Agency halts remote work for disabled staff members, union complains
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has come under scrutiny for its recent policy change regarding telework as a reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities. According to the American Federation of Government Employees locals 2883 and 3840, CDC employees can no longer apply for telework as a reasonable accommodation, and existing telework agreements will not be eligible for renewal.
This policy change may potentially violate protections in federal disability law and guidance implementing President Donald Trump's directive largely ending telework for government employees. Agencies are required to provide Reasonable Accommodations (RAs) to employees with disabilities, unless doing so would result in an 'undue hardship.'
Examples of RAs include interpreters, flexible work schedules, and accessible technology. Making a blanket assessment of new requests to work at home would be against the law, and not renewing one is also against the law.
Employees with disabilities are at risk of retaliatory discrimination, disciplinary actions, and loss of essential workplace accommodations. The Veterans Affairs Department has implemented a policy to provide stricter scrutiny of RAs for employees with disabilities.
The Federal Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) refused approval of telework as a reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities since August 8, 2021, according to the unions representing these employees. HHS terminated its union contracts at CDC in August due to Trump's executive order.
CDC headquarters employees who were working from home following the Aug. 8 shooting were ordered to return to work in-person by Monday. Notably, CDC Director Susan Monarez was terminated after holding the job for a little under a month. Monarez testified on Wednesday that she was removed for refusing to pre-accept decisions from the agency's vaccine advisory panel or to fire career employees without cause.
Eric Pines of Pines Federal Employment Attorneys believes that, if the union's characterization of the RA policy change is correct, it would be a 'straight violation of the law.' HHS did not respond to a request for comment. The union statement claims that no CDC employee with a disability will have the option of telework as a reasonable accommodation.
