[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4106 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4106

 To improve teleworking in executive agencies by developing a telework 
 program that allows employees to telework at least 20 percent of the 
    hours worked in every 2 administrative workweeks, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 7, 2007

 Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Tom 
 Davis of Virginia, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Cummings, and Ms. Norton) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight 
                         and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve teleworking in executive agencies by developing a telework 
 program that allows employees to telework at least 20 percent of the 
    hours worked in every 2 administrative workweeks, 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 Act may be cited as the ``Telework Improvements Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. GOVERNMENT-WIDE TELEWORK REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall 
        establish a policy under which employees may be authorized to 
        telework. Authorized employees shall be allowed to telework at 
        least 20 percent of the hours worked in every 2 administrative 
        workweeks.
            (2) Applicability.--The policy established by each agency 
        under this subsection shall, in conformance with uniform 
        guidelines which shall be established under section 3(2), 
        ensure that the opportunity to telework is made available to 
        employees to the maximum extent possible without diminishing 
        employee performance or agency operations.
            (3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
        considered to require any employee to telework.
    (b) Exceptions.--Nothing in subsection (a) shall be considered--
            (1) to require that teleworking be made available to any 
        employee whose duties and responsibilities--
                    (A) require daily access to classified information;
                    (B) require daily face-to-face contact with members 
                of the public or other persons, or the use of 
                equipment, at the employee's regular place of 
                employment; or
                    (C) are such that their performance from a site 
                removed from the employee's regular place of employment 
                is not feasible; or
            (2) to prevent an agency from temporarily denying 
        permission to telework in the case of any employee who needs 
        any additional training.
    (c) Coordination With Continuity of Operations Plan.--Nothing in 
this section shall prevent an agency from permitting an employee to 
telework as part of a continuity of operations plan.

SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION.

     In order to carry out the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the head of each agency shall ensure that--
                    (A) appropriate training is provided to supervisors 
                and managers and to all employees who are authorized to 
                telework; and
                    (B) no distinction is made between teleworkers and 
                nonteleworkers for the purposes of performance 
                appraisals; and
            (2) the General Services Administration, in consultation 
        with the Office of Personnel Management, shall provide advice, 
        assistance, and guidance to agencies, including with respect 
        to--
                    (A) questions of eligibility, including 
                considerations relating to employee performance;
                    (B) information security;
                    (C) making teleworking part of the agency's 
                (including individual supervisors' and managers') 
                goals;
                    (D) in coordination with the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency, continuity of operations planning; 
                and
                    (E) the grievance process employees should follow 
                in the event of a dispute that relates to teleworking.

SEC. 4. TELEWORK MANAGING OFFICER.

    (a) In General.--There shall be within each agency an officer to be 
known as the ``Telework Managing Officer''. The Telework Managing 
Officer shall--
            (1) in the case of an agency which has a position of Chief 
        Human Capital Officer--
                    (A) be appointed by the Chief Human Capital Officer 
                of such agency; and
                    (B) be compensated at not less than the minimum 
                rate of basic pay for grade GS-15 of the General 
                Schedule; and
            (2) in the case of an agency which does not have a position 
        of Chief Human Capital Officer, be appointed or designated--
                    (A) by the head of such agency; and
                    (B) be compensated at not less than the minimum 
                rate of basic pay for grade GS-15 of the General 
                Schedule.
    (b) Limitations.--An individual may not hold the position of 
Telework Managing Officer as a noncareer appointee (as defined in 
section 3132(a)(7) of title 5, United States Code), and such position 
may not be considered or determined to be of a confidential, policy-
determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character.
    (c) Duties and Responsibilities.--The duties and responsibilities 
of the Telework Managing Officer of an agency are as follows:
            (1) Serving as--
                    (A) an advisor to the head of the agency and the 
                Chief Human Capital Officer of such agency (if any) on 
                teleworking;
                    (B) a resource on teleworking for supervisors, 
                managers, and employees of such agency; and
                    (C) the agency's primary point of contact on 
                teleworking matters for employees of such agency, 
                Congress, and other agencies.
            (2) Ensuring that the agency's teleworking policy is 
        communicated effectively to employees.
            (3) Ensuring that electronic or written notification is 
        provided to each employee of specific telework programs and the 
        agency's teleworking policy, including authorization criteria 
        and application procedures.
            (4) Developing and administering a tracking system for 
        compliance with Government-wide telework reporting 
        requirements.
            (5) Providing to the Comptroller General (and to the 
        General Services Administration) such information as the 
        Comptroller General may require to prepare the annual reports 
        under section 5(b).
            (6) Establishing a system for receiving feedback from 
        agency employees on the agency's teleworking policy.
            (7) Developing and implementing a program to identify and 
        remove barriers to teleworking and maximize teleworking 
        opportunities in the agency.
            (8) Performing such other duties and responsibilities 
        relating to teleworking as the head of the agency may require.
    (d) Telework Coordinator.--The appointment or designation of a 
Telework Managing Officer under subsection (a) shall be considered to 
satisfy the provisions of section 622 of division B of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2005 (Public Law 108-447) requiring the designation 
of a ``Telework Coordinator''.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL TELEWORK AGENCY RATING.

