NTEU leaders vow to fight amid IRS return-to-office mandate

As members of the National Treasury Employees Union descend on Washington, D.C., for the labor group’s annual legislative conference Tuesday, officials at the Internal Revenue Service apparently were making the finishing touches on plans to call all employees back to full-time in-person work in less than a week’s time.

“There is a new Congress and new administration that want to shrink government and eliminate our jobs,” NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald told union members. “They view us as lazy, sloppy bureaucrats who stand in the way of efficiency, but you and I know differently. We know that we are the answer to making our government great; we are the whistleblowers who fight fraud and abuse; and we are the defenders of the freedom and security of our nation . . . We must fight with every breath and every tool we have on Capitol Hill, in our agencies and in the courts.”

Speaking with reporters following her speech, Greenwald said that while the IRS had not yet indicated how it would implement President Trump’s Jan. 20 directive for agencies to effectively end telework and remote work in the federal government, her union would fight to enforce contracts with agencies that contain provisions governing the use of telework. The Office of Personnel Management in February issued subsequent guidance purporting to nullify such provisions in agency collective bargaining agreements, though as a basic legal concept only legislation passed by Congress and enacted by the president can supersede the terms of a contract.

“In instances [where other agencies have disregarded telework contract provisions], we have moved to enforce our contracts,” Greenwald told reporters, indicating that her union has filed both unfair labor practice complaints and grievances against agencies.

But just minutes after the press availability ended, IRS management announced plans to call all employees, both bargaining unit members and management, who live within 50 miles of a traditional work site back to full-time in-person work, beginning March 10.

“Effective March 10, 2025, all employees who telework or who have remote work agreements and are within 50 miles of an office location must perform their full biweekly tour of duty in-person from their assigned Treasury office,” wrote IRS Human Capital Officer Traci DiMartini and Deputy Human Capital Officer Max Wyche in an email obtained by Government Executive. “Consistent with applicable law, Treasury will begin taking steps to terminate existing telework agreements that include regular or recurring telework. For employees who are on remote work agreements and within 50 miles of an office location, Treasury will cancel remote work agreements and reassign them to an office effective March 10.”

Exempt from the return-to-office mandate are employees who have reasonable accommodations due to a disability, a settlement agreement with the agency or other “limited exceptions.”

“The purposes of in-person work are only achieved when teams are collocated at one place of duty,” DiMartini and Wyche wrote. “Working together in-person with one’s team fosters meaningful collaboration, mentorship and comradery, which are the aims of the return to in-person work presidential memorandum.”

IRS officials wrote that plans to recall employees who live more than 50 miles from an IRS or Treasury Department office are still being reviewed by OPM and the Office of Management and Budget.

Prior to the announcement, Greenwald warned that the effort to enforce in-person attendance at IRS will pose logistical challenges for an agency that has had a telework program since the early 1990s. Many IRS employees already share their desks with upwards of four other people who commute to the office on different days of the week.

“Most offices just don’t have the space to bring people back,” she said. “We previously allowed people to share desks at a 3-to-1 or 5-to-1 ratio, so if you call everyone back, who gets that desk? We’ve seen statements [at other agencies] about using cafeterias and auditoriums to house employees, but those spaces aren’t designed for people to do work there. There aren’t enough data plugs; there’s no privacy if you’re taking calls from taxpayers, and that’s very concerning.”

The push also comes amid efforts by Elon Musk and his DOGE operatives to cancel leases and sell off federal properties across the country. Greenwald said that in some cases, she has heard that leases are being cancelled without informing the federal agencies housed there.

“How agencies eventually found out about [the lease cancellations] was when the lessors spoke to employees—the executives of the agency had no idea that GSA was doing that work behind their backs,” she said. “At IRS, there are requirements in law—the Taxpayer First Act—that requires before closing a taxpayer assistance center, they must first give notice to Congress and the public 90 days before taking action. And in some instances, my understanding is that didn’t happen.”