House passes contractor telecommuting bill

House lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelming approved a measure to enable employees of contractors who work for federal agencies to begin telecommuting.

With a vote of 421 to 0, the House approved H.R. 3924, which would allow contract employees to begin working from home, so long as their job poses no risk to national security.

The bill also prohibits federal agencies from refusing to hire federal contractors because their employees work from home.

Exceptions would be made when agencies can demonstrate a specific justification for barring telecommuting policies, such as when their contractors deal with classified information.

Republican Reps. Dan Burton of Indiana and Tom Davis of Virginia co-sponsored the measure.