Pennsylvania’s largest federal employer must comply with the return to in-person work order issued by President Trump.
Federal employees at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs must return to in-person work by May 5th if they are located within 50 miles of a federal office space, or July 28th if they are located outside of those parameters.
A Friday morning email from VA Secretary Douglas A. Collins detailed the order, which is in compliance with President Trump’s executive order mandating federal employees return to the office. Those who do not comply will face disciplinary actions, and termination is possible.
The VA has 19,389 employees in Pennsylvania throughout many facilities, including medical centers, community service programs, and benefits administration offices.
Earlier this month, certain employees received instructions to return to the office by February 24th. These included senior-level workers, political appointments, and other supervisors.
According to data from the Office of Personnel Management, as of March of 2024, 48.9% of Pennsylvania’s VA employees were eligible for telework.
Earlier this month, the VA announced that it would be firing more than 1,000 employees. The department claims that the terminations will save more than $98 million annually.
The return-to-office policies are expected to impact one-fifth of the VA’s 479,000 employees. The new VA policy states that workers must return to the office unless “excused due to a disability, qualifying medical condition or other compelling reason.”
“This is a commonsense step toward treating all VA employees equally,” acting VA Secretary Todd Hunter said. “Most VA clinical staff don’t have the luxury of working remotely, and we believe the performance, collaboration and productivity of the department will improve if all VA employees are held to the same standard.”
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 800,000 government workers, said in a statement that it believes Trump’s return to in-person work order is violating the law by “encouraging agencies to ignore collective bargaining agreements.”
“Union contracts are enforceable by law, and the president does not have the authority to make unilateral changes to those agreements. AFGE members will not be intimidated. If our contracts are violated, we will aggressively defend them,” said AFGE national president Everett Kelley in the statement.
