AFGE and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have recently reached a telework agreement that seeks to make the agency more efficient and worker friendly.
Under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed as a result of mid-term bargaining undertaken this fall, all permanent positions are eligible for telework with a maximum of five telework days per week.
The number of telework days granted to each eligible employee will be based on legitimate business needs.
During the height of the pandemic, all NARA employees who could do work by telework were teleworking. COVID proved that many NARA employees could do their jobs remotely, and that building more flexibility into regular practices was a benefit for both AFGE members and the agency.
“Now all permanent positions are telework eligible. This is a change from before the pandemic,” said AFGE Local 2578 President Ashby Crowder. “This means at the very least, all bargaining unit employees can have an ad hoc telework agreement in place, and when telework happens, it’s based on business needs.”
“The MOU makes a lot of improvements in areas including scheduling flexibilities and electronic monitoring. These were major areas of concern for our members,” he added.