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Virginia Department of Human Resource Management- January 2026 |
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January 15, 2026
Revised: DHRM Policy 1.61, Teleworking and COVApps, Teleworking Application
Dear HR Directors,
DHRM has revised Policy 1.61, Teleworking effective January 15, 2026. There are significant changes to this policy. Please review and refer the revised policy to your HR team, your Agency’s leadership and management teams and the workforce. This may require modifications to your internal Agency policy and procedures for teleworking. The DHRM Policy Guides previously listed under Policy 1.61 are being reviewed and relevant guides will be revised and published soon.
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To support the revised policy, the COVApps Teleworking Application has also been modified as follows effective 1/16/26:
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Forms Initiated 1/16/26 or Later
- A telework form initiated 1/16/2026 or later will no longer be routed to the Secretary or Chief of Staff for approvals and therefore those approval boxes will no longer appear at the bottom of the form.
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Active Forms Pending Secretary or Pending Chief of Staff Approvals
- Since the policy change to the Telework Agreement is effective 1/15/2026, all active (or “mid-flight”) telework agreements that were Pending Secretary or Pending Chief of Staff approvals, will be considered approved/complete, since those forms were previously approved by the Agency Head and comply with the policy change.
- A comment of “Form automatically approved per DHRM policy change effective January 2026” will appear in the previously required approval role. For example, in the situation where a form was waiting for the Chief of Staff approval, the note will appear next to the Chief of Staff. In the situation, where the form was awaiting both the Secretary and the Chief of Staff approvals, that note will appear in both comment sections.
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2026 Teleworking Agreements
- Please note that active agreements are those initiated and pending for FY26 (July 1, 2025 – January 2026). Agreements issued prior to July 1, 2025 have expired. A new agreement will need to be initiated for these instances. Agency HRDs can view both active and expired agreements in the Telework Dashboard.
Policy questions may be directed to the DHRM Policy Team at policy@dhrm.virginia.gov . Questions specific to the COVApps Telework system may be directed to covapps@vita.virginia.gov.
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Published by the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management
www.dhrm.virginia.gov
101 N. 14th Street, 12th Floor
Richmond, VA 23219 |
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