January 13, 2020
This assertion appeared in the middle of an article about how the Trump administration plans to reduce the number of days that federal employees can telework rather than show up in their office. Of course seeking more accountability is a legitimate reason to change a policy, however there is absolutely zero evidence presented in the piece that reducing telework will actually increase accountability.
In fact, the very end of the piece reports on the impact of a decision to sharply reduce telework in the Education Department:
“The results were universally negative, according to a copy of the survey obtained by The Washington Post.
“Sick leave and vacation requests grew. A majority of employees reported no increased productivity, collaboration or communication with colleagues when they returned to the office — the stated reason telework was cut. And two-thirds of employees said they were considering leaving.”
The piece concluded with a statement from the Education Department, that it will:
“continue the agency’s ‘efforts to achieve the intended outcomes of improved collaboration and productivity’ and limit working from home.”
This strongly implies that efforts to limit telework have little to do with increasing accountability as earlier asserted. An alternative is that they are about harassing federal employees, who have been a frequent target of the Trump administration.The open hostility of the Trump adminsitration to federal employees should have been a reason for questioning any reasons given for making their jobs less pleasant, instead of passing them on to readers as though they are true.
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