Despite return-to-office deadline, some VA employees may still work remotely because there's not enough workspace

Roughly 100,000 Veterans Health Administration employees in less than a week will be required to work fully from an office, but an internal April 16 presentation obtained by Government Executive shows that the agency may not have enough workspace for them. 

A little less than half of VHA employees, nearly 48,000, who are required to return to the office by May 5 were in compliance as of April 14. This was an approximate fourfold increase from a month earlier when 12% of such workers were reporting in person. 

The presentation, however, shows that the agency, as of March 31, is projecting a deficit of 57,000 workstations. 

The May 5 deadline applies to employees at Veterans Affairs Department medical centers, Veterans Integrated Services Networks and the VHA central office who live within 50 miles of a federal office space and who haven’t already returned to the office. 

VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said that certain telework and remote work arrangements would be extended past the deadline if space is not available. 

“VA’s goal is to bring back as many employees to the office as mission and space permit so we can work together as a team to deliver veterans the best care and services possible,” he said in a statement to Government Executive. “By May 5, all VA employees who live within 50 miles of a federal office space must return to in-office work, space permitting and barring reasonable exceptions.”

Even as VHA appears to not have enough space for all of its in-office employees, workers outside of the 50-mile range will be required to report to an office starting July 28. 

Agency officials were required to determine workstation availability for employees under the May 5 deadline by April 18 and make space assignments by April 22 in a return-to-office app. It’s unclear if all impacted staffers have been told where to report.

According to the presentation, VA has requested more than 9,000 exemptions and 6,500 exceptions to the return-to-office mandate, approval for most of which is still pending. Exceptions are based on Office of Personnel Management guidance; whereas, exemptions are granted at VA’s discretion. 

Nearly 90% of VA employees work at VHA, which provides health care to more than 9.1 million veterans.

Since President Donald Trump has largely ended remote work flexibility for the federal workforce, employees have reported cramped office conditions and struggles finding out where they’re supposed to work.

Eric Katz contributed to this report