Arbitrator Orders IRS to Restore Telework Arrangements

An independent arbitrator has ordered the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to restore telework and remote work options for employees, finding that the agency violated the National Treasury Employees Union’s collective bargaining agreement.

As Government Executive reported, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) first filed the grievance in March 2025.

The union did so shortly after the IRS “unilaterally cancelled telework and remote work agreements en masse,” Government Executive’s Erich Wagner wrote. The agency made that decision despite the aforementioned collective bargaining agreement, which required a case-by-case review of employees’ eligibility, along with a detailed list of potential rationales for doing so. NTEU requested that an arbitrator get involved after the IRS rejected that grievance.

“While the contract provision on telework and remote work sometimes allows the IRS to temporarily pause arrangements in limited cases, a neutral third-party arbitrator ruled that the agency violated NTEU’s contract by eliminating all telework and remote work agreements,” according to an NTEU statement, which noted that the arbitrator also found the agency “failed to show that such agreements have impaired IRS operations.”

The arbitrator ordered the IRS to restore telework and remote work to levels from before March 8, 2025, when the agency terminated most employee agreements, and stop further violations of the negotiated article.

“IRS employees have been successfully teleworking for years, and reports show that telework is good for agencies, employees and the public they serve,” said NTEU National President Doreen Greenwald, in a statement.

“Not only does telework save taxpayers money through reduced leasing costs, reduced energy expenses and increased productivity, it also boosts employee recruitment and retention, reduces traffic congestion and helps ease rising commuting costs. NTEU is ready and determined to continue fighting to enforce our win on behalf of the employees we represent.”