The Department of Housing and Urban Development is calling for the reversal of a third-party arbitrator’s orders to restore telework for thousands of HUD employees.
In a March 20 filing with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, HUD asserted that the arbitrator’s decision issued last month violated federal law and contradicted the agency’s existing contract with its union, the American Federation of Government Employees.
HUD called the arbitrator’s orders to broadly restore telework and compensate employees for return-to-office costs “the most disruptive remedy available.”
“It’s well-settled that management has the right to assign work and direct employees and an arbitrator cannot substitute their own judgment for how an agency should do so,” HUD wrote in the FLRA filing, obtained by Federal News Network.
HUD said its in-office policy did not rise to the level of requiring further negotiations with the union. The agency asserted that its actions fell within the scope of its already-negotiated contract since the agency still offers “situational telework,” and therefore telework at HUD has not been fully eradicated.
“In reality, telework agreements were modified to eliminate just one specific type of telework,” HUD wrote.
HUD also said it abided by all contractual requirements when requiring employees to begin working fully on site last year, including by providing advance notice to employees and explaining the reason for the change.
“The agency followed those negotiated procedures to the letter,” HUD wrote. “The evidence shows the agency generously provided over four weeks of advance written notice, which was more than double the required notice period, to each [bargaining unit employee] and provided the reasons for the modification.”
Antonio Gaines, president of AFGE Council 222 representing HUD employees, said the agency’s arguments in the FLRA filing are “grasping at straws.”
“This is part and parcel of the process. We fully anticipated the agency doing this, particularly under this administration,” Gaines said in an interview. “We’re in it for the long haul [and] we’re hopeful that we will prevail.”
HUD did not respond to Federal News Network’s request for comment.
In March 2025, HUD began requiring nearly all employees to return to onsite work, in response to President Donald Trump’s day-one executive order telling agencies to cancel federal telework and remote work agreements, “consistent with applicable law.”
But AFGE alleged the agency committed an unfair labor practice (ULP) and violated its collective bargaining agreement by instituting in-office requirements without providing an opportunity to bargain, despite telework being included in the union contract and therefore subject to negotiations.
In February 2026, a third-party arbitrator ordered HUD to restore telework agreements for the 7,000 HUD employees covered by AFGE Council 222 and compensate employees for associated return-to-office costs. The decision found that HUD breached both its union contract and federal statute when it implemented the Trump administration’s orders last year.
Like employees at most federal agencies, HUD staff are by and large working on site. While the agency’s appeal is pending, the third-party arbitrator’s telework restoration orders from last month remain on pause.
Prior to January 2025, about 85% of HUD’s bargaining unit employees had standing agreements allowing them to telework at least some of the time, according to arbitration documentation. But following HUD’s return-to-office orders last year, only about 10% of agency employees have maintained their telework agreements.
AFGE Council 222 is now assembling its response to the agency’s FLRA filing.
“Then we’ll be in a holding pattern,” Gaines said. “But the further delay there is in giving employees some predictability and relief through telework to perform their jobs, the further it just erodes morale. It impacts the agency’s ability to keep experienced staff and to recruit new talent as well.”
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes in the federal government, please email drew.friedman@federalnewsnetwork.com or reach out on Signal at drewfriedman.11
Copyright
© 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
