The union recently surveyed bargaining unit employees regarding SEC management's Return to Office (RTO) order, which went into effect on April 14, 2025. Approximately half of the non-management employees at the SEC took the survey, which represents a very strong sample. The results evince a broad consensus at our agency regarding RTO -- that it decreases productivity and employee satisfaction, while simultaneously diminishing the agency's ability to meet its mission.
The SEC's workforce has a great deal of experience with working from home. Pursuant to agreements between management and the union, SEC employees have enjoyed the flexibility of regularly scheduled telework for more than two decades, since 2002. When the SEC first agreed to permit telework, employees could schedule up to four telework days per pay period. In 2007, after five successful years of telework, management and the union agreed to increase the number of regularly scheduled telework days to as many as ten per pay period for up to 25% of the workforce. Then, for three full years during the pandemic, from 2020 to 2023, all SEC employees were permitted to telework 100% of the time. The SEC’s long experience with telework allowed it to comply with “stay home” orders across the country by quickly transitioning to a full-time telework posture with essentially zero disruption to the work of the agency. Following the pandemic, from the spring of 2023 to last April, the SEC continued to permit all employees to telework up to eight days per pay period. During this entire 23-year history of recurring telework at the SEC, the agency has performed its mission admirably, while simultaneously relying upon workplace flexibilities like telework to help it to recruit and retain the best people to work here.
Given the agency’s highly successful 23-year history with recurring telework, it should come as no surprise that SEC employees appear to believe that RTO is a "solution looking for a problem," i.e., that forcing everyone to work in the office all the time does not improve our ability to meet our mission. Fully 80% of respondents report that their managers never needed to order them into the office on a recurring telework day prior to RTO. And 12% report that this happened only once or twice in the past. More importantly, 78% do not believe that RTO has increased their team's productivity, and 67% say that RTO has decreased their own productivity. Furthermore, 60% do not believe that RTO has increased collaboration.
More importantly, RTO also has changed the workforce's perception of the SEC as a place to work. 94% believe that employees in their work unit have been negatively impacted by RTO, 93% believe that RTO prevents them from balancing work and other life issues effectively, 92% believe RTO hurts working parents, and 72% believe that RTO has negatively impacted their ability to care for dependents. 89% say that RTO has negatively impacted their morale.
A strong majority of employees report that the cessation of telework will impact the SEC's ability to keep good employees and recruit new ones. 77% say that telework was an important factor in their decision to work at the SEC, 89% say it continues to be important to their desire to continue working here, and roughly half say that they are currently actively looking for other jobs since RTO. Not surprisingly, 92% believe that RTO will significantly hamper the SEC's ability to recruit the right employees.
It bears repeating that none of these results should come as a surprise to anyone. The administration did not decide to illegally terminate telework across the government to make things better for employees or for agencies. The administration illegally eliminated telework across the federal government to make employees miserable so that they would be more likely to abandon their careers in public service. The union wonders, however, if current SEC management truly believes that the SEC will be well-served by continuing this effort to demoralize its own workforce, and to dramatically diminish its ability to attract and retain talented employees now and in the future. The union firmly believes that unless the SEC reverses course, the direct harm to our institution that will result from its ill-advised elimination of telework will be severe, long-lasting, and extremely difficult to repair.
During the week of July 21, the union will be making its case in an arbitration hearing on its national grievance regarding management's illegal termination of telework. We will continue to keep you apprised on the status of our efforts as additional information becomes available.
Survey Results (Rounded to Nearest Percentile):
RTO has increased the productivity of my team:
Positive: 5%
Neutral: 16%
Negative: 78%
RTO has increased the collaboration within my team/unit:
Positive: 13%
Neutral: 27%
Negative: 60%
RTO has improved the SEC’s culture:
Positive: 8%
Neutral: 17%
Negative: 76%
RTO has impacted my productivity by:
Significantly decreasing it: 30%
Somewhat decreasing it: 37%
Having no impact: 27%
Somewhat improving it: 3%
Significantly improving it: 2%
Balancing work and other life issues is important to me:
Positive: 100%
Neutral: 0%
Negative: 0%
The SEC’s telework program was an important factor in my decision to work here:
Positive: 77%
Neutral: 16%
Negative: 7%
The SEC promoted its telework program in recruiting me to work here:
Positive: 51%
Neutral: 34%
Negative: 14%
RTO prevents me from balancing work and other life issues effectively:
Positive: 93%
Neutral: 4%
Negative: 3%
RTO hurts working parents:
Positive: 92%
Neutral: 4%
Negative: 1%
Telework is important to my desire to continue working at the SEC:
Positive: 89%
Neutral: 8%
Negative: 3%
Employees in my work unit have been negatively impacted by RTO.
Positive: 94%
Neutral: 5%
Negative: 1%
RTO has negatively affected my morale:
Positive: 89%
Neutral: 7%
Negative 3%
Since RTO, I have begun looking for positions outside the SEC:
Yes: 47%
No: 50%
RTO will significantly hamper the SEC’s ability to recruit the right employees:
Positive: 92%
Neutral: 6%
Negative: 1%
My monthly commuting expenses are between:
$0 - $99: 18%
$100 - $199: 23%
$200 - $299: 20%
$300 - $399: 15%
$400 or higher: 23%
My average total daily commute time is:
0-1 hours: 16%
1-2 hours: 38%
2-3 hours: 29%
3-4 hours: 12%
More than 4 hours: 4%
RTO has negatively impacted my ability to care for my children or other dependents:
Positive: 72%
Neutral: 24%
Negative: 3%
Before RTO, my manager ordered me to work in the office on a day I was scheduled to telework to meet mission, staffing or workload needs:
No, never: 80%
Yes, 1-2 times: 12%
Yes, 3-5 times: 4%
Yes, 6-10 times: 3%
Yes, more than 10 times: 0%
Since RTO, I have had to use more of my sick and/or annual leave:
Positive: 90%
Neutral: 8%
Negative: 3%