acts of nature, accidents, public health emergencies, 
and technological or attack-related emergencies; and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘Telework Managing Officer’, as 
used with respect to an agency, refers to the 
Telework Managing Officer of such agency, des-
ignated under section 6504. 
‘‘§ 6502. Governmentwide telework requirement 
‘‘(a) TELEWORK REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 
after the date of the enactment of this chapter, the 
head of each agency shall establish a policy under 
which employees shall be authorized to telework, 
subject to paragraph (2) and subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The policy of each agency 
under this subsection— 
‘‘(A) shall be in conformance with regula-
tions which the Director of the Office of Per-
sonnel Management shall, as soon as prac-
ticable after the date of the enactment of this 
chapter and in coordination with the General 
Services Administration, prescribe for purposes 
of this subsection; and 
‘‘(B) shall ensure that employees are au-
thorized to telework— 
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‘‘(i) to the maximum extent possible; 
and 
‘‘(ii) without diminishing employee 
performance or agency operations. 
‘‘(b) PROVISIONS
RELATING
TO
CERTAIN
CIR-
CUMSTANCES.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall be consid-
ered— 
‘‘(1) to require the head of an agency to au-
thorize teleworking in the case of an employee whose 
duties and responsibilities— 
‘‘(A) require daily access to classified in-
formation; 
‘‘(B) require daily face-to-face contact with 
members of the public or other persons, or the 
use of equipment, at the employee’s regular 
place of employment; or 
‘‘(C) are such that their performance from 
a site removed from the employee’s regular 
place of employment is otherwise infeasible; or 
‘‘(2) to prevent the temporary denial of permis-
sion for an employee to telework if, in the judgment 
of the agency head— 
‘‘(A) the employee is needed to respond to 
an emergency; 
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‘‘(B) the employee requires additional 
training; or 
‘‘(C) the denial is necessary, for a specific 
or ascertainable period of time, to achieve goals 
and objectives of programs administered by the 
agency. 
‘‘(c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) 
RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
THE
AGENCY 
TMO.—In the event that denial of permission for an 
employee to telework is considered necessary by rea-
son of circumstances described in paragraph (1) or 
(2) of subsection (b), the Telework Managing Officer 
of the agency involved shall log and report such de-
nial to— 
‘‘(A)(i) the Chief Human Capital Officer of 
such agency; or 
‘‘(ii) if the agency does not have a Chief 
Human Capital Officer, the head of such agen-
cy; and 
‘‘(B) the Office of Personnel Management. 
‘‘(2) INCLUSION IN ANNUAL REPORT.—The Of-
fice of Personnel Management shall transmit a sum-
mary of any denials of permission to telework (as re-
ceived under paragraph (1)) to the Comptroller Gen-
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eral for inclusion in the annual report required 
under section 6505(b). 
‘‘(d) RULE
OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
chapter shall— 
‘‘(1) be considered to require any employee to 
telework; or 
‘‘(2) prevent an agency from permitting an em-
ployee to telework as part of a continuity of oper-
ations plan. 
‘‘§ 6503. Implementation 
‘‘In order to carry out the purposes of this chapter— 
‘‘(1) the head of each agency shall ensure 
that— 
‘‘(A) appropriate training is provided to 
supervisors and managers and to all employees 
who are authorized to telework— 
‘‘(i) prior to the start of any telework 
arrangement; and 
‘‘(ii) following the start of any 
telework arrangement, 
as directed by the Telework Managing Officer 
of such agency; 
‘‘(B) no distinction is made between tele-
workers and nonteleworkers for purposes of— 
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‘‘(i) periodic appraisals of job per-
formance of employees; 
‘‘(ii) training, rewarding, reassigning, 
promoting, reducing in grade, retaining, or 
removing employees; 
‘‘(iii) work requirements; or 
‘‘(iv) other acts involving managerial 
discretion; and 
‘‘(C) in determining what constitutes di-
minished performance in the case of an em-
ployee who teleworks, the agency shall consult 
the performance management guidelines of the 
Office of Personnel Management; 
‘‘(2) the Office of Personnel Management, in 
coordination with the General Services Administra-
tion, shall provide advice, assistance, and any nec-
essary training to agencies, including with respect 
to— 
‘‘(A) questions of eligibility to telework, 
such as considerations relating to employee per-
formance; and 
‘‘(B) making telework part of the agency’s 
goals, including those of individual supervisors 
and managers; 
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‘‘(3) the General Services Administration, in co-
ordination with the Office of Management and 
Budget and the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, shall prescribe regulations, within 120 
days after the date of the enactment of this chapter, 
to ensure the adequacy of information and security 
protections for information and information systems 
used in, or otherwise affected by, teleworking; such 
regulations shall be consistent with information se-
curity policies and guidance issued by the Office of 
Management and Budget and the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology, and shall, at a min-
imum, include requirements necessary— 
‘‘(A) to control access to agency informa-
tion and information systems; 
‘‘(B) to protect agency information (includ-
ing personally identifiable information) and in-
formation systems; 
‘‘(C) 
to 
limit 
the 
introduction 
of 
vulnerabilities; 
‘‘(D) to protect information systems not 
under the control of the agency that are used 
for teleworking; and 
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‘‘(E) to safeguard wireless and other tele-
communications capabilities that are used for 
teleworking; and 
‘‘(4) the Office of Personnel Management 
shall— 
‘‘(A) maintain a central, publicly available 
telework website, to be jointly controlled and 
funded by the General Services Administration 
and the Office of Personnel Management; 
‘‘(B) include on the website under sub-
paragraph (A)— 
‘‘(i) 
any 
regulations 
relating 
to 
telework, and any other information, the 
General Services Administration and the 
Office of Personnel Management consider 
appropriate; 
‘‘(ii) a confidential hotline and e-mail 
address which may be used to contact the 
Office of Personnel Management in order 
to report any abuse of agency telework 
programs or agreements; and 
‘‘(iii) a copy of the most recent report 
available under section 6505(b); and 
‘‘(C) provide a summary of any reports of 
abuse, received by the Office of Personnel Man-
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agement (whether under subparagraph (B)(ii) 
or otherwise), to the Comptroller General for 
inclusion in the annual report required under 
section 6505(b). 
