U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, raised pressing questions about the remote work practices within the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
As a seasoned legislator known for her commitment to government accountability, Senator Collins sought to understand the discrepancy between the IRS' stated policy of requiring employees to work in the office for half their workweek and the findings of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report.
The TIGTA report, which analyzed data from the first quarter of the fiscal year, revealed that IRS employees were teleworking 22% of the time, working in-person 38% of the time, and engaged in some form of hybrid work 40% of the time on average.
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This data suggested that the IRS was falling short of its own target of having employees work in the office for half of their workdays.
During the hearing, Senator Collins pressed Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen to explain this apparent disconnect between the IRS' stated policy and the reality on the ground.
"I've looked at the latest data from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the Inspector General found that IRS employees telework 22% of the time, worked in person 38% of the time, and engaged in some sort of hybrid work 40% of the time on average during the first quarter of the fiscal year.
"So I'm trying to reconcile the data that's reported by the Inspector General to the IRS’ goal of having its employees work half of their work days in the office. It seems to me that the Inspector General found that they are not working half of their work days in the office," said Collins.
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Yellen responded, "You know, some of the employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, they're members of the union, and to enforce those rules requires an agreement with the union."
Collins then pressed, stating that, "I think those contracts need to be renegotiated with the with the taxpayers interests in mind."
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