What Is Telework in the Federal Government? Categories and Eligibility

Federal telework is a formal work arrangement, defined in the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, that allows an eligible federal employee to perform assigned duties from an agency-approved location outside the regular office under a written agreement.¹ The statute is still in force, but the practical picture has narrowed sharply. After a January 2025 presidential memorandum directing agencies to end remote arrangements and bring workers back onsite, OPM reported by early 2026 that roughly 90 percent of federal employees were working in-office, with about 10 percent holding exemptions.² If you currently telework, want to, or just had an arrangement revoked, the rules below are what still governs your situation.

What the Statute Actually Says

Under 5 U.S.C. § 6501, telework means performing your job duties and other authorized work from a location your agency has approved in place of the office where you would otherwise report.¹ That approved location is usually your home, though it can be a satellite office or another site the agency accepts in writing. The arrangement is formal. You cannot simply decide to work from home for a day and call it telework: it requires prior approval, a signed agreement, and compliance with your agency’s telework policy.

The law also directs every executive agency to build telework into its continuity-of-operations planning so that essential functions can continue during severe weather, pandemics, or security incidents.³

Telework Is Not the Same as Remote Work

Federal personnel rules draw a hard line between “telework” and “remote work,” and the line has real money attached. If you report to the agency worksite at least twice each biweekly pay period on a regular, recurring basis, you are a teleworker, and the office remains your official duty station for pay purposes.⁴ You keep the locality pay rate tied to that office, even if you live in a cheaper area.

If you do not meet that twice-per-pay-period threshold, you are a remote worker. Your official duty station shifts to where you actually work, typically your home address.⁵ If that home sits in a lower-paying locality area, your locality pay drops with it, and the agency must update your SF-50 to reflect the new duty station.⁶ This is the detail people miss when they negotiate a fully remote arrangement without checking the pay tables.

How the 2025 Return-to-Office Directive Changed Things

On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a memorandum directing all executive branch agencies to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to their duty stations on a full-time basis as soon as practicable. Agency heads retain authority to grant exemptions they deem necessary.⁷ The memorandum states it must be implemented “consistent with applicable law,” so the Telework Enhancement Act still supplies the legal framework. The statute has not been repealed or amended.

Before the memorandum, about 10 percent of federal employees were fully remote and roughly 40 percent teleworked at least part-time. By early 2026, OPM reported in-office rates near 90 percent, with the remaining 10 percent holding exemptions covering disability accommodations, primary caregiving, military-spouse situations, and hard-to-fill roles.² If your telework agreement was cut during this period, the exemption categories, and the reasonable accommodation route in particular, are where to look next.

The Three Categories of Federal Telework

Where telework is still available, agencies sort it into three types.

Routine Telework

Routine telework runs on a regular, recurring schedule, typically one or two designated days each biweekly pay period.⁵ Predictability is the point. Everyone knows which days you are offsite, and in-person work gets scheduled around it.

Situational Telework

Situational telework is approved case by case and is not part of any recurring schedule.⁵ Snowstorms, focused writing time, working around a medical appointment. OPM guidance says situational telework should stay intermittent and not become a workaround for a routine arrangement that was never approved.

Emergency Telework

Emergency telework applies during office closures, pandemic events, or continuity-of-operations scenarios. If you are telework-eligible, you should have a current agreement covering these events and stay familiar with your agency’s continuity plans, including the possibility of being assigned duties outside your normal role.⁸

Who Is Eligible

Even where the position allows telework, your own record has to clear two automatic bars set by 5 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(2):

You cannot telework if you have been officially disciplined for being absent without permission for more than five days in any calendar year.
You cannot telework if you have been officially disciplined for violating executive branch ethics standards by viewing pornography on a government computer or while performing government duties.

Both bars require formal discipline, not an informal warning.³

Performance also matters, though the standard comes from agency policy rather than the statute. Most agencies require at least a “Fully Successful” rating on your most recent appraisal. Landing on a Performance Improvement Plan usually suspends telework until improvement is sustained. The statute separately says that if your performance does not meet the terms of your written telework agreement, you can lose authorization to telework.³

Dependent Care Is Not a Permitted Reason

A common misconception is that telework replaces childcare or eldercare. OPM guidance is direct: you may not telework in order to provide dependent care during your work hours, and you are expected to arrange care the same way you would if you were in the office.⁹ Brief interruptions from a dependent in the home are acknowledged, but if a care situation is preventing you from working, the correct step is to notify your supervisor and request leave. Ignoring the rule can result in suspension or termination of the telework agreement.

