[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3015 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3015

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to address telework for Federal 
                   employees, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 4, 2023

  Mr. Lankford (for himself and Ms. Sinema) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to address telework for Federal 
                   employees, 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 Reform Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. TELEWORK AND REMOTE WORK.

    (a) Amendments to Definitions.--Section 6501 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (3); and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Remote work.--The term `remote work', `remotely 
        work', or `remotely working' refers to a work flexibility 
        arrangement under which an employee routinely performs the 
        duties and responsibilities of such employee's position, and 
        other authorized activities, from an approved worksite--
                    ``(A) other than the location from which the 
                employee would otherwise work;
                    ``(B) that may be inside or outside the local 
                commuting area of the location from which the employee 
                would otherwise work; and
                    ``(C) that is typically the residence of the 
                employee.
            ``(4) Telework.--The term `telework' or `teleworking'--
                    ``(A) refers to a work flexibility arrangement 
                under which an employee performs the duties and 
                responsibilities of such employee's position, and other 
                authorized activities, from an approved worksite other 
                than the location from which the employee would 
                otherwise work; and
                    ``(B) includes remote work or remotely working.''.
    (b) Executive Agencies Telework Requirement.--Section 6502(b)(2) of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and'' at the end; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) is for a 1-year period; and
                    ``(D) the agency manager, in consultation with the 
                supervisor of the applicable employee, shall review 
                annually to determine whether to renew the agreement, 
                taking into consideration--
                            ``(i) whether the scope of the agreement, 
                        or the duties of the employee, have changed;
                            ``(ii) the performance of the employee; and
                            ``(iii) the needs of the agency;''.
    (c) Training and Monitoring.--Section 6503(a)(1) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) by inserting ``, which shall include training 
                on accurate reporting of remote work and telework 
                usage'' after ``agency''; and
            (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(B) all managers and supervisors of teleworkers 
                and remote workers, which shall--
                            ``(i) be provided on an annual basis; and
                            ``(ii) include training on accurate 
                        reporting of employee remote work and telework 
                        eligibility and participation in agency time 
                        and attendance systems;''.
    (d) Policy and Support.--Section 6504 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``performance 
                management,''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``remote work 
                and telework performance management'' before 
                ``measures''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``guidelines not 
                later than'' and all that follows through the period at 
                the end and inserting the following: ``guidelines--
                    ``(A) not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of this chapter to ensure the adequacy of 
                information and security protections for information 
                and information systems used while teleworking; and
                    ``(B) not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of the Telework Reform Act of 2023 to ensure 
                the adequacy of information and security protections 
                for information and information systems used while 
                remotely working.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Review.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget, in coordination with the Department of Homeland 
        Security and the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology, shall--
                    ``(A) perform an annual review of the guidelines 
                issued under this subsection; and
                    ``(B) make any updates to the guidelines issued 
                under this subsection that are determined to be 
                appropriate as a result of a review conducted under 
                subparagraph (A).''.
    (e) Duties of Telework Managing Officer.--Section 6505(b) of title 
5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (2)(C), as amended by 
        paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following:
            ``(3) issue to employees of the applicable executive agency 
        a biannual remote work and telework survey--
                    ``(A) which shall be designed to evaluate, at a 
                minimum, the effectiveness of--
                            ``(i) performance management with respect 
                        to executive agency employees who participate 
                        in the telework program of the executive 
                        agency, as compared to the effectiveness of 
                        performance management for other employees;
                            ``(ii) strategies for engaging with 
                        executive agency employees while those 
                        employees participate in the telework program 
                        of the executive agency; and
                            ``(iii) remote work and telework training 
                        for executive agency managers and employees; 
                        and
                    ``(B) the results of which the Telework Managing 
                Officer shall submit to the leadership of the executive 
                agency, including the Chief Human Capital Officer of 
                the executive agency;
            ``(4) maintain an executive agency remote work and telework 
        web page that serves as an information portal for employees of 
        the executive agency who are seeking information with respect 
        to remote work and telework policies, contact information for 
        remote work and telework coordinators, and remote work and 
        telework training resources; and''.
    (f) OPM Reports.--Section 6506 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking 
                ``Government Reform'' and inserting ``Accountability''; 
                and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause 
                        (iii) and inserting the following:
                            ``(iii) the number and percent of eligible 
