Telework Accommodations Suddenly Questioned
VA employees with long-standing telework accommodations are reporting a sudden and troubling shift. Supervisors are asking them to “update” disability records or provide new medical documentation—even when nothing has changed. Simultaneously, Deputy Secretary Dr. Lawrence launched a VA-wide “Self-Identification of Disability Biannual Campaign,” urging employees to update disability status and directing ORM to monitor participation.
Although presented as support for employees with disabilities, the timing is hard to ignore. This disability-data push coincides with supervisors challenging telework accommodations and pressuring medically vulnerable staff to return onsite. It mirrors Project 2025, which encourages agencies to scale back telework and treat it as a managerial preference rather than a protected reasonable accommodation.
Violations of Disability Law and EEOC Guidance
This approach violates long-standing EEOC guidance. Agencies cannot revoke telework accommodations because leadership dislikes remote work, nor demand new medical documentation without evidence of a changed condition. Blanket “revalidations” undermine the Rehabilitation Act.
Real Harm and Growing Fear Among Employees with Telework Accommodations
We’ve already seen the harm. A Local 17 member with a valid accommodation had it abruptly revoked and was later fired for AWOL when he couldn’t report onsite. We are taking his case to the MSPB. He will likely be reinstated with full back pay, but he never should have been put in that position.
Employees are right to be concerned. With bargaining rights suspended, quotas soaring, morale collapsing, and trust in leadership at historic lows, a disability-data campaign paired with new scrutiny of telework sends a dangerous message. It suggests the Department may be identifying medically vulnerable employees before restricting telework or accelerating workforce reductions, exactly what Project 2025 envisions.
Local 17 Response and AFGE’s Position on Removal of Telework Accommodations
On Wednesday, I notified Secretary Collins that Local 17 has serious concerns about these actions. I explained that the timing of this campaign raises legitimate fears that disability information could be misused to pressure vulnerable employees back onsite or identify them for cuts. I urged him to stop all blanket “revalidations” and provide written assurances that disability data will be used only for lawful, nondiscriminatory purposes. (See email below)
AFGE will oppose any attempt to weaken telework accommodations. We will challenge improper documentation demands, monitor for retaliation, and hold the Department accountable before Congress, the EEOC, the MSPB, and the courts.
What Employees Should Do Now
If your supervisor asks you to update your telework accommodations or if you feel pressured to disclose disability information, contact Local 17 immediately. We are tracking every case.
The fight for fairness and lawful treatment at VA is underway—and AFGE will meet it head-on.
Local 17’s email to Secretary Collins
(AFGE ain’t going anywhere!)
From: Massey, Douglas
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 4:04 PM
To: Collins, Doug <doug.collins@va.gov>
Cc: Arnold, Kenneth A. <Kenneth.Arnold@va.gov>; Deichert, Evan M. <Evan.Deichert@va.gov>; Jones, John Z. <john.jones@va.gov>; Biaggi-Ayer, Denise <Denise.Biaggi-Ayer@va.gov>; Quill, Joshua J. <Joshua.Quill2@va.gov>
Subject: FW: MESSAGE FROM THE DEPUTY SECRETARY: Self-Identification of Disability Biannual Campaign
Secretary Collins,
I am writing in response to Dr. Lawrence’s Department-wide message encouraging employees to update their disability status in the Talent Experience Platform and noting that ORM will monitor participation. Although self-identification is voluntary, the timing and context surrounding this campaign raise serious concerns across the workforce.
In recent weeks, employees in multiple VA administrations have reported that supervisors are suddenly requesting updated medical information or new documentation for long-standing telework accommodations, even where there has been no change in their conditions. At the same time, several employees whose full-time telework accommodations were abruptly and improperly terminated have been removed from federal service for AWOL charges. Their removal actions are now being challenged, and the evidence shows that these outcomes resulted from unlawful terminations of their reasonable accommodations under the Rehabilitation Act.
Dr. Lawrence’s message arrives at a moment when employee morale is already at an extraordinary low point. Many employees have stated openly that they no longer trust senior VA leadership to act in good faith or to safeguard their rights. It has not gone unnoticed that federal agencies quietly abandoned the annual All Employee Survey. Employees understand exactly why: leadership is aware that the workforce is deeply dissatisfied and that the results would have confirmed just how severe the morale crisis has become.
Against that backdrop, a campaign to collect disability information, combined with supervisors reexamining existing accommodation, has heightened fear rather than alleviating it. Employees with disabilities are genuinely concerned that the Department is creating a roadmap to identify and target medically vulnerable workers.
Employees have every reason to be concerned. Project 2025 expressly calls for limiting or eliminating telework across the federal government and reinterpreting telework as a managerial preference rather than a reasonable accommodation. What VA employees are seeing now aligns closely with those recommendations: renewed inquiries into disability status, heightened scrutiny of accommodations, and the use of technical noncompliance to initiate removals.
If the Department is committed to supporting employees with disabilities, then disability information must never be used to challenge accommodations, force employees back on site, initiate adverse actions, or facilitate workforce reductions. Supervisors cannot demand updated medical documentation without objective evidence of a change in condition. And the Department must take immediate steps to reassure employees that this campaign will not become a pretext for implementing the policy preferences outlined in Project 2025.
Right now, employees with disabilities feel exposed and vulnerable at the very moment they are being asked to disclose deeply personal information. If the intention is to build trust, the rollout and surrounding actions are accomplishing the opposite. I urge you to address these concerns directly and promptly to help restore confidence at a time when the workforce is strained to the breaking point.
Regards,
Douglas E. Massey, Esq.
President, AFGE Local 17
VA Central Office
