White House employees to return to in-person work in July: report

White House employees will be invited to return to work in July, indicating the potential end of the pandemic protocols for some federal employees.

In a memo sent to the White House Office and Office of the Vice President, staff have been informed that they will start working full time on-campus between July 6 and July 23, according to a report by Axios.

The memo says that exceptions will be made for staffers with extenuating circumstances and that they may continue to work remotely on a temporary basis “in consultation with their manager.”

News of the plan to get White House staff back in the office comes as employees across federal government seek for clarity on what their agencies will expect from their staff as the U.S. continues to recover from COVID-19 closures.

It is understood that each agency is being required to develop its own plan to bring employees back to work in stages.

In January, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo to all agencies mandating that they adopt model COVID-19 safety principles and build tailored workplace safety plans.

The OMB in its guidance at the time said it would work with the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force to review and finalize plans, which would provide a starting point for adjusting mission requirements.

In April last year, the Trump administration issued joint guidance from the Office of Personnel Management and the OMB, requesting that agencies consider how they might bring back staff.

At the time, the guidance said that the federal government was actively planning to “ramp back up” operations to the maximum extent possible as local conditions warrant.