Which Positions Qualify

The job itself has to be compatible with offsite work. The statute lets agencies exclude two categories of positions:

Positions requiring the employee to handle secure materials, or perform activities that the agency head has determined must be done onsite, on a daily basis. In practice this covers roles that require access to a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility or similar controlled environment.³⁵
Positions that depend on specialized equipment, laboratories, in-person public service, or physical infrastructure maintenance, because the work cannot be done from another location.

The “daily basis” qualifier matters. Handling classified material twice a week does not automatically disqualify a position; the agency head weighs the overall demands of the role. Agencies are required to review each position, document exclusions, and notify every employee of their telework eligibility.³

Training, Written Agreements, and Equal Treatment

Before you can sign a telework agreement, federal law requires you to complete an interactive telework training program, and your manager must complete training too. Only emergency situations excuse this step.¹⁰

No employee can telework without a written agreement signed by both the employee and an agency manager. The statute makes it mandatory.³ The agreement specifies your approved worksite address, scheduled telework days, how you will stay reachable, and expected work output. That worksite address is not just paperwork; it fixes your locality pay rate and establishes the location that matters for any workers’ compensation claim. OPM guidance caps agreements at one year, with renewal contingent on the original terms still applying and performance holding up.⁵

One provision in the training statute is easy to overlook and worth knowing: teleworkers and non-teleworkers must be treated identically for performance appraisals, training opportunities, promotions, reassignments, retention decisions, and reductions in grade.¹⁰ The law prohibits penalizing your career because of where you work. If you feel you are being passed over on that basis, this provision is your starting point.

If You Are Denied, or If a Medical Condition Is Involved

When a manager denies a telework request, OPM expects the denial to be in writing, timely, based on legitimate business reasons, consistent with agency policy, and to inform you of any grievance or appeal procedures available.¹¹ Your options depend on your agency’s negotiated grievance procedures, any collective bargaining agreement, and the grounds for the denial. If the denial appears to violate the equal treatment provision or amounts to disability discrimination, the routes expand to include EEO complaints and potentially Merit Systems Protection Board proceedings.

A separate track exists for employees with disabilities. Under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, federal agencies must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities, and telework can qualify as a reasonable accommodation when it enables you to perform the essential functions of your position that you could not perform onsite, or when it provides equal access to workplace benefits.¹² The 2025 return-to-office memorandum acknowledged agencies should make reasonable accommodations where appropriate, and OPM has confirmed disability-related exemptions are among those being granted.² Telework requested purely for personal convenience does not qualify. If you have a medical condition that makes in-person work difficult, requesting telework through your agency’s reasonable accommodation process is a different legal track than a standard telework request and carries stronger protections.

Equipment, Costs, and Security at the Home Worksite

Agencies have discretion over what they provide, and the rules are less generous than many employees assume. Federal law generally bars appropriated funds from covering personal expenses like home utilities, insurance, or maintenance. Agencies may, at their discretion, pay for telecommunications services such as broadband installation, VPN access, or monthly internet charges that directly support official work.¹³ Practice varies widely by agency, so ask before assuming.

Security rules are less flexible. Federal cybersecurity standards assume any network outside the agency office is hostile. NIST guidance for telework security calls for encrypting sensitive data in transit and at rest, using multi-factor authentication, running antimalware and personal firewalls, and locking sessions automatically after inactivity. Devices with full-disk encryption should be shut down, not left sleeping, when you step away for long periods. Failure to follow these controls can jeopardize both the telework agreement and, for cleared employees, the security clearance.

If You Are Injured While Teleworking

An injury at home during your approved telework hours, while performing official duties, is covered under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act, the same workers’ compensation framework that applies at the office.¹⁴ The qualifier is critical: the injury must be work-related and occur during your approved work schedule. Tripping over a power cord on the way to your home-office desk during work hours could be covered. Injuring yourself doing yard work at lunch probably would not. Your written telework agreement, with its specified hours and worksite address, is the document that fixes the boundaries of coverage. Keeping it accurate is your proof of where and when you were authorized to work if you ever have to file a claim.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6501 – Definitions
2
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Why Showing Up Counts
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6502 – Executive Agencies Telework Requirement
4
eCFR. 5 CFR 531.605 – Determining an Employees Official Worksite
5
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Guide to Telework and Remote Work in the Federal Government
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Scenario 4: Remote Work at an Alternative Worksite in a Different Locality Pay Area
7
The White House. Return to In-Person Work
8
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Emergency Telework
9
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Telework and Dependent Care Policy Guidance
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 6503 – Training and Monitoring
11
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. If the Manager Denies an Employees Telework Request Can the Employee Appeal That Decision
12
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Frequently Asked Questions From the Federal Sector About Telework Accommodations for Disabilities
13
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. May Federal Agencies Cover Additional Costs Incurred by Employees as a Result of Telework
14
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. While Teleworking an Employee Is Injured at Home