CDC Employees with Disabilities: Union Pushes for Lifting Telework Suspension Decision
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has raised concerns over the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) indefinite pause on approvals of telework as reasonable accommodations for its employees.
According to the AFGE, this move violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. The CDC's decision comes amidst President Donald Trump's return-to-office order from January, which has prompted many agencies to require previously teleworking employees to report to work on-site.
In response to Trump's order, the Office of Personnel Management clarified in January that agency employees could be excused from on-site work requirements due to a disability, qualifying medical condition, or other compelling reasons. However, the CDC's suspension of telework approvals comes without an end date.
The CDC is not processing any reasonable accommodations requests at the moment, as stated in a press release on Wednesday. This means that CDC employees with disabilities who had previously been permitted to telework could be negatively impacted by the changes.
The CDC officially implemented its full return-to-office requirements last month, shortly after a gunman fired over 180 times at the agency's headquarters building in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite this, the CDC's decision to pause approvals for telework is due to seeking clarification on the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) new telework policy.
The new HHS telework policy only mentions reasonable accommodations in relation to preclusions from traveling to an agency worksite. The AFGE argues that this is a violation of federal law requiring timely processing of reasonable accommodations requests.
The union, AFGE Locals 2883 and 3840, has stated that no CDC employee with a disability will have the option of telework as a reasonable accommodation. This could potentially put employees with disabilities at risk of retaliatory discrimination, disciplinary actions, and loss of essential workplace accommodations.
Many CDC employees have been waiting since March 2025 for updates on their reasonable accommodations requests. The union is looking into every legal remedy and recourse to reverse the CDC's decision to pause reasonable accommodations approvals.
The AFGE has called for a protest and encourages readers to contact reporter Drew Friedman for more information on recent changes in the federal government. Drew can be reached at drew.friedman@ourwebsite or on Signal at drewfriedman.11.
This development comes after HHS de-recognized its federal unions and canceled all collective bargaining agreements in August, in response to orders from the White House earlier this year. The AFGE is demanding an immediate reversal of the CDC's decision, emphasizing the importance of accommodating employees with disabilities in the workplace.
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