                        employees in the agency who are remotely 
                        working or teleworking--
                                    ``(I) full-time, such that those 
                                employees are not required to report to 
                                the locations from which those 
                                employees would otherwise work on a 
                                regular and recurring basis;
                                    ``(II) 3 or more days per pay 
                                period;
                                    ``(III) 1 or 2 days per pay period; 
                                and
                                    ``(IV) on a situational, episodic, 
                                or short-term basis;''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (F)--
                                    (I) in clause (v), by inserting 
                                ``and cost savings'' after 
                                ``productivity''; and
                                    (II) in clause (vi), by inserting 
                                ``well-being and'' after ``employee''; 
                                and
            (2) in subsection (c)(1)(A)(ii), by striking ``Government 
        Reform'' and inserting ``Accountability''.
    (g) Reports.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms ``executive 
        agency'', ``remote work'', and ``telework'' have the meanings 
        given those terms in section 6501 of title 5, United States 
        Code, as amended by subsection (a) of this section.
            (2) Chief human capital officers.--Not later than 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chief Human 
        Capital Officer of each executive agency shall submit to the 
        Director of the Office of Personnel Management and Congress a 
        report that contains--
                    (A) an overview of a process to update current (as 
                of the date on which the report is submitted) remote 
                work and telework eligibility requirements of the 
                executive agency;
                    (B) recommendations regarding ways in which to 
                update matters relating to remote work and telework 
                practices, including practices relating to core 
                business hours, flexible schedules, performance 
                management, and employee satisfaction; and
                    (C) recommended solutions to barriers that prevent 
                the executive agency from delivering consistent and 
                reliable data with respect to remote work and telework 
                to the Office of Personnel Management.
            (3) Executive agencies.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the head of each executive 
        agency, in coordination with the Chief Human Capital Officer of 
        the executive agency, the Chief Financial Officer of the 
        executive agency, the Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget, and the Administrator of General Services, shall submit 
        to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
        of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
        of the House of Representatives a report that identifies--
                    (A) the potential value that would result from 
                increasing remote work and other telework opportunities 
                for employees of particular departments within the 
                executive agency;
                    (B) which job classifications within the executive 
                agency could benefit from being performed exclusively 
                through remote work;
                    (C) the ways that the executive agency could 
                coordinate with the Secretary of Defense to recruit the 
                spouses of members of the Armed Forces for positions, 
                the responsibilities of which are performed through 
                remote work;
                    (D) expected cost savings as a result of increased 
                remote work and telework by employees of the executive 
                agency, taking into consideration the fact that the 
                executive agency may need to reinvest those future cost 
                savings to meet increased demands with respect to 
                technology;
                    (E) expected productivity outcomes from the 
                increased use of remote work and telework; and
                    (F) cybersecurity and information technology 
                infrastructure changes necessitated by the increased 
                use of remote work and telework.
    (h) Amendments to Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Personnel 
Management shall amend section 531.605(d)(1) of title 5, Code of 
Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation--
            (1) to provide that the regular worksite of an employee 
        (where an employee's work activities are based) is the 
        employee's official worksite if the employee is scheduled to 
        work at least twice each biweekly pay period on a regular basis 
        at the regular worksite, or within the locality pay area for 
        that worksite, for the employee's position of record; and
            (2) to eliminate the material in the second sentence of 
        that provision.

SEC. 3. NONCOMPETITIVE APPOINTMENT TO REMOTE WORK POSITIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Competitive service.--The term ``competitive service'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2102 of title 5, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Personnel Management.
            (3) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            (4) Law enforcement officer.--The term ``law enforcement 
        officer'' means an individual occupying a position in the 1801 
        or 1811 occupational series, as established by the Director.
            (5) Remotely work.--The term ``remotely work'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 6501 of title 5, United 
        States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act.
            (6) Remote work position.--The term ``remote work 
        position'' means a position in the competitive service in which 
        the individual occupying the position remotely works.
            (7) Veteran.--The term ``veteran'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 2108 of title 5, United States Code.
    (b) Regulations.--Under such regulations as the Director shall 
issue, an Executive agency may noncompetitively appoint, for other than 
temporary employment, to a remote work position any of the following 
individuals, if the head of that Executive agency determines that the 
individual is qualified for the position:
            (1) An individual who--
                    (A) is certified by the Director as having been a 
                high-performing employee in a former position in the 
                competitive service; and
                    (B) has been separated from the former position 
                described in subparagraph (A) for less than 6 years.
            (2) A veteran.
            (3) An individual who is married to a member of the Armed 
        Forces or to a law enforcement officer.
                                 <all>