The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is forcing employees with serious health conditions and disabilities to come into the office, reports the New York Times:
Before President Trump returned to the White House, many disabled C.D.C. employees, including veterans and uniformed members of the Public Health Service, had permission to work from home, an accommodation granted long before the Covid pandemic made remote work routine. But in response to a January 2025 executive order, the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the C.D.C., canceled all existing accommodations for disabilities and required employees to report to physical offices.
The executive order explicitly allowed for exemptions as needed, but the H.H.S. and C.D.C. have interpreted it more strictly than many other federal agencies have.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aggressively carried out other executive personnel orders too, overseeing widespread layoffs last year that reduced the C.D.C. work force by about 2,400 employees — more than at many other agencies. Among the cuts were officials with the expertise to vet requests for accommodations. Most of the agency’s leaders were also placed on administrative leave or fired.
Hundreds of C.D.C. employees with medical conditions have filed complaints about the in-office requirement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which their union estimates will cost the agency about $200 million to address.
“It is appalling that this is occurring within our federal government, let alone at an agency that’s supposed to be on the forefront of public health and safety,” said Yolanda Jacobs, president of AFGE Local 2883.
(Sources: New York Times, WhiteHouse.gov)