Any chance of remote work as a fed?

[Anonymous]

I am a fed who likes my job. I am quite good at it and my supervisory chain loves me. Unfortunately, in the next few months we have to move across the country to deal with many medical/child raising issues of my husband’s family (no, they can’t move here). My agency does not have an office there. I would absolutely love to keep my job and work remote.

My supervisor and her supervisor and his supervisor would definitely want to keep me even if I was remote. But we have these strong anti-remote work political winds. As I read the OPM guidance, there is flexibility for remote work in exceptional cases. Are any agencies granting these?

[Anonymous]

No, absent a compelling need as set forth in OPM’s December 2025 telework guide, unless your agency has some unusual remote work policy.

[Anonymous]

Those USCIS homeland defender jobs are posted as remote, of course.

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/847039500/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, absent a compelling need as set forth in OPM’s December 2025 telework guide, unless your agency has some unusual remote work policy.

My daughter's friend's mother got that "compelling need" exception last month because she was moving and she was the only one at her employer who could do a very specialized job. The managers decided it was better to have her go remote than find someone and train them up. I imagine that it depends heavily on your agency's leadership.

[Anonymous]

0%

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't happen at my agency.

[Anonymous]

My agency’s leadership is now mostly men in their early 30s without kids. They could care less about family/personal issues.

[Anonymous]

Not to be mean- I am sure you are a very good performer, but you need to remember OMB’s goal is to make government smaller. I can’t imagine this will be approved.

[Anonymous]

Would not happen in the parts of the government I deal with. They were BTO for everyone in late 2020 because productivity had dropped.

[Anonymous]

Can you work at Mar a Lago

[Anonymous]

Unless you are truly one of kind SME, your management will not fight for you. They know when to keep their heads down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless you are truly one of kind SME, your management will not fight for you. They know when to keep their heads down.

This.

[Anonymous]

We have people working on federal buildings
Used by other divisions, but it is all within the same Department. And the arrangements took months of negotiations.

You can always ask, but I doubt this will work to have you work remote from home unless you’re in immigration enforcement or helping rich people dodge taxes, which seems to be all we feds are supposed to do these days.

[Anonymous]

You can try to get approved, OP. I’m a remote fed with an RA and I know people who have recently gotten remote for an RA or because their spouse is a veteran with a disability. Whether they will do it for your situation I am not sure but you don’t have much to lose in trying.

[Anonymous]

My agency would move you to one of our bureau's offices in that other state. You would be commuting to a cube surrounded by strangers but technically "RTO."