Government Staff Say They’re Forced to Come In for No Reason

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Long before the novel coronavirus, the Trump administration tried to rein in telework across federal agencies, using policies and collective bargaining proposals to restrict employees’ discretion to work from home. Now, as a pandemic sweeps the nation, employees at federal and state government agencies say that same insistence on in-person work is putting their health at risk.

Along with failing to provide protective equipment for critical workers, public employees say, agencies are requiring them to come into the office to perform tasks that could be done remotely or put off until it’s safe. Thousands of government employees have contracted Covid-19.

The pandemic has split American workers into two categories: essential and nonessential. How public agencies define “essential” and what they expect of such workers varies, but many government functions are considered essential. That means thousands of public-sector employees and contractors have been ordered to carry on with business as usual—including in areas with shelter-in-place and comparable orders.

At U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in California, managers have required not only clinical staff but also some administrative employees to come into the office. La Pria Johnson, a program analyst who reviews data on patient safety incidents, says the agency has exposed her, colleagues, and patients to unnecessary risk by preventing such employees from teleworking. “There’s a reason that people are being told to isolate and stay at home,” she says. “And we’re not being allowed to do that.” Johnson says she changes out of her clothes in her garage each night to reduce the risk of infection to her family, including her teenage son, who has asthma. What the VA is doing is “reckless,” says local union President Marcus Walker, a VA respiratory therapist. “The more people you bring in, the more exposure they can have, or we can have to them.”

In a VA office in Fayetteville, Ark., union leaders say, the agency is requiring dozens of employees who work on the phone all day to continue coming into the office, where they sit in close quarters as they dispatch people to visit veterans at home. Complaints from staff and union leaders have gone unaddressed, says Don Chaffin, vice president of a local branch of the American Federation of Government Employees. “I think we’re opening ourselves up to bringing the pandemic to Fayetteville,” he says. “The attitude seems to be—God, I hate to say, ‘Oh well,’ not caring—but that’s what it looks like.”

VA press secretary Christina Noel said in an email that the agency is following guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “VA is maximizing telework when possible, while ensuring it has adequate staff on-site at its facilities in order to meet the daily clinical care needs of veterans,” she wrote.

The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforces private-sector labor laws, has continued to require some of its own staff to show up in person to perform functions such as checking the mail. In a March 16 memo, the NLRB’s chairman and its general counsel announced that, while most employees would telework, field offices would stay open for limited daily hours. Employees who were “needed to handle mail” had to come to the office.

“It’s a very backwards policy,” says local union President Michael Bilik, an NLRB employee who’s sick with the virus. After Bloomberg inquired about the policy, the agency’s general counsel sent staff a memo on March 27 saying he’d decided “to allow regional directors discretion in determining how in-coming mail will be handled.” Agency spokesman Edwin Egee confirmed on April 13 that a “skeleton crew” still processes mail. He said the agency was trying “to balance the dual goals” of enforcing the law and protecting staff.

While some government offices have access to personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and hand sanitizers, these aren’t available or deemed necessary everywhere. A lawsuit in Alaska alleges some state employees “have purchased and installed makeshift plastic shields to provide separation” as they labor in areas that keep them less than 6 feet apart. In the complaint, filed on March 24, an Alaska chapter of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees accuses the state of failing to apply its health mandates and policies to its own workers. According to the suit, employees have been required “to work around and gather around more than 10 people” at a time.

Becca Whitman, a juvenile probation officer at the state’s Department of Health and Social Services, says management has ignored her questions about why she needs to come into the office when she now works only via computer and phone. “We’re just teleworking from our office,” she says.

Asked about the allegations, a spokesperson for the governor’s office noted that a judge had denied the union’s request for a temporary restraining order in the case. The litigation remains ongoing.
 
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