I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1722 

To improve teleworking in executive agencies by developing a telework program that allows employees to telework at least 20 percent of the hours 

worked in every 2 administrative workweeks, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2009 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To improve teleworking in executive agencies by developing 

a telework program that allows employees to telework 

at least 20 percent of the hours worked in every 2 

administrative workweeks, 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 ‘‘Telework Improve5 ments Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TELEWORK. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘CHAPTER 65—TELEWORK 

‘‘6501. Definitions. 

‘‘6502. Governmentwide telework requirement. 

‘‘6503. Implementation. 

‘‘6504. Telework Managing Officer. 

‘‘6505. Evaluating telework in agencies. 

‘‘6506. Continuity of operations. 

6 ‘‘§ 6501. Definitions 

7 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ means an Executive 

9 agency (as defined by section 105), except as pro10 vided in section 6506(c); 

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘telework’ or ‘teleworking’ refers 

12 to a work arrangement under which an employee 

13 regularly performs the duties and responsibilities of 

14 such employee’s position, and other authorized ac15 tivities, from home or another worksite removed 

16 from the employee’s regular place of employment; 

17 ‘‘(3) the term ‘continuity of operations’, as used 

18 with respect to an agency, refers to measures de19 signed to ensure that functions essential to the mis20 sion of the agency can continue to be performed dur21 ing a wide range of emergencies, including localized 


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1 acts of nature, accidents, public health emergencies, 

2 and technological or attack-related emergencies; and 

3 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Telework Managing Officer’, as 

4 used with respect to an agency, refers to the 

5 Telework Managing Officer of such agency, des6 ignated under section 6504. 

7 ‘‘§ 6502. Governmentwide telework requirement 

8 ‘‘(a) TELEWORK REQUIREMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 

10 after the date of the enactment of this chapter, the 

11 head of each agency shall establish a policy under 

12 which employees shall be authorized to telework, 

13 subject to paragraph (2) and subsection (b). 

14 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The policy of each agency 

15 under this subsection— 

16 ‘‘(A) shall be in conformance with regula17 tions which the Director of the Office of Per18 sonnel Management shall, as soon as prac19 ticable after the date of the enactment of this 

20 chapter and in coordination with the General 

21 Services Administration, prescribe for purposes 

22 of this subsection; and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that employees are au24 thorized to telework— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to the maximum extent possible; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) without diminishing employee 

4 performance or agency operations. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN CIR6 CUMSTANCES.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall be consid7 ered— 

8 ‘‘(1) to require the head of an agency to au9 thorize teleworking in the case of an employee whose 

10 duties and responsibilities— 

11 ‘‘(A) require daily access to classified in12 formation; 

13 ‘‘(B) require daily face-to-face contact with 

14 members of the public or other persons, or the 

15 use of equipment, at the employee’s regular 

16 place of employment; or 

17 ‘‘(C) are such that their performance from 

18 a site removed from the employee’s regular 

19 place of employment is otherwise infeasible; or 

20 ‘‘(2) to prevent the temporary denial of permis21 sion for an employee to telework if, in the judgment 

22 of the agency head— 

23 ‘‘(A) the employee is needed to respond to 

24 an emergency; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the employee requires additional 

2 training; or 

3 ‘‘(C) the denial is necessary, for a specific 

4 or ascertainable period of time, to achieve goals 

5 and objectives of programs administered by the 

6 agency. 

7 ‘‘(c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AGENCY

9 TMO.—In the event that denial of permission for an 

10 employee to telework is considered necessary by rea11 son of circumstances described in paragraph (1) or 

12 (2) of subsection (b), the Telework Managing Officer 

13 of the agency involved shall log and report such de14 nial to— 

15 ‘‘(A)(i) the Chief Human Capital Officer of 

16 such agency; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) if the agency does not have a Chief 

18 Human Capital Officer, the head of such agen19 cy; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the Office of Personnel Management. 

21 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL REPORT.—The Of22 fice of Personnel Management shall transmit a sum23 mary of any denials of permission to telework (as re24 ceived under paragraph (1)) to the Comptroller GenVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:49 Mar 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1722.IH H1722

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1 eral for inclusion in the annual report required 

2 under section 6505(b). 

