NTEU and the IRS have reached an agreement over a two-phased return to the office for bargaining unit employees. During negotiations, NTEU’s bargaining team worked diligently to balance the needs and safety of employees as they return from the agency’s evacuation orders.
The IRS has set May 8 as the beginning of Phase 1 and the date when the evacuation order will be lifted. Most employees included in Phase 1 have already been called back to the office. Additional employees who will be called back include those who don’t wish to continue teleworking, those ineligible because of violations of the Telework Enhancement Act and those with work not deemed portable.
Pandemic-related flexibilities will continue during Phase 1, including expanded telework and maxiflex for employees with caregiving responsibilities. These flexibilities will continue from May 8 through June 25, when Phase 2 begins. During Phase 2, maxiflex arrangements will be subject to the 2022 NTEU-IRS National Agreement
Also during Phase 1, the twice-a pay-period reporting and 200-mile limit on telework sites will continue to be waived. Managers may also continue to waive the one-year eligibility requirement for newly-hired employees.
Employees who currently do not have an approved telework agreement and who wish to continue to work from their telework site must enter into a telework agreement with their manager and complete the telework training (the training takes about 90 minutes to complete) before May 8, 2022, the beginning of Phase 1, to avoid being directed back to the office on May 8.
During contract bargaining, NTEU secured a provision that will allow tens of thousands more IRS employees to be eligible for frequent telework (more than 80 hours per month). These occupations include Customer Service Representatives in AM, Collection Representatives in ACS, Case Advocates in TAS and CER Reviewers in AM. Learn more about applying for telework
Employees working in a location where the cafeteria is closed may take a longer lunch/meal period and will be permitted to move to a flexible work schedule for that purpose.
Employees with a mix of portable and non-portable work may be permitted to work the non-portable work in the morning and work remotely in the afternoon. If approved, they may use credit hours or other leave in addition to their lunch period to commute to their telework site. The IRS agreed to make a reasonable effort to rotate employees so not all workers in a specific unit will have to be in the worksite on the same day. When Phase 2 begins on June 25, Phase 1 flexibilities will end and telework arrangements must be made according to the 2022 NTEU-IRS National Agreement.
As part of the agreement, employees will be granted a reasonable amount of administrative time to familiarize themselves with the terms and conditions of the memorandum of understanding.
We are also still working on equipment issues in various departments.
Article originally appeared on NTEU Chapter 67 (http://www.nteu67.org/).
See website for complete article licensing information.