Telework and Federal Labor-Management Relations

During the maximum telework period of the COVID-19 crisis, criticism of federal telework has largely been blunted by Pentagon and OPM evidence that productivity has been maintained during remote work. The pandemic experience now offers a unique opportunity for change because old assumptions about the effectiveness of telework were blown up by the data. This could be done through labor-management relations.

Robert M. Tobias is a distinguished practitioner in residence at the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University, the former president of the National Treasury Employees Union and a GovExec contributor. His latest post on our site is headlined “The Pandemic Has Created an Opening to Improve Federal Labor-Management Relations.” He joined the podcast to discuss how the COVID-19 crisis can be used to facilitate better conversations between labor and management.