Protecting the Federal Workforce During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force is led by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Task Force members include: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Protective Service (FPS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the United States Secret Service (USSS).

The President created the Task Force to give the heads of federal agencies ongoing guidance to keep their employees safe and their agencies operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following are key guidance documents issued by the Task Force or OMB, related to the Task Force’s mission. Further guidance from the Task Force can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section of this website.

• To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Safer Federal Workforce Task Force guidance on other Federal agency safety protocols based on vaccination status—including guidance on protocols related to masking, distancing, travel, testing, and quarantine—remains in effect. For answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on compliance with the applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, see this guidance (Issued January 24, 2022; PDF, Download Adobe Reader).

• Read the COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Guidance for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors (Updated November 10, 2021; PDF, Download Adobe Reader). It sets forth workplace safety protocols for Federal contractors and subcontractors pursuant to Executive Order 14042 (Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors). (Note: a revised PDF was posted on November 11, 2021 that corrected an inadvertent typographical error.)

• Read the COVID-19 Workplace Safety: Agency Model Safety Principles (Updated September 13, 2021; PDF, Download Adobe Reader). It outlines model safety principles for executive departments and agencies to revise their existing COVID-19 workplace safety plans. NOTE:

  • NewCDC has set recommendations related to COVID-19 Community Levels, which measure the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and healthcare systems. Agencies should use CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels in determining the appropriate prevention strategies to utilize at a given time, including as it relates to mask-wearing and screening testing. Agencies should follow this initial implementation guidance on COVID-19 Community Levels (Issued February 28, 2022; PDF, Download Adobe Reader).
  • Agencies should follow CDC’s updated guidelines related to quarantine and isolation. See FAQs on Quarantine and Isolation, Vaccinations, and Leave.

• Read the President’s Executive Order on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees (Signed September 9, 2021). It requires COVID-19 vaccination for federal executive branch employees.

• Read the President’s Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (Signed September 9, 2021). It ensures that the parties that contract with the Federal Government provide adequate COVID-19 safeguards to their workers performing on or in connection with a Federal Government contract or contract-like instrument.

• Read the President’s Path out of the Pandemic: COVID-19 Action Plan (Issued September 9, 2021). It is a six-pronged, comprehensive national strategy that employs the same science-based approach that was used to successfully combat previous variants of COVID-19 earlier this year. This plan will ensure that we are using every available tool to combat COVID-19 and save even more lives in the months ahead, while also keeping schools open and safe, and protecting our economy from lockdowns and damage.

• Read the OMB memo M-21-25: Integrating Planning for A Safe Increased Return of Federal Employees and Contractors to Physical Workplaces with Post-Reentry Personnel Policies and Work Environment (Issued June 10, 2021; PDF, Download Adobe Reader). It provides agencies with guidance for agency planning processes for post-reentry personnel policies and work environment.

• Read the OMB memo M-21-15: COVID-19 Safe Federal Workplace: Agency Model Safety Principles (Issued January 24, 2021; PDF, Download Adobe Reader). It describes the work of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and outlines model safety principles for executive departments and agencies as they build tailored COVID-19 workplace safety plans.

• Read the CDC’s Federal Testing Plan for Federal Workforce (Issued April 7, 2021; PDF, Download Adobe Reader). This guidance provides federal agencies with strategies for incorporating SARS-CoV-2 testing into their COVID-19 workplace safety plan.

• Read the President’s Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing. (Signed January 20, 2021). It establishes the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and requires anyone working in or visiting federal buildings or federal lands to wear masks, maintain physical distance, and adhere to other public health measures, as provided in CDC guidelines.