119-hr357

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 357 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 357

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide limitations on Federal 
 teleworking, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 13, 2025

 Mr. Nunn of Iowa (for himself and Mr. Newhouse) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
 Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide limitations on Federal 
 teleworking, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This title may be cited as the ``Back to Work Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF TELEWORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 65 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--

    (1) in 

section 6502--
        (A) in subsection

    (b)

    (2) --
            (i) in subparagraph
        (A) , by striking 
 ``and'' at the end; and
            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (C) provides that, subject to subsection
            (d) , an 
 employee may not telework for more than 40 percent of 
 the work days of the employee per pay period;
 ``
            (D) shall be reviewed on an annual basis by, and 
 be subject to the annual approval of, the head of the 
 executive agency; and
 ``
        (E) provides that the executive agency, by using 
 remote technical means and other appropriate methods, 
 will monitor and evaluate the applicable employee when 
 the employee is engaged in telework;''; and
        (B) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) Adjustments to the Permitted Number of Telework Days.--With 
respect to the limitation under subsection

    (b)

    (2)
            (C) , the head of an 
executive agency may--
 ``

    (1) further limit the number of work days per pay period 
 that an employee of the executive agency may telework based on 
 the specific role of the employee or other circumstances 
 determined appropriate by the head of the executive agency, 
 including--
 ``
        (A) the frequency with which the employee needs 
 to access classified information;
 ``
        (B) whether the employee is newly appointed; and
 ``
            (C) whether the employee occupies a managerial 
 position within the executive agency; or
 ``

    (2) waive that limitation with respect to an employee of 
 the executive agency if--
 ``
        (A) the employee is a spouse of--
 ``
            (i) a member of the Armed Forces; or
 ``
            (ii) a Federal law enforcement officer;
 ``
        (B) the employee occupies a position--
 ``
            (i) the duties of which require--
 ``
            (I) highly specialized expertise; 
 or
 ``
            (II) frequent travel; or
 ``
            (ii) for which finding qualified 
 candidates is challenging; or
 ``
            (C) inclement weather or other exigent 
 circumstances prevent the employee from reaching the 
 worksite of the employee during a pay period.
 ``

    (e) Limitations on Pay.--With respect to any employee who has 
entered into a written agreement under subsection

    (b)

    (2) , and 
notwithstanding any other provision of this title, such employee 
shall--
 ``

    (1) not be eligible for any adjustment to pay under 
 

section 5303; and
 ``

    (2) receive locality-based comparability payments under 
 

section 5304 or 5304a at the percentage for the Rest of United 
 States locality pay area.''; and

    (2) in 

section 6506, by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (e) Executive Agency Reports.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
 enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the head 
 of each executive agency shall submit to the Committee on 
 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 
 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
 of Representatives a report that describes, for the period 
 covered by the report, the following:
 ``
        (A) What metrics and methods the executive agency 
 uses to determine the productivity of employees who 
 telework.
 ``
        (B) What barriers, if any, prevent the executive 
 agency from enforcing the limitation under 

section 6502

    (b)

    (2)
            (C) and any initiatives of the executive 
 agency to address those barriers.
 ``
            (C) Any negative effects of telework, including 
 whether telework results in increased costs, security 
 vulnerabilities, lower employee morale, decreased 
 employee productivity, or waste, fraud, or abuse.
 ``
            (D) Any actions taken by the executive agency (or 
 a detailed justification for any lack of action) in 
 response to any findings of, or recommendations made 
 by, the Inspector General of the executive agency with 
 respect to telework.
 ``

    (2) GAO report.--With respect to each report submitted by 
 the head of an executive agency under paragraph

    (1) , the 
 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit an 
 accompanying report that evaluates the accuracy and 
 thoroughness of the report submitted by the head of the 
 executive agency with respect to the matters required to be 
 included in the report of the executive agency under that 
 paragraph.''.

    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection

    (a) shall 
take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act.
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