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: Agencies should refer to the What’s New? page to review new and updated FAQs that support agencies in implementing CDC guidelines updated since the publication of these model safety principles, pursuant to Executive Order 13991. Where the model safety principles and more recently updated FAQs conflict as they relate to specific workplace safety protocols, the guidance in the FAQs should be followed.

• 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 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.