Military spouses exempted from federal RTO mandate

Photo by Thomas Lin

Military spouses are now exempt from the federal RTO mandate, and may continue to work remotely.

OPM announced the exemption in a new memo dated February 12.

The memo clarifies that the spouses of active duty US military members can continue to work remotely and are exempt from the federal RTO mandate. Additionally, Federal agencies can continue to hire military spouses for remote work positions.

The OPM memo also includes exemptions for the spouses of disabled Armed Forces members, as well as the spouses of deceased military members who died on active duty.

Spouses of U.S. Foreign Service members are exempted too, if they are on an overseas assignment.

This comes after a bipartisan bill was introduced in Congress last week that sought to exempt military spouses from the federal RTO mandate. On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order mandating the return to office for federal workers. This led to concern and uncertainty for many military families, prompting some in congress to seek clarification.