Question
[hypothetical] Due to the pandemic, an employee must telework from home and may not be able to report to the official worksite. Will locality pay be affected?
Answer
An employee’s official worksite is the location of his or her position of record where the employee regularly performs his or her duties. For an employee covered by a telework agreement, scheduled (while in duty status) to report at least twice each biweekly pay period on a regular and recurring basis to the regular worksite for his or her position of record, the regular worksite is the official worksite, and the employee is entitled to the locality rate designated for the regular worksite. However, OPM’s regulations at 5 CFR 531.605(d)(3) permit an agency to make a temporary exception to the requirement that a telework employee report at least twice each biweekly pay period to the regular worksite and allow the telework employee’s official worksite to remain the regular worksite.