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.

• New 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.

• New 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.

• New 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.

• New 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.