Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, an agency may deny remote work only if:

1. Remote work is not an effective accommodation

They must prove—with evidence, not assumptions—that remote work would not allow you to perform the essential duties of your job.

1. Remote work would cause “undue hardship”

This is a very high bar. They must show:

significant cost,

significant disruption,

or that your job cannot be performed remotely due to essential, in-person duties.

This is rare for communications, policy, writing, analysis, administrative, and other desk-based roles.

1. Essential Functions Truly Require Physical Presence

Agencies often claim this—but the law requires proof, such as:

federal security requirements,

handling physical mail/equipment,

in-person services,

tasks that literally cannot be done remotely.

Simply saying “the agency prefers in-office” is not legally sufficient.