Stalled Medical Telework Request? EEOC's Rule Gives Your Agency a Deadline
If your medical telework request has been sitting for weeks with no answer, or came back with a one-line "return-to-office applies to everyone," there is a rule that works in your favor. An agency-wide return-to-office policy is not an individualized decision about your condition and your job, and EEOC's regulation requires your agency to have a clock on accommodation requests.
The House Bill Is Not the Rule You Can Use Today
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam's Federal Telework Protection Act, H.R. 10713, was introduced October 1. It would require a written explanation for every telework denial, create an appeal to a new agency telework office and then to the MSPB, and treat a request as approved if a supervisor does not decide within 90 days. It is a bill, not law, and Congress is away until after the election. It is worth watching, but do not plan around it.
What EEOC's Rule Already Requires
Under 29 C.F.R. § 1614.203(d)(3), every agency must publish reasonable accommodation procedures. Those procedures must let you ask for an accommodation "orally or in writing at any time," must "designate the maximum amount of time the agency has" to grant or deny a request, and must say that "the time limit begins to run when the accommodation is first requested." The procedures also include an expedited lane for requests that cannot wait.
That deadline sits in your agency's own document, on your agency's own website. So "we're still reviewing it" has an expiration date.
What the Rule Does Not Promise
An agency can still deny a request that is not reasonable or that would be an undue hardship, and a missed deadline alone does not win you the accommodation. But the rule also says that failing to act promptly "may result in a violation of the Rehabilitation Act."
What to Do This Week
Put your request in writing if it is not already. Pull your agency's reasonable accommodation procedures and find the deadline number. Write down the day you first asked. If you are past that deadline with no answer, or you were denied with a one-line "policy," you have 45 days from that moment to contact an EEO counselor. See 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(a)(1).
If you have a diagnosis on file and your request has stalled past your agency's own deadline, that is a conversation worth having with a federal employment attorney who handles these cases every day. You can reach Southworth PC for a free consultation.
Legal Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Federal employment situations are fact-specific and time-sensitive. Please consult a qualified federal employment attorney about your specific situation.