II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 807 

To require the head of each agency to establish a plan to resume in-person 

operations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2023 

Mr. WICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the head of each agency to establish a plan 

to resume in-person operations, 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 ‘‘Return Employees to 

5 Understaffed Work Sites to Reopen Now Act of 2023’’ 

6 or the ‘‘RETURN Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AGENCY PLANS TO RESUME IN-PERSON OPER8 ATIONS. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.— In this section: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 807 IS

1 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 101 of title 31, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (2) COVERED AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

5 agreement’’ means an agreement between an agency 

6 and a labor organization that— 

7 (A) is entered into before the date on 

8 which the agency submits a plan under sub9 section (b)(1); and 

10 (B) relates to the resumption of in-person 

11 operations by the agency. 

12 (3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 

13 an employee of an agency. 

14 (4) ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE.—The 

15 term ‘‘essential Government service’’, with respect to 

16 an agency, includes— 

17 (A) the facilitation of the delivery, receipt, 

18 processing, or issuance of a document, fund, or 

19 permit; 

20 (B) the facilitation of access to public 

21 lands or another public space that is open to 

22 the public for use; 

23 (C) the conduction of an in-person activity 

24 or interaction that is required by law to be per25 formed in person; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 807 IS

1 (D) the conduction of an inspection or 

2 other in-person activity that cannot be rep3 licated virtually or without a physical presence. 

4 (5) OFFICIAL WORK SITE.—The term ‘‘official 

5 work site’’ means the place where an employee 

6 works, or at which the activities of an employee are 

7 based, as determined by the employing agency. 

8 (6) REMOTE WORK.—The term ‘‘remote work’’ 

9 means an arrangement under which an employee is 

10 scheduled to perform the work of the employee at an 

11 alternative work site. 

12 (b) PLANS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each 

15 agency shall submit to Congress and publish on the 

16 website of the agency a plan for the agency to re17 sume in-person operations. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—Subject to paragraph (3), the 

19 plan of an agency required under paragraph (1) 

20 shall include— 

21 (A) the policy of the agency with respect to 

22 permitting permanent remote work capabilities 

23 for employees who can successfully achieve the 

24 duties of those employees away from the official 

25 work sites of those employees, which shall inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Mar 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S807.IS S807

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 807 IS

1 clude, if applicable, the policy of the agency 

2 under section 6502(a)(1) of title 5, United 

3 States Code; 

4 (B) requirements for employees that, as 

5 part of the duties of those employees, handle 

6 original documents issued by the Federal Gov7 ernment or a State government that contain 

8 sensitive or private information to return to the 

9 official work sites of those employees; 

10 (C) explicit guidelines for protecting sen11 sitive or private information if any employee de12 scribed in subparagraph (B) must perform re13 mote work; 

14 (D) metrics to measure the work produc15 tivity of employees performing remote work to 

16 identify employees that fail to fulfill the duties 

17 of those employees; 

18 (E) a plan to provide essential Government 

19 services in person for individuals in the United 

20 States; 

21 (F) a contingency plan in the event that 

22 the rate of COVID–19 transmission increases 

23 in a region in which official work sites of em24 ployees of the agency are located, which shall be 

25 based on metrics for COVID–19 transmission 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 807 IS

1 to trigger the contingency plan established by 

2 the agency; 

3 (G) an assurance that the agency will up4 date the physical address of any employee of 

5 the agency who permanently moves for the pur6 poses of determining whether the employee is 

7 eligible to receive a comparability payment 

8 under section 5304 of title 5, United States 

9 Code; and 

10 (H) measures to prepare for future public 

11 health emergencies that can be quickly imple12 mented if remote work becomes necessary. 

13 (3) LABOR AGREEMENTS.—If a plan submitted 

14 by an agency under paragraph (1) conflicts with any 

15 provision of a covered agreement to which the agen16 cy is a party, the head of the agency shall, not later 

17 than 60 days after the date on which the agency 

18 submits the plan under that paragraph, after con19 sultation with the applicable labor organization, and 

20 notwithstanding any other provision of law or regu21 lation regarding the covered agreement, modify the 

22 covered agreement so that the covered agreement is 

23 consistent with, and complies with, the terms of that 

24 plan. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 807 IS

1 (c) GSA REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency 

3 shall submit to the Administrator of General Services a 

4 report on the physical work spaces used by the agency that 

5 recommends the termination of any leases of the agency 

6 for physical work spaces that are underused by the agency. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS