The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer allowing remote work for employees with disabilities or those with temporary health issues, including those who've requested to work from home since the Aug. 8 attack on the agency's Atlanta headquarters.
Why it matters: The legality of such a move is questionable, and it may violate a law that requires the government to offer reasonable accommodations to those with disabilities.
- It's also angered and confused CDC staffers, who say they already feel under siege.
Zoom in: An agency-wide notice sent Wednesday morning and viewed by Axios says that the Health and Human Services Department, CDC's parent, has updated its policy to no longer include teleworking or long-term teleworking as a reasonable accommodation.
- The email says the policy took effect Aug. 13, just five days after the shooting at CDC. Since then, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted CDC director Susan Monarez and multiple senior scientists have resigned, accusing Kennedy of undercutting the agency's expertise.
It's not yet clear whether the policy is permanent or how it's being enforced. Complicating matters, the officials who oversee reasonable accommodation requests were fired in April as part of a sweeping reduction in force, employees say.
- "Until additional clarification is received, all approvals for long-term telework — as well as reasonable accommodation (RA) telework — are paused until further notice," the notice says.
- A separate frequently-asked questions document also viewed by Axios says CDC's office of human resources is awaiting clarification from HHS. In the meantime, different managers are giving employees different guidance on continuing remote work, multiple employees say.
- HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said CDC is following HHS policy and a January executive order President Trump issued on returning to in-person work. HHS did not respond to specific questions from Axios about the policy.
Between the lines: Many CDC workers feel unsafe coming into work since last month's shooting, which they say was stoked in part by Kennedy's anti-vaccine rhetoric.
- Bullet holes in windows from some of the hundreds of rounds that were fired are currently covered up with tape, CDC employees say.
- "They've sent emails about what to expect when you're on campus — like, here are the visual things that you might see when you get there. And also, as a reminder, don't lean on the windows," one CDC scientist, speaking anonymously due to concerns about backlash, tells Axios.
- Another CDC employee tells Axios that the policy feels like a direct assault on the agency's workers.
- "People who were literally hiding from a shooter are now being forced to go to the office where it happened."
- There's long been telework at the CDC, this employee tells Axios. There's a training every year. "Generally for most scientists it was a normal thing."
Between the lines: The federal government employs a slightly higher share of workers with disabilities than the private sector.
- In previous administrations, hiring individuals with disabilities was a part of the government's diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) strategy.
- Meanwhile, the rise of remote work coming out of the pandemic led to a historic rise in employment rates for those with disabilities. Return to office policies, in general, could reverse that trend.
- There are already signs that's happening, as the unemployment rate for workers with disabilities is back to 2022 levels.
The big picture: President Trump called federal workers back to the office earlier this year.
- But it was believed that those with disabilities could still get a reasonable accommodation under a 1973 law that was a precursor to the Americans with Disabilities Act, says Mia Ives-Rublee, senior director for the Disability Justice Initiative at the progressive Center for American Progress.
- The law requires government employers to provide accommodations — as long as they're not overly burdensome.
- Since the pandemic, the general belief was that remote work wasn't a burden. In fact, the CDC's telework training notes that it improves productivity, a CDC employee tells Axios.
- However, the rationale has not yet been tested in court, says Ives-Rublee.
The unions representing CDC employees say in a statement that the change "represents the most sweeping civil rights violation against federal employees in decades."
- The unions say it also violates Trump's federal worker return-to-work order, which requires agencies to follow all applicable laws when bringing employees back to campus.
- They "will explore every legal remedy and recourse to prevent or reverse these abhorrent violations and stand ready to fight these targeted attacks on the most vulnerable among us," the unions' statement says.
The story has been updated with comment from HHS.