3 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

4 chapter shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) be considered to require any employee to 

6 telework; or 

7 ‘‘(2) prevent an agency from permitting an em8 ployee to telework as part of a continuity of oper9 ations plan. 

10 ‘‘§ 6503. Implementation 

11 ‘‘In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter— 

12 ‘‘(1) the head of each agency shall ensure 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) appropriate training is provided to 

15 supervisors and managers and to all employees 

16 who are authorized to telework— 

17 ‘‘(i) prior to the start of any telework 

18 arrangement; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) following the start of any 

20 telework arrangement, 

21 as directed by the Telework Managing Officer 

22 of such agency; 

23 ‘‘(B) no distinction is made between tele24 workers and nonteleworkers for purposes of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) periodic appraisals of job per2 formance of employees; 

3 ‘‘(ii) training, rewarding, reassigning, 

4 promoting, reducing in grade, retaining, or 

5 removing employees; 

6 ‘‘(iii) work requirements; or 

7 ‘‘(iv) other acts involving managerial 

8 discretion; and 

9 ‘‘(C) in determining what constitutes di10 minished performance in the case of an em11 ployee who teleworks, the agency shall consult 

12 the performance management guidelines of the 

13 Office of Personnel Management; 

14 ‘‘(2) the Office of Personnel Management, in 

15 coordination with the General Services Administra16 tion, shall provide advice, assistance, and any nec17 essary training to agencies, including with respect 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(A) questions of eligibility to telework, 

20 such as considerations relating to employee per21 formance; and 

22 ‘‘(B) making telework part of the agency’s 

23 goals, including those of individual supervisors 

24 and managers; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the General Services Administration, in co2 ordination with the Office of Management and 

3 Budget and the National Institute of Standards and 

4 Technology, shall prescribe regulations, within 120 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this chapter, 

6 to ensure the adequacy of information and security 

7 protections for information and information systems 

8 used in, or otherwise affected by, teleworking; such 

9 regulations shall be consistent with information se10 curity policies and guidance issued by the Office of 

11 Management and Budget and the National Institute 

12 of Standards and Technology, and shall, at a min13 imum, include requirements necessary— 

14 ‘‘(A) to control access to agency informa15 tion and information systems; 

16 ‘‘(B) to protect agency information (includ17 ing personally identifiable information) and in18 formation systems; 

19 ‘‘(C) to limit the introduction of 

20 vulnerabilities; 

21 ‘‘(D) to protect information systems not 

22 under the control of the agency that are used 

23 for teleworking; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) to safeguard wireless and other tele2 communications capabilities that are used for 

3 teleworking; and 

4 ‘‘(4) the Office of Personnel Management 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) maintain a central, publicly available 

7 telework website, to be jointly controlled and 

8 funded by the General Services Administration 

9 and the Office of Personnel Management; 

10 ‘‘(B) include on the website under sub11 paragraph (A)— 

12 ‘‘(i) any regulations relating to 

13 telework, and any other information, the 

14 General Services Administration and the 

15 Office of Personnel Management consider 

16 appropriate; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a confidential hotline and e-mail 

18 address which may be used to contact the 

19 Office of Personnel Management in order 

20 to report any abuse of agency telework 

21 programs or agreements; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) a copy of the most recent report 

23 available under section 6505(b); and 

24 ‘‘(C) provide a summary of any reports of 

25 abuse, received by the Office of Personnel ManVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:49 Mar 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1722.IH H1722

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1 agement (whether under subparagraph (B)(ii) 

2 or otherwise), to the Comptroller General for 

3 inclusion in the annual report required under 

4 section 6505(b). 

5 ‘‘§ 6504. Telework Managing Officer 

6 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION AND COMPENSATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall des8 ignate an officer, to be known as the ‘Telework 

9 Managing Officer’. The Telework Managing Officer 

10 of an agency— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall be designated— 

12 ‘‘(i) by the Chief Human Capital Offi13 cer of such agency; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) if the agency does not have a 

15 Chief Human Capital Officer, by the head 

16 of such agency; and 

17 ‘‘(B) shall be compensated at a rate not 

18 less than the minimum rate of basic pay for 

19 grade GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

20 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Director of the Office of 

21 Personnel Management may waive the minimum 

22 rate requirement under paragraph (1)(B) with re23 spect to an agency if such agency has fewer than 

24 100 employees (determined on a full-time equivalent 

25 basis) and the head of such agency certifies that 


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1 being required to comply with paragraph (1)(B) 

2 would adversely impact the operations of such agen3 cy. 

