Good afternoon,

A lot has happened since my last note, and our central priority remains your health and safety, as well as that of your families, our customers and visitors. 

As Secretary Vilsack said in his communications last week, the Delta variant accounts for over 80% of all new COVID-19 cases in the country, and it is as much as 60%  more contagious than the Alpha variant, which was already 50% more transmissible than the original strain of the coronavirus. This evolution of the COVID-19 virus requires new approaches to keep everyone safe.

The science tells us that the following key changes are the safest things to do at this time: 

1. Effective immediately is a new indoor masking requirement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in areas of “substantial” or “high” community COVID-19 transmission. As of today, all USDA facilities are: in counties that meet this criteria, have employees or visitors traveling from counties that meet this criteria, or are located in close proximity to counties that meet this criteria. Therefore—and until further notice—all employees, contractors and visitors must wear masks in all USDA buildings and government-owned or leased vehicles, regardless of vaccination status. 
2. Federal employees and on-site contractors must sign an attestation confirming the truthfulness of their vaccination status. Those who are not fully vaccinated must wear a mask, physically distance, comply with a weekly or twice-weekly screening testing requirement, and are subject to government-wide restrictions on official travel. Additional guidance is forthcoming. These protocols are in line with the revised model safety principles from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force.

Additionally, effective immediately, employees will receive paid time off to accompany a family member being vaccinated. This is in addition to employees receiving paid time off to be vaccinated and to deal with any side effects. Also, any meeting, conference or event that will be attended by more than 50 in-person participants (regardless of vaccination status) requires approval by the agency head in consultation with Dr. Bleich and Dr. Parham. This is effective immediately and questions should be sent to futureofwork@usda.gov.

Let me reiterate our current travel policy. Until further notice, employees should continue to limit official travel to mission critical activities, as determined by each agency, and follow CDC guidance as appropriate.

I am sure many of you have questions about how we will implement the new requirements and whether the changing nature of the pandemic will impact the return to the workplace for those of you who have been who have been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. Again, I cannot stress enough that your health and safety remain our central priority. As soon as we receive additional guidance, we will keep you informed and share it with you. 

Over the last 18 months, you have proven to be extremely resilient and capable of executing on our mission, despite the many twists and turns of the pandemic. I am confident that we can continue to do so by learning as we go and drawing lessons learned from the past year and half.

To ensure you all stay informed, I will continue to communicate with you regularly and be transparent with our decisions. Additional information is available in the FAQs, which are frequently updated.

Again, thank you for your patience and for all you do.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jewel Bronaugh
Deputy Secretary

*To the extent this policy may constitute a change in a condition of employment for bargaining unit employees, agencies/offices will implement it in accordance with the terms of their current labor agreement and 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71. If you are a bargaining unit employee and have questions regarding the content of this message and its potential impact on a current labor agreement, please refer them to your local union representative.

You can also view this message at OneUSDA (internal link)