Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memorandum directing all federal agencies to submit a Return-to-Office Implementation Plan by Friday, February 7, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST for review and approval.
The memorandum—which was a follow-up to the January 22 Presidential Memorandum requiring federal employees to return to in-person work—outlines key principles to guide agencies in their planning:
- Prioritize In-Person Work: Agencies are instructed to expedite the return to in-person work for those agency headquarters and eligible employees who can do so expeditiously. For remote employees located more than 50 miles from an agency office, a phased approach may be implemented to address unique challenges.
- Optimize Existing Space: Agencies must maximize the use of federally-owned or leased properties before acquiring new space. This includes consulting with the GSA, OMB, and local Federal Executive Boards to explore options for space-sharing and consolidation to reduce the federal real estate footprint among agencies in a given geographical area.
- Strategic Space Allocation: When considering new duty stations or reassigning office space, agencies are encouraged to group employees with similar job functions to enhance collaboration and management effectiveness.
The full memorandum can be found here.
If you have questions about how this guidance may affect your position, contact our firm for legal advice.