4 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—An individual may not hold the 

5 position of Telework Managing Officer as a noncareer ap6 pointee (as defined in section 3132(a)(7)), and such posi7 tion may not be considered or determined to be of a con8 fidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-ad9 vocating character. 

10 ‘‘(c) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The duties 

11 and responsibilities of the Telework Managing Officer of 

12 an agency shall be as follows: 

13 ‘‘(1) Serving as— 

14 ‘‘(A) an advisor on teleworking to the head 

15 of such agency and to the Chief Human Capital 

16 Officer of such agency (if any); 

17 ‘‘(B) a resource on teleworking for super18 visors, managers, and employees of such agen19 cy; 

20 ‘‘(C) the primary point of contact for any 

21 agency employee who elects to telework, in the 

22 event of a telework-related dispute between the 

23 employee and a supervisor or manager; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) the agency’s primary point of contact 

2 on teleworking matters for employees of such 

3 agency, Congress, and other agencies. 

4 ‘‘(2) Ensuring that the agency’s teleworking 

5 policy is communicated effectively to employees. 

6 ‘‘(3) Ensuring that electronic or written notifi7 cation is provided to each employee of specific 

8 telework programs and the agency’s teleworking pol9 icy, including authorization criteria and application 

10 procedures. 

11 ‘‘(4) Developing and administering a tracking 

12 system for compliance with Governmentwide 

13 telework reporting requirements. 

14 ‘‘(5) Providing to the Comptroller General and 

15 to the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage16 ment such information as the Comptroller General 

17 may require to prepare the annual reports under 

18 section 6505(b). 

19 ‘‘(6) Establishing a system for receiving feed20 back from agency employees on the telework policy 

21 of such agency. 

22 ‘‘(7) Developing and implementing a program 

23 to identify and remove barriers to telework and to 

24 maximize telework opportunities in the agency. 


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1 ‘‘(8) Ensuring that employees are notified of 

2 grievance procedures available to them (if any) with 

3 respect to any disputes that relate to telework. 

4 ‘‘(9) Performing such other duties and respon5 sibilities relating to telework as the head of the 

6 agency may require. 

7 ‘‘§ 6505. Evaluating telework in agencies 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

9 establish a system for evaluating— 

10 ‘‘(1) the telework policy of each agency; and 

11 ‘‘(2) employee participation in telework pro12 grams at each agency. 

13 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Comptroller General 

14 shall, based on the system established under subsection 

15 (a), submit an annual report to the Committee on Over16 sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent17 atives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov18 ernmental Affairs of the Senate. Each report under this 

19 subsection shall, with respect to the period covered by such 

20 report— 

21 ‘‘(1) evaluate the telework policy of each agen22 cy; 

23 ‘‘(2) for each agency, indicate the total number 

24 of employees in such agency and specify— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the number and percentage of em2 ployees who were eligible to telework; 

3 ‘‘(B) the number and percentage of em4 ployees who teleworked an average of at least 

5 once a week on a regular basis, determined 

6 based on time spent actually teleworking; 

7 ‘‘(C) the number and percentage of em8 ployees who teleworked an average of at least 

9 20 percent of the hours that they worked in 

10 every 2 administrative workweeks, determined 

11 based on time spent actually teleworking; 

12 ‘‘(D) the number and percentage of em13 ployees who teleworked at least once a month 

14 on a regular basis, determined based on time 

15 spent actually teleworking; 

16 ‘‘(E) the number and percentage of em17 ployees who were not authorized to telework 

18 and the reasons why they were not so author19 ized; 

20 ‘‘(F) the number and percentage of em21 ployees who were authorized to telework and 

22 then later stopped teleworking, the reasons why 

23 those employees stopped teleworking, and 

24 whether their stopping was voluntary or due to 


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1 other factors, such as office coverage needs or 

2 productivity; 

