. Understand the financial impact before you agree to any change. You also have to notify your supervisor of address changes, since a move can push you into a different locality pay area.
Snow Days, Emergencies, and Commuting
The Telework Enhancement Act requires each agency to build telework into its continuity of operations plan, so essential functions can continue during emergencies.13U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Emergency Telework Practically, that means telework-eligible employees are expected to keep working through events that close the office.
Weather and safety leave rules surprise a lot of federal workers. If you were scheduled to telework on a day the agency announces a closure or delayed arrival, you are generally expected to work your full schedule from home. Weather and safety leave is typically not available, because the weather is not what’s preventing you from doing the job. Remote workers are expected to begin work on time regardless of the physical office’s status.14U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Operating Status Archives Having a telework agreement can mean fewer snow days, not more.
Commuting between home and your regular agency office is never reimbursable, and that doesn’t change on a scheduled telework day. If the agency directs you in on a day you were supposed to telework, the trip is still commuting. Reimbursable travel kicks in when the agency sends you to an alternate work location that is not your normal duty station.15United States Department of Agriculture. Local Travel Policy For remote workers, travel to an agency worksite within 50 miles of the official duty station is treated as commuting; beyond that, the trip may qualify as official travel under the Federal Travel Regulation.
Security Obligations
Working from home does not soften your information security duties. Under FISMA, agency telework policies must address access to agency systems, protection of personally identifiable information, vulnerabilities from home networks and personal devices, and safeguarding of wireless and telecommunications used for telework. In practice, that usually means VPN access, government-issued encrypted devices for sensitive work, and the same rules for controlled unclassified information you would follow in the office. Violating those provisions can end your agreement or trigger discipline.
If Your Request Is Denied
OPM guidance requires a manager who denies a telework request to do so in writing, explain the reason, respond in a timely manner, and identify any appeal or grievance procedures available.16U.S. Office of Personnel Management. If the Manager Denies an Employees Telework Request, Can the Employee Appeal That Decision The specific route depends on your agency’s internal procedures and, if you are in a bargaining unit, on your collective bargaining agreement.
If you believe the denial was based on a prohibited factor, separate legal protections may apply. A denial of telework as a reasonable accommodation for a disability can be challenged through the EEO complaint process under the Rehabilitation Act. For denials unrelated to discrimination, your options are generally limited to the internal grievance process your agency or union contract provides.