II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4266 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to address telework for Federal 

employees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2024 

Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to address telework 

for Federal employees, 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 ‘‘Back to Work Act of 

5 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TELEWORK. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 65 of title 5, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in section 6502— 

10 (A) in subsection (b)(2)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

3 (ii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(C) provides that, subject to subsection 

6 (d), an employee may not telework for more 

7 than 40 percent of the work days of the em8 ployee per pay period; 

9 ‘‘(D) shall be reviewed on an annual basis 

10 by, and be subject to the annual approval of, 

11 the head of the executive agency; and 

12 ‘‘(E) provides that the executive agency, by 

13 using remote technical means and other appro14 priate methods, will monitor and evaluate the 

15 applicable employee when the employee is en16 gaged in telework;’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PERMITTED NUMBER

19 OF TELEWORK DAYS.—With respect to the limitation 

20 under subsection (b)(2)(C), the head of an executive agen21 cy may— 

22 ‘‘(1) further limit the number of work days per 

23 pay period that an employee of the executive agency 

24 may telework based on the specific role of the em25 ployee or other circumstances determined approVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jun 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4266.IS S4266

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1 priate by the head of the executive agency, includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(A) the frequency with which the em4 ployee needs to access classified information; 

5 ‘‘(B) whether the employee is newly ap6 pointed; and 

7 ‘‘(C) whether the employee occupies a 

8 managerial position within the executive agency; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(2) waive that limitation with respect to an 

11 employee of the executive agency if— 

12 ‘‘(A) the employee is a spouse of— 

13 ‘‘(i) a member of the Armed Forces; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(ii) a Federal law enforcement offi16 cer; 

17 ‘‘(B) the employee occupies a position— 

18 ‘‘(i) the duties of which require— 

19 ‘‘(I) highly specialized expertise; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(II) frequent travel; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) for which finding qualified can23 didates is challenging; or 

24 ‘‘(C) inclement weather or other exigent 

25 circumstances prevent the employee from reachVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jun 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4266.IS S4266

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1 ing the worksite of the employee during a pay 

2 period.’’; and 

3 (2) in section 6506, by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(e) EXECUTIVE AGENCY REPORTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of enactment of this subsection, and annu8 ally thereafter, the head of each executive agency 

9 shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu10 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the 

12 House of Representatives a report that describes, for 

13 the period covered by the report, the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) What metrics and methods the execu15 tive agency uses to determine the productivity 

16 of employees who telework. 

17 ‘‘(B) What barriers, if any, prevent the ex18 ecutive agency from enforcing the limitation 

19 under section 6502(b)(2)(C) and any initiatives 

20 of the executive agency to address those bar21 riers. 

22 ‘‘(C) Any negative effects of telework, in23 cluding whether telework results in increased 

24 costs, security vulnerabilities, lower employee 


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1 morale, decreased employee productivity, or 

2 waste, fraud, or abuse. 

3 ‘‘(D) Any actions taken by the executive 

4 agency (or a detailed justification for any lack 

5 of action) in response to any findings of, or rec6 ommendations made by, the Inspector General 

7 of the executive agency with respect to telework. 

8 ‘‘(2) GAO REPORT.—With respect to each re9 port submitted by the head of an executive agency 

10 under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the 

11 United States shall submit an accompanying report 

12 that evaluates the accuracy and thoroughness of the 

13 report submitted by the head of the executive agency 

14 with respect to the matters required to be included 

15 in the report of the executive agency under that 

16 paragraph.’’. 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 180 

19 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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