3 ‘‘(G) the extent to which barriers to maxi4 mizing teleworking opportunities have been 

5 identified and eliminated; 

6 ‘‘(H) the impact (if any) of the agency’s 

7 telework policy on the recruitment and reten8 tion of employees; 

9 ‘‘(I) the impact (if any) of the agency’s 

10 telework policy on the performance of agency 

11 employees; 

12 ‘‘(J) the level of employee satisfaction with 

13 the agency’s telework policy, determined based 

14 on employee feedback; and 

15 ‘‘(K) the amount of training provided to 

16 supervisors and managers, and any additional 

17 training that would better enable supervisors 

18 and managers to manage teleworking employ19 ees; 

20 ‘‘(3) evaluate the compliance of each agency 

21 with the requirements of this chapter; and 

22 ‘‘(4) identify best practices in agency telework 

23 programs. 

24 A report under this subsection shall be submitted for the 

25 year in which the regulations under section 6502(a)(2)(A) 


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1 take effect and for each of the 4 succeeding years. Each 

2 such report shall be submitted within 6 months after the 

3 end of the year to which it relates. 

4 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLIANCE.— 

5 For purposes of subsection (b)(3), an agency shall not be 

6 considered to be in compliance with the requirements of 

7 this chapter unless the employees of such agency who were 

8 authorized to telework were permitted to telework for at 

9 least 20 percent of the hours that they worked in every 

10 2 administrative workweeks (disregarding any workweeks 

11 for which such employees did not submit a request or for 

12 which they were otherwise ineligible to telework). 

13 ‘‘§ 6506. Continuity of operations 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall 

15 ensure that— 

16 ‘‘(1) to the maximum extent practicable, 

17 telework is incorporated into the continuity of oper18 ations planning of such agency; and 

19 ‘‘(2) mission critical personnel, as determined 

20 by the head of such agency, are equipped to telework 

21 in time of a catastrophe. 

22 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION RULE.—The continuity of oper23 ations plan of an agency shall supersede any telework pol24 icy of such agency to the extent that they are inconsistent 

25 with one another. 


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1 ‘‘(c) AGENCY DEFINED.—For purposes of carrying 

2 out subsection (a)(2), the term ‘agency’ means an agency 

3 named in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 

4 31.’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) The analysis for part III of title 5, United States Code, 

7 is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 

8 63 the following: 

‘‘65. Telework ...................................................................................... 6501’’. 

9 (2) Section 622 of the Departments of Commerce, 

10 Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 

11 Appropriations Act, 2005, as contained in the Consoli12 dated Appropriations Act, 2005 (5 U.S.C. 6120 note) is 

13 amended by striking ‘‘designate a ‘Telework Coordinator’ 

14 to be’’ and inserting ‘‘designate a Telework Managing Of15 ficer or designate the Chief Human Capital Officer or 

16 other career employee to be’’. 

17 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

18 (a) INCORPORATION OF TELEWORK INTO CON19 TINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLANNING.—Within 12 months 

20 after the effective date of the regulations under section 

21 6502(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code (as amended 

22 by section 2), the General Services Administration, in co23 ordination with the Office of Personnel Management, the 

24 Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Chief 

25 Human Capital Officers Council, shall report to the approVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:49 Mar 26, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1722.IH H1722

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1 priate committees of Congress on the incorporation of 

2 telework into agencies’ continuity of operations planning, 

3 including— 

4 (1) the extent to which such incorporation has 

5 occurred within each of the respective agencies; 

6 (2) the extent to which each agency has con7 ducted continuity of operations tests and exercises 

8 incorporating telework for essential and non-essen9 tial personnel; 

10 (3) the extent to which agencies have used 

11 telework in response to emergencies; and 

12 (4) any recommendations the General Services 

13 Administration considers appropriate. 

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con16 gress’’ means the Committee on Oversight and Gov17 ernment Reform of the House of Representatives 

18 and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov19 ernmental Affairs of the Senate; 

20 (2) the terms ‘‘telework’’ and ‘‘continuity of op21 erations’’ have the meanings given those terms by 

22 section 6501 of title 5, United States Code (as 

23 amended by section 2); and 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an agency named 

2 in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, 

3 United States Code. 

Æ 


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