On June 10, 2026, SEIU Local 1000 held a meet and confer with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) regarding the Return-to-Office mandate effective July 1, 2026. The team was able to confirm exemptions for medical or Reasonable Accommodations as well as if an employee’s address was 50 miles or more from their worksite and had a mutually agreeable telework policy in place as of March 2025. DVA confirmed they will also consider other requests on a case-by-case basis.
The team was also able to clarify DVA is not tracking or measuring the impact of RTO on collaboration, cohesion, or team building, and that they would not be able to revert back if it was determined RTO had a negative impact on the department, productivity, staffing, or morale.
The team made several proposals to DVA regarding full time telework, parking, safe access, and commute assistance. The department confirmed they would consider and follow up at a later date during a follow-up meeting.
DVA also left many items that still require follow up and further clarification such as:
- Exemptions for whole work units based on the nature of their duties
- Planned updates or maintenance work/cleaning services related to RTO implementation
- Whether DVA has specific goals for RTO
- Whether DVA had identified issues with telework or had plans to change their telework policy prior to the Executive Order
- Whether field days count as in office days for field staff
- Flexibility and discretion of management to consider other requests for exemptions, ad hoc day-to-day requests to flex schedules, flex remote days, remote work due to case-by-case circumstances
- Expectations for make-up in office days
However, DVA confirmed they intend to move forward with 4 days in office, per the Governor’s mandate.
In response to the RTO mandate and what is happening at the bargaining table, SEIU Local 1000 is planning a Holding the Line Rally at the Capitol to make our voices heard. Please join us on July 1 as we continue fighting for Telework that Works and the contract state workers deserve.