    (a) In General.--The Comptroller General shall establish a system 
for evaluating--
            (1) the teleworking policy of each agency; and
            (2) employee participation in telework programs at each 
        agency.
    (b) Report.--The Comptroller General shall, based on the system 
established under subsection (a), submit an annual report to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs of the Senate. Such report shall, with respect to the year 
covered by the report--
            (1) evaluate the teleworking policy of each agency;
            (2) for each agency, indicate the total number of employees 
        in such agency and identify--
                    (A) the number of employees who were eligible to 
                telework;
                    (B) the number of employees who teleworked an 
                average of at least once a week on a regular basis, 
                determined based on time spent actually teleworking;
                    (C) the number of employees who teleworked at least 
                once a month on a regular basis;
                    (D) the number of employees who were not authorized 
                to telework and the reason why they were not 
                authorized;
                    (E) the number of employees who were authorized to 
                telework and then later stopped teleworking, the 
                reasons why those employees stopped teleworking, and 
                whether it was voluntary or due to other factors, such 
                as office coverage needs or productivity; and
                    (F) the extent to which barriers to maximizing 
                teleworking opportunities have been identified and 
                eliminated;
            (3) evaluate the compliance of each agency with the 
        requirements of this Act; and
            (4) identify best practices in agency telework programs.

SEC. 6. CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The head of each agency shall ensure that, to the 
maximum extent practicable, teleworking is incorporated into the 
continuity of operations planning of such agency.
    (b) Coordination Rule.--The continuity of operations plan of an 
agency shall supersede any teleworking policy of such agency to the 
extent that they are inconsistent with one another.
    (c) Reporting Requirement.--No later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the General Services Administration, in 
coordination with the Office of Personnel Management, the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, and the Chief Human Capital Officers 
Council, shall report to the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate on the incorporation of 
teleworking into agencies' continuity of operations planning, 
including--
            (1) the extent to which such incorporation has occurred 
        within each of the respective agencies;
            (2) the extent to which each agency has conducted 
        continuity of operations tests and exercises incorporating 
        teleworking for essential and non-essential personnel;
            (3) the extent to which agencies have used teleworking in 
        response to emergencies; and
            (4) any recommendations the General Services Administration 
        considers appropriate.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``employee'' has the meaning given such term 
        by section 2105 of title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the term ``agency'' means an Executive agency, as 
        defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code;
            (3) the term ``telework'' or ``teleworking'' refers to a 
        work arrangement in which an employee regularly performs such 
        employee's duties and responsibilities from home or another 
        worksite removed from the employee's regular place of 
        employment; and
            (4) the term ``continuity of operations'' refers to the 
        preparations and institutions maintained by the Government to 
        provide for the continuation of Government operations in the 
        event of a catastrophe.
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