Senate bill would codify remote work, increase telework reporting

A bipartisan pair of senators on Thursday proposed legislation that would codify federal employees’ use of remote work in federal law, as well as establish stronger reporting and training requirements for telework and authorize the noncompetitive hiring of military and law enforcement spouses into remote work positions.

The Telework Reform Act (S. 3015), introduced by Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., codifies the Office of Personnel Management’s administratively determined definitions of telework and remote work—including the requirement that teleworkers commute to their traditional worksite at least twice per pay period—and institutes a barrage of new reporting requirements for agencies.

First, the bill sets up a new requirement that agencies and federal workers renew telework and remote work agreements each year, following an annual process in which employees and their supervisors review whether the employees’ duties and performance or the agency’s needs have changed. The legislation also would require managers of teleworking and remote working employees to undergo annual training both on telework itself and how to accurately report employees’ eligibility and participation in the workplace flexibility.

Additionally, provisions throughout the bill are aimed at improving agencies’ reporting on their telework and remote work programs, including requiring agencies to conduct biannual surveys on the workplace flexibilities’ usage and an annual review of telework guidelines by the Office of Management and Budget. And agency chief human capital officers would be required to submit reports to OPM and Congress outlining recommendations to improve telework and remote work, including how to address barriers to OPM receiving “consistent and reliable data” on the workplace flexibilities.

The bill also would authorize federal agencies to hire spouses of military service members and federal law enforcement officers to remote work positions outside the competitive hiring process.

The bill marks something of a departure from recent congressional scrutiny of telework. House Republicans in recent months have approached workplace flexibilities such as telework and remote work with suspicion, while Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, accused federal workers without evidence of committing “fraud” by purportedly relocating to “low-cost” regions while retaining a higher level of locality pay. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is slated to host a hearing on the government’s use of telework with agencies GOP leaders previously described as less cooperative in responding to their records requests next week.

In a statement accompanying the bill’s introduction, Lankford said lawmakers must embrace remote work and telework as important tools for staffing federal agencies, albeit with better metrics to track their usage.

“[Remote work] is a great recruiting tool for military and law enforcement spouses who wish to support their loved ones while also pursuing their own career,” he said. “The spouse of a Border Patrol agent working in the small town of Eagle Pass, Texas, might not be able to find a job that fits their education or training, but remote work for a federal agency may be a great opportunity. By rethinking how the government uses remote work, we are encouraging federal agencies to hire in diverse communities across the country; instead of requiring our workforce to be centralized in Washington, D.C.”