Situational Telework Update

GESTA has filed a grievance alleging that the use of situational telework (ST) in Code 500 is not being decided by supervisors on a case-by-case basis, as required by NASA’s Office of Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) (see guidance below), but instead a mandate has been issued by the head of Code 500 disallowing the use of situational telework for almost all circumstances. This is based on feedback provided by many bargaining unit employees (BUEs), some supervisors, and comments by the head of Code 500, Segrid Harris.

To this end, GESTA also filed a Request For Information (RFI) requesting data on the ST hours granted within Code 500 and Code 600. The chart below is the result, which covers the first three full pay periods immediately following the return-to-office mandate. Note, GESTA has added in the last column and the percentages as a fraction of employees with ST agreements.

The numbers show that roughly 5% of eligible Code 500 employees have been granted ST hours, vs. over 20% for Code 600 in a given pay period. Interestingly, the average hours per pay period per employee who worked ST hours is higher (30-34 hrs) for Code 500 than Code 600 (11-14).

One question is why are individuals in Code 500 who are using situational telework hours taking them at an average rate of 40% of their work hours? GESTA’s contention that situational telework is being denied in Code 500 for cases such as non-recurring medical and other personal appointments, for care or well-being of a family member for a minor illness or occasional appointment seems to be borne out by these numbers. These types of cases of ST typically involve only a few hours and would not be used frequently over the course of a pay period. If these cases were being permitted, we would expect to see more employees with a lower average ST time per pay period de than this. It appears that Code 500 is using extensive situational telework for a limited number of cases. One possibility is that engineers in Code 500 are primarily being approved for situational telework to support missions on night shifts. We have also filed a second RFI requesting the numbers for non-supervisors vs. supervisors. 

For background, the guidance on situational telework from NASA’s Office of Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) provides examples including, but not limited to:

• Weather events where the employee would otherwise be in a leave status
• Religious observances or accommodations
• Coordination with global partners working in significantly different time zones
• Mission activities outside normal work hours
• Non-recurring medical and other personal appointments where a return to the worksite is inefficient.
• Illnesses like cold/flu where exposure in the workplace is inadvisable, but the employee would still like to work and is able to do so. Reminder: employees should always be encouraged to take time off while ill.
• Care for or well-being monitoring of a family member for a minor illness or occasional appointment when the employee is not required to provide direct care and teleworking would not neglect caregiving. Employees should take the appropriate leave when providing direct care to family members. Employees are encouraged to request work schedule flexibilities and appropriate leave categories (FFSL, FMLA, SL, SLTF, etc.) when increased levels of care are required.  

And states "Supervisors will retain their authority to determine the appropriateness of situational telework on a case-by-case basis within these limited parameters."