Department of Energy headquarters plans to partially reopen on June 8, when about 250 federal employees will be asked to return to the Forrestal Building in Washington and the agency’s Germantown facility in Maryland, Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said Monday.
The initial reopening will apply only to federal employees doing mission-critical work at headquarters, and maybe a few support services contractors, according to reopening guidelines published in May. Those who need to work in DOE classified spaces and those who cannot easily telework will be the first to return.
Large communal areas such as cafeterias and gyms will stay closed for now, and any federal employee who self-identifies as particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 will not have to come back to work right away, according to the reopening guidelines. Likewise, employees caring for people who are especially vulnerable to the disease will not have to return immediately.
Roughly, there are a combined 7,000 federal employees and contractors working at Forestal and Germantown, a DOE spokesperson said. Only a small fraction will return starting June 8.
“Phase 1 Federal employees are now being contacted by their supervisors with information and virtual training opportunities regarding how to return to our Headquarters facilities,” Brouillette said in a statement posted online.
This applies only to DOE headquarters buildings in the Washington capital region. Other agency locations have their own reopening plans, which proceed as site directors and managers — in coordination with headquarters — deem appropriate.
Whether a DOE headquarters employee may return to work next week is up to their head of departmental element. These senior managers decide who must come back to work during the first phase of the headquarters reopening, according to the reopening guidelines.
Returning employees will be asked not to enter DOE headquarters buildings if: they have had had flu-like symptoms, including a temperature over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, in the last 10 days; they have been in contact with someone who had COVID-19 in the last 14 days; or they have been told to self-quarantine in the last 14 days.
Those returning to work are encouraged, but not required, to wear face coverings, the reopening guidelines say. Employees are also asked to practice social distancing of 6 feet or more. The Energy Department plans to rearrange existing workspaces to accommodate distancing among employees.
The Energy Department has a four-phase reopening plan for its headquarters buildings in the Washington region. The two buildings are in Phase 0 now, with Phase 3 signifying a return to essentially pre-COVID-19 operations. Big common areas likely will not reopen until the final phase.
The notional timeline for moving to Phase 2, when COVID-19-vulnerable employees may volunteer to return to work, is two weeks from the start of Phase 1, according to the reopening guidelines.
Editor’s note, 06/02/2020, 2:57 Eastern time. The story was updated with information from DOE headquarters about the number of employees scheduled to return to work beginning June 8.
