The Department of Veterans Affairs is rescinding telework and remote work agreements for most of its workforce, in the latest step for its return-to-office plans.

VA’s Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, in a memo obtained by Federal News Network, is also calling on supervisors to find office space to accommodate more employees. The VA’s bulletin to employees cites President Donald Trump’s presidential memorandum, signed on his first day in office, calling for all federal employees to return to the office full-time.

“All telework and remote work guidance contradicting or conflicting with the [presidential memorandum] and this Bulletin are rescinded,” the VA’s memo states.

While the vast majority of VA employees are already working in the office, the memo will still have an impact on tens of thousands of positions. The VA said more than 20% of its 479,000 employees currently have telework or remote work arrangements.

A VA spokesperson told Federal News Network that the “ VA’s policy is to bring as many employees back to the office as space permits.”

“VA will make accommodations as needed to ensure employees have enough space to work and will always ensure that veterans’ access to benefits and services remains uninterrupted as employees return to in-person work,” the spokesperson said.

The Veterans Benefits Administration, as of July 2024, required employees in the National Capital Region to work in the office five days per two-week pay period . VBA employees in regional offices outside the D.C. region, however, were given “maximum telework flexibility,” and were required to come into the office at least two days each pay period. There were some exceptions to this policy for certain types of jobs that require more in-person interaction.

The policy may also impact employees at the Veterans Crisis Line, the department’s hotline for veterans who are feeling suicidal, having PTSD symptoms or anxiety, or experiencing homelessness and seeking VA resources — as well as other critical needs.

VCL employees told Federal News Network last week that most of its workforce are remote employees, and that nearby VA facilities do not have space to accommodate them.

A VCL supervisor, in an email shared with Federal News Network, said VA leaders sent emails at 3 p.m. Eastern Friday regarding in-person attendance for supervisors, “without any clear guidance.”

The supervisor said some VA leaders have discussed the possibility of overtime for those who need to set up equipment and prepare workstations onsite.

“Without support, this could lead to responders not having the support from supervisors not being able to answer imminent questions,” the supervisor wrote.

The supervisor said the VA has instructed VCL employees coming into the office “will need to operate solely on laptops, given that desktop computers will not be accessible.”

“We are unsure of how to connect our computers. We will be working off Wi-Fi or We will be able to plug our computers into a modem and have internet services,” the supervisor said.

Several supervisors have reached out to building management seeking guidance, particularly regarding security availability for those working overnight. However, the supervisor said, “they have not received clear answers,” leaving many of us feeling anxious about their safety when commuting at night with their work laptops.

“The ongoing confusion and lack of clear communication have recently led to a noticeable decline in morale among supervisors. Many feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the rapid changes and the additional burden of supporting responders who may lack guidance. This situation is unsustainable, and we must address these challenges,” the supervisor wrote.

The VA’s latest memo states employees are required to work full-time at their duty stations, unless excused due to a disability, or qualifying medical condition.

The department will also grant exemptions in cases of a military spouse with an existing or new remote work arrangements, spouses of U.S. Foreign Service members on overseas assignment, employees on current and new Domestic Employee Teleworking Overseas (DETO) arrangements, or “exempted for other compelling reason.”

Employees who applied for OPM’s deferred resignation offer and were deemed eligible by the VA to accept the deal will also be excused from in-person work.

The memo states the VA will terminate all telework and remote work agreements for Senior Executive Service and their equivalents by Feb. 24. By that same date, the VA will terminate all telework and remote work agreements for supervisors with duty stations “within 50 miles of a Federal office space.”

By May 5, the VA will terminate all telework and remote work agreements for bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees with current official duty stations within 50 miles of federal office space. No later than July 28, the VA will end all telework and remote work agreements for employees with current official duty stations that are more than 50 miles away from federal office space.

The memo states the VA is “conducting a comprehensive assessment of facilities and workspace to ensure office (or equivalent) space is available for employees.”

“Supervisors are responsible for confirming office space availability in consultation with their Administration or Staff office space [point of contact]. Space must be identified before terminating a current telework or remote work agreement.,” the meme states.

VA undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and other key personnel are authorized to grant temporary time extensions on a “case-by-case basis.” The memo requires supervisors to keep track of the number temporary extensions granted each month.

“Extensions will be time-limited and may be considered for situations such as a lack of available office spaced or delayed IT readiness (e.g. insufficient bandwidth and network capacity),” the memo states.

The memo states that in limited cases, the VA secretary or a designee can exempt employees from the return to office mandate. But in those cases, the employee must have a “strong business case” for not complying with the return to office mandate.

The memo states that each business case should address “how approval of an exemption is in the best interest of the VA, the Veterans VA services, and how approval would outweigh the benefits of in-person work.”

The VA says exemptions should also consider how the VA will track the performance and productivity of employees and if there are any long-term space issues “that cannot be overcome by relocating the employees to another facility.

Bryan Harper, president of AFGE Local 906, which represents several thousand VA employees in Topeka, Kansas who work for the Veterans Crisis Line, member services and the department’s clinical contact center, told Federal News Network last week that supervisors are instructing VCL employees to be within a 50-mile radius of one of five hubs scattered across the U.S. — Atlanta; Topeka; Canandaigua, New York; Waco, Texas; and Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Harper, however, estimated there are 800-900 remote VCL employees who have never reported to an office, and may be hundreds of miles from the nearest hub. Only three VLC employees work fully in-person at the Eastern Kansas VA Medical Center, he added, but the vast majority of his bargaining unit employees work remotely.

“Right now, we’re spread across the United States. For you to sit there and tell somebody in California, ‘You must now pack up and move to Topeka’ … at minimum, you’re going to lose 60% to 70% [of staff]. It will crumble VLC overnight if you force them to do this,” he said.

Veterans Crisis Line employees in Atlanta previously worked in VA office space, but have been working remotely since April 2020. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, VCL employees were put on mandatory telework, but were officially designated as remote workers in 2022.

“Our duty station is our home. Those of us who live in Atlanta, or even the other states, we have no office to go into,” said Erika Alexander, president of AFGE Local 518, which represents up to 1,000 Veterans Crisis Line employees and approximately 400 member services employees in Atlanta.

Some VCL employees, she added, live two hours from the nearest VA clinic or hospital, and there is no office space nearby that’s available 24/7 to meet the crisis line’s mission.