FLRA rules for union on HHS telework and flags likely AI-generated fake citations

The Federal Labor Relations Authority, which decides labor disputes in the federal workforce, on Oct. 21 denied the Department of Health and Human Services’ challenge to an arbitrator’s award finding that HHS broke its contract with the National Treasury Employees Union when it ended telework and remote-work arrangements in 2025, according to the decision. The authority found that 22 of the 29 footnotes and 35 of the 42 legal or record citations in HHS’s brief were “fictitious, erroneous, or irrelevant,” and wrote that “it appears that the Agency may have used a generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tool in drafting its brief,” cautioning parties to verify AI-generated material, FEDweek reported. The award directs HHS to rescind its directive and reinstate the telework and remote-work agreements it ended, though orders in such cases have been stayed while agencies appeal, per FEDweek.