The National Archives and Records Administration the Basis of Many Lawsuits
Just how critical is the work of NARA. Very. So much so, that the alleged violation of their recordkeeping policies and procedures are what led to the many lawsuits and investigations into the keeping and storage of classified presidential documents by Obama, Biden and Trump (see more here, here, and here). Government officials may disregard NARA, as we have seen, at their own peril.
The National Archives and Records Administration Operational Budget and Federal Staffing
To maintain federal government records, NARA employs 2,556 federal civil servants with a $451.1 million budget. For some reason, not sure if it is related to the inefficient management of remote teleworkers, but in its last request for funding, “the NARA estimates 600 years to process backlogged FOIA requests at just two presidential libraries.”
In this regard, The data tables provided to us based upon our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for data collection related to teleworking remote workers working from home may show the actual number of full time civil servants up to year 2023.
Other US Federal Agency Responses to Requests for Federal Employee Telework Data
- US White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
- US Department of Defense ( Pentagon ) Office of Inspector General
- US Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General
- US Election Assistance Commission
- US National Endowment of the Arts
- 2019-2024 US Consolidated Federal Telework Data: PDF (Spreadsheet, Data Tables Coming Soon!)
The National Archives and Records Administration FOIA Response for Federal Employee Telework Data
The NARA responded favorably to our FOIA request in a timely manner and addressed all of the questions we posed to them. See the actual response letter below and working from home data table in the subsequent section.
MEAD 2019-2023 NARA FOIA Response Telework Data Table
The National Archives and Records Administration FOIA Response for Federal Employee Telework Data Tables and Spreadsheet
FOIA Search Request NGC24-252* | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
1. Total number of employees employed full time and part time | 2593 | 2367 | 2572 | 2534 | 2682 |
2. The number of employees eligible to participate in telework | 1091 | 2367 | 2572 | 2534 | 2682 |
3. The number of employees who are participating in telework | 1009 | 2397 | 2372 | 1054 | 2368 |
4. the number of employees who list their primary residence as their alternate worksite and report to the agency worksite on a regular and recurring basis | 1009 | 2397 | 2372 | 1054 | 2368 |
5. the number of employees who are participating in a flexible work arrangement where their alternate worksite may be within or outside the local commuting area and they are not required to report to the agency worksite on a regular and recurring basis | 39 | 39 | 6 | 46 | 35 |
6. the number of eligible employees authorized to telework who have entered into a written telework agreement with their supervisor as a precondition to participation | 1009 | 2397 | 2372 | 1054 | 2368 |
7. the number of eligible employee authorized to telework who have not entered into a written telework agreement with their supervisor as a precondition to participation but are still allowed to telework | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8. the number of eligible employee authorized to telework who have maintained their acceptable levels of employee performance or agency operations, in accordance with OPM performance management guidelines | 1009 | 2397 | 2372 | 1054 | 2368 |
9. the number of eligible employee authorized to telework who have not maintained their acceptable levels of employee performance or agency operation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
10. to list the appropriate steps management has taken if it has had to deny or revoke telework for employees who have been disciplined for specified misconduct | Once NARA informs ARC/WRB that they are considering a revocation or rescission of an employee’s telework agreement, the following steps occur: | ||||
1. ARC/WRB evaluates the request to ensure it does not violate any applicable NARA policy, the National Agreement, or any other applicable guidance, regulation, or directive | |||||
2. ARC/WRB prepares a draft document and sends it to NARA General-Counsel for review | |||||
3. Once reviewed, ARC/WRB sends the letter to the NARA management official for accuracy review and issuance | |||||
4. Once issued, the management official sends the signed document to ARC/WRB to be maintained in the ARC/WRB internal case file | |||||
11. the number of eligible employee authorized to telework who have been denied or revoked telework agreements when these employees have been disciplined for specified misconduct | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
12. the number of employees who have been denied telework agreements because their jobs require the handling of secure materials inappropriate for telework or whose work requires on-site activity (except in an emergency as determined by the head of the agency) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
13. the number of newly staffed employees hired to manage teleworkers to maintain compliance with their telework agreements | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
14. the number of re-assigned employees required to manage teleworkers to maintain compliance with their telework agreements | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
15. the number of employees assigned new duties required to manage teleworkers to maintain compliance with their telework agreements | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
16. the number of (a) employees and number of (b) incidents per employee where appropriate steps to terminate the arrangement if non-compliance is not promptly corrected. | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available | Data not available |
*Telework data is tracked with the Office of Human Capital using our telework tracker. This tracker and QuickTime reports provided the bulk of the data for this response. Historical data was obtained from OPM telework reports, which are required to be reported on a fiscal year basis. The difference between fiscal year and calendar year would be negligible. |