As cabinet leaders in the Biden administration have defended their post-pandemic telework policies before skeptical lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she agreed with a senior Republican senator that those written into employee contracts at her department ought to be reviewed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At a hearing on the fiscal year 2025 budget request for the Department of the Treasury on June 4, Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, pointed out a recent watchdog report that showed IRS employees work in person about 38% of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to reconcile the data that\u2019s reported by the inspector general to the IRS\u2019 goal of having its employees work half of their work days in the office,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Yellen \u2014 who oversees a workforce of about 100,000 \u2014 said many employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, so enforcing back-to-office rules requires agreement by the union. According to federal data, about three-quarters of the workforce is represented by a labor union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s true for most federal agencies where changes in working conditions must be negotiated. Telework in particular has become a rallying point for labor leaders who say it has significantly improved retention, productivity and work-life balance. At the same time, Republicans in Congress have expressed frustration with what they say are largely empty federal office buildings paid for by taxpayers, and agencies\u2019 \u201cslow rolling\u201d policies on bringing workers back following the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins suggested that these contracts with telework provisions be \u201crenegotiated with the taxpayers interests in mind,\u201d and Yellen said she \u201cagreed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n