II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4518 

To require Federal agencies to permit employees to telework full-time during 

the public health emergency relating to COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 10, 2020 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, 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 require Federal agencies to permit employees to telework 

full-time during the public health emergency relating to 

COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pandemic Federal 

5 Telework Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TELEWORKING REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL EM7 PLOYEES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means each authority of 

2 the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the 

3 Government of the United States; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means the period 

5 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 

6 ending on the date on which the public health emer7 gency declared by the Secretary under section 319 

8 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) 

9 on January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19 

10 (including any renewal of that declaration) termi11 nates; 

12 (3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

13 the Office of Personnel Management; 

14 (4) the term ‘‘eligible employee’’ means an em15 ployee who— 

16 (A) the head of the agency employing the 

17 employee has determined is eligible to telework; 

18 and 

19 (B) has not been officially disciplined for— 

20 (i) being absent without permission 

21 for more than 5 days in any calendar year; 

22 or 

23 (ii) viewing, downloading, or exchang24 ing pornography, including child pornog25 raphy, on a Federal Government computer 


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1 or while performing official Federal Gov2 ernment duties; 

3 (5) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee of 

4 an agency; 

5 (6) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

6 of Health and Human Services; and 

7 (7) the term ‘‘telework’’ has the meaning given 

8 the term in section 6501 of title 5, United States 

9 Code. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi12 sion of chapter 65 of title 5, United States Code, the 

13 head of each agency shall— 

14 (A) permit eligible employees with respect 

15 to the agency to telework on a full-time basis 

16 during the covered period; and 

17 (B) review, with respect to employees of 

18 the agency for whom the agency head has not 

19 made a determination described in subsection 

20 (a)(4)(A), whether such a determination should 

21 be made. 

22 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an agency may 

23 waive the requirements of any provision of para24 graph (1) that applies with respect to an employee 

25 of the agency if the agency head determines that 


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1 there is a compelling reason for the waiver that re2 lates to the effective operation of the Federal Gov3 ernment. 

4 (3) PLAN FOR FUTURE OUTBREAKS.—Not later 

5 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

6 the Director, in coordination with the Secretary, 

7 shall establish a policy— 

8 (A) to maximize the use of telework by the 

9 Federal workforce during a period in which 

10 there is in effect a public health emergency that 

11 the Secretary declares under section 319 of the 

12 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on 

13 a date that is after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act with respect to an outbreak of an in15 fectious disease; and 

16 (B) that shall be designed to be imple17 mented before implementing any continuity of 

18 operations plan with respect to any outbreak 

19 described in subparagraph (A). 

20 SEC. 3. TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION FUND. 

21 Section 1078(b)(3)(B) of the National Defense Au22 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (40 U.S.C. 11301 

23 note) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including by enabling or 

24 improving telework capabilities,’’ after ‘‘efficiency and cy25 bersecurity’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. TRAINING AND MONITORING. 

2 Section 6503(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘and su5 pervisors’’ after ‘‘managers’’; 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 

7 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(3) not later than 180 days after the date on 

11 which a manager or supervisor described in para12 graph (1)(B) is appointed to a position as such a 

13 manager or supervisor, the manager or supervisor 

14 has completed interactive telework training that in15 cludes instruction relating to— 

16 ‘‘(A) the benefits of telework; 

17 ‘‘(B) technology used by the agency to fa18 cilitate telework; 

19 ‘‘(C) strategies for engaging employees 

20 who telework; 

21 ‘‘(D) performance management in the vir22 tual workplace; and 

23 ‘‘(E) information and security protections 

24 for information and information systems used 

25 during telework;’’. 

Æ 


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