RETURN Act of 2023

Subjects: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:  <p><strong>Return Employees to Understaffed Work Sites to Reopen Now Act of 2023 or the RETURN Act of 2023</strong></p> <p>This bill requires each federal agency to submit to Congress and publish on the agency's website a plan for the agency to resume in-person operations.</p> <p>The plan shall, among other things, include</p> <ul> <li>the agency's policy with respect to permitting permanent remote work for employees who can successfully achieve their duties away from their official work sites,</li> <li>metrics to measure the productivity of employees performing remote work to identify employees that fail to fulfill their duties, </li> <li> a plan to provide essential government services in person for individuals in the United States, and</li> <li>measures to prepare for future public health emergencies that can be quickly implemented if remote work becomes necessary.</li> </ul> <p>Each agency must submit a report to the General Services Administration recommending termination of the agency's leases of physical work spaces that are underused.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 807 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Return Employees to Understaffed 
Work Sites to Reopen Now Act of 2023'' or the ``RETURN Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. AGENCY PLANS TO RESUME IN-PERSON OPERATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.-- In this section:
            (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of title 31, United States Code.
            (2) Covered agreement.--The term ``covered agreement'' 
        means an agreement between an agency and a labor organization 
        that--
                    (A) is entered into before the date on which the 
                agency submits a plan under subsection (b)(1); and
                    (B) relates to the resumption of in-person 
                operations by the agency.
            (3) Employee.--The term ``employee'' means an employee of 
        an agency.
            (4) Essential government service.--The term ``essential 
        Government service'', with respect to an agency, includes--
                    (A) the facilitation of the delivery, receipt, 
                processing, or issuance of a document, fund, or permit;
                    (B) the facilitation of access to public lands or 
                another public space that is open to the public for 
                use;
                    (C) the conduction of an in-person activity or 
                interaction that is required by law to be performed in 
                person; and
                    (D) the conduction of an inspection or other in-
                person activity that cannot be replicated virtually or 
                without a physical presence.
            (5) Official work site.--The term ``official work site'' 
        means the place where an employee works, or at which the 
        activities of an employee are based, as determined by the 
        employing agency.
            (6) Remote work.--The term ``remote work'' means an 
        arrangement under which an employee is scheduled to perform the 
        work of the employee at an alternative work site.
    (b) Plans.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall submit to 
        Congress and publish on the website of the agency a plan for 
        the agency to resume in-person operations.
            (2) Contents.--Subject to paragraph (3), the plan of an 
        agency required under paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) the policy of the agency with respect to 
                permitting permanent remote work capabilities for 
                employees who can successfully achieve the duties of 
                those employees away from the official work sites of 
                those employees, which shall include, if applicable, 
                the policy of the agency under section 6502(a)(1) of 
                title 5, United States Code;
                    (B) requirements for employees that, as part of the 
                duties of those employees, handle original documents 
                issued by the Federal Government or a State government 
                that contain sensitive or private information to return 
                to the official work sites of those employees;
                    (C) explicit guidelines for protecting sensitive or 
                private information if any employee described in 
                subparagraph (B) must perform remote work;
                    (D) metrics to measure the work productivity of 
                employees performing remote work to identify employees 
                that fail to fulfill the duties of those employees;
                    (E) a plan to provide essential Government services 
                in person for individuals in the United States;
                    (F) a contingency plan in the event that the rate 
                of COVID-19 transmission increases in a region in which 
                official work sites of employees of the agency are 
                located, which shall be based on metrics for COVID-19 
                transmission to trigger the contingency plan 
                established by the agency;
                    (G) an assurance that the agency will update the 
                physical address of any employee of the agency who 
                permanently moves for the purposes of determining 
                whether the employee is eligible to receive a 
                comparability payment under section 5304 of title 5, 
                United States Code; and
                    (H) measures to prepare for future public health 
                emergencies that can be quickly implemented if remote 
                work becomes necessary.
            (3) Labor agreements.--If a plan submitted by an agency 
        under paragraph (1) conflicts with any provision of a covered 
        agreement to which the agency is a party, the head of the 
        agency shall, not later than 60 days after the date on which 
        the agency submits the plan under that paragraph, after 
        consultation with the applicable labor organization, and 
        notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation 
        regarding the covered agreement, modify the covered agreement 
        so that the covered agreement is consistent with, and complies 
        with, the terms of that plan.
    (c) GSA Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the head of each agency shall submit to the Administrator 
of General Services a report on the physical work spaces used by the 
agency that recommends the termination of any leases of the agency for 
physical work spaces that are underused by the agency.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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