Federal Telework and Remote Work Policies

Federal telework and remote work arrangements govern when, where, and under what conditions civilian federal employees may perform their duties outside a traditional agency office. These policies are rooted in statutory authority, agency-level agreements, and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance, and they carry direct consequences for pay, benefits eligibility, performance accountability, and collective bargaining obligations. Understanding the distinction between telework and remote work — and the regulatory framework that controls each — is essential for federal employees, managers, and human resources professionals navigating flexible work arrangements.

Definition and scope

Federal telework and remote work are legally distinct arrangements, and the difference matters for how agreements are structured, how locality pay is determined, and what oversight obligations apply.

Telework is defined under the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-292) as a work flexibility arrangement in which an employee performs the duties and responsibilities of their position from an approved worksite other than the location from which the employee would otherwise work. Teleworking employees maintain a designated official duty station at a federal facility; they are expected to report to that facility on a regular and recurring basis.

Remote work, by contrast, is an arrangement in which an employee's official duty station is set at a location other than a federal office — typically the employee's home or an approved alternative site. Remote workers are not expected to report to an agency facility on a regular and recurring basis. OPM guidance, including its Guide to Telework and Remote Work in the Federal Government (2021), treats remote work as a distinct personnel action with implications for locality pay calculations and position descriptions.

The Telework Enhancement Act applies to executive branch agencies and requires each agency to establish a telework policy, designate a Telework Managing Officer, and report telework participation data to OPM annually.

How it works

Federal telework and remote work arrangements operate through a layered system of statute, agency policy, and individual written agreements.

1. Statutory foundation — The Telework Enhancement Act of 1910 (P.L. 111-292) establishes the baseline requirement that agencies make telework available to eligible employees to the maximum extent possible without diminishing employee performance or agency operations.
2. Agency telework policy — Each agency issues its own telework policy that specifies eligibility criteria, frequency limits, and approval chains. Policies must be consistent with OPM guidance and, where applicable, negotiated with recognized employee unions.
3. Telework agreement — An eligible employee and their supervisor execute a written telework agreement specifying the approved work location, schedule, equipment responsibilities, and performance expectations. The agreement is revocable by the agency under defined conditions.
4. Official duty station determination — For teleworkers, the official duty station remains the agency office. For remote workers, the official duty station is changed in the personnel record, which triggers a recalculation of locality pay based on the geographic area of the new duty station.
5. Performance standards — Supervisors are required to evaluate teleworkers and remote workers using the same performance standards applied to on-site employees. The Telework Enhancement Act explicitly prohibits agencies from treating telework participation as a factor in performance ratings.
6. Collective bargaining — Agencies with bargaining unit employees must bargain over the impact and implementation of telework policies with recognized unions. The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) adjudicates disputes arising from these obligations. Broader context on union rights appears in the Federal Employee Unions and Collective Bargaining reference.

Common scenarios

Routine telework — An employee working at a General Schedule (GS pay system) position is approved to telework 2 days per week. The employee's official duty station remains the agency office; locality pay is calculated based on that office's geographic area. The telework agreement specifies that the employee must be reachable during core hours and must report to the office as directed.

Situational (ad hoc) telework — An employee requests telework on a case-by-case basis — for example, to recover from a minor illness or to accommodate a home repair. Situational telework does not follow a fixed schedule and typically requires supervisor approval each instance. It is distinguished from regular and recurring telework in agency reporting to OPM.

Remote work designation — An agency fills a position with a candidate located in a different metropolitan area. The position description is updated to reflect a remote duty station. The employee's locality pay is calculated under the locality pay area covering the remote location, which may be lower than the rate applicable to the agency's headquarters city.

Emergency telework — During a declared emergency or building closure, agencies may activate emergency telework plans. Employees who have not previously established telework agreements may be directed to work from home under temporary authorization. The Telework Enhancement Act requires agencies to incorporate telework into their Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans for precisely this scenario.

Decision boundaries

The threshold questions that determine which framework applies and what obligations follow are specific and consequential.

Telework vs. remote work — The controlling question is whether the employee maintains a regular physical presence at the agency worksite. Teleworkers do; remote workers do not. This distinction governs locality pay, the nature of required personnel actions, and how the arrangement is documented in the Official Personnel Folder (OPF).

Eligibility determinations — The Telework Enhancement Act requires agencies to determine the eligibility of every employee for telework and to notify each employee in writing of that determination. Employees may be deemed ineligible if their position requires physical presence (laboratory work, facility security, handling classified materials in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility), if they have been disciplined within the preceding 12 months for certain conduct violations, or if their performance rating falls below a defined threshold. Agencies have discretion to restrict eligibility further within statutory parameters.

Locality pay impact — A teleworker's official duty station does not change, so locality pay is unaffected by the telework arrangement. A remote worker's official duty station changes, and locality pay is recalculated accordingly — a distinction that can represent a difference of 10 to 30 percentage points in locality pay supplements depending on location. Agencies are not required to hold remote employees harmless for reductions in locality pay resulting from a duty station change.

Denial and revocation — Agencies may deny or revoke telework agreements based on operational need, documented performance deficiencies, or disciplinary grounds. The denial or revocation of a telework agreement is generally not an adverse action appealable to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) unless it is shown to constitute prohibited discrimination or a violation of a collective bargaining agreement. Federal employees who believe a denial is unlawful may pursue remedies through the Federal Employee Appeals Process or through an EEO complaint if the denial is linked to a protected characteristic.

The Federal Employee Authority home provides structured entry points to the full range of federal employment topics, including Federal Leave Policies and Types and Federal Employee Rights and Protections, which intersect with telework in the context of disability accommodations and leave-adjacent flexibilities.