‘‘§ 6504. Telework Managing Officer 
‘‘(a) DESIGNATION AND COMPENSATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each agency shall des-
ignate an officer, to be known as the ‘Telework 
Managing Officer’. The Telework Managing Officer 
of an agency— 
‘‘(A) shall be designated— 
‘‘(i) by the Chief Human Capital Offi-
cer of such agency; or 
‘‘(ii) if the agency does not have a 
Chief Human Capital Officer, by the head 
of such agency; and 
‘‘(B) shall be compensated at a rate not 
less than the minimum rate of basic pay for 
grade GS–15 of the General Schedule. 
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management may waive the minimum 
rate requirement under paragraph (1)(B) with re-
spect to an agency if such agency has fewer than 
100 employees (determined on a full-time equivalent 
basis) and the head of such agency certifies that 
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being required to comply with paragraph (1)(B) 
would adversely impact the operations of such agen-
cy. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—An individual may not hold the 
position of Telework Managing Officer as a noncareer ap-
pointee (as defined in section 3132(a)(7)), and such posi-
tion may not be considered or determined to be of a con-
fidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-ad-
vocating character. 
‘‘(c) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—The duties 
and responsibilities of the Telework Managing Officer of 
an agency shall be as follows: 
‘‘(1) Serving as— 
‘‘(A) an advisor on teleworking to the head 
of such agency and to the Chief Human Capital 
Officer of such agency (if any); 
‘‘(B) a resource on teleworking for super-
visors, managers, and employees of such agen-
cy; 
‘‘(C) the primary point of contact for any 
agency employee who elects to telework, in the 
event of a telework-related dispute between the 
employee and a supervisor or manager; and 
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‘‘(D) the agency’s primary point of contact 
on teleworking matters for employees of such 
agency, Congress, and other agencies. 
‘‘(2) Ensuring that the agency’s teleworking 
policy is communicated effectively to employees. 
‘‘(3) Ensuring that electronic or written notifi-
cation is provided to each employee of specific 
telework programs and the agency’s teleworking pol-
icy, including authorization criteria and application 
procedures. 
‘‘(4) Developing and administering a tracking 
system 
for 
compliance 
with 
Governmentwide 
telework reporting requirements. 
‘‘(5) Providing to the Comptroller General and 
to the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage-
ment such information as the Comptroller General 
may require to prepare the annual reports under 
section 6505(b). 
‘‘(6) Establishing a system for receiving feed-
back from agency employees on the telework policy 
of such agency. 
‘‘(7) Developing and implementing a program 
to identify and remove barriers to telework and to 
maximize telework opportunities in the agency. 
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‘‘(8) Ensuring that employees are notified of 
grievance procedures available to them (if any) with 
respect to any disputes that relate to telework. 
‘‘(9) Performing such other duties and respon-
sibilities relating to telework as the head of the 
agency may require. 
‘‘§ 6505. Evaluating telework in agencies 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 
establish a system for evaluating— 
‘‘(1) the telework policy of each agency; and 
‘‘(2) employee participation in telework pro-
grams at each agency. 
‘‘(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Comptroller General 
shall, based on the system established under subsection 
(a), submit an annual report to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform of the House of Represent-
atives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate. Each report under this 
subsection shall, with respect to the period covered by such 
report— 
‘‘(1) evaluate the telework policy of each agen-
cy; 
‘‘(2) for each agency, indicate the total number 
of employees in such agency and specify— 
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‘‘(A) the number and percentage of em-
ployees who were eligible to telework; 
‘‘(B) the number and percentage of em-
ployees who teleworked an average of at least 
once a week on a regular basis, determined 
based on time spent actually teleworking; 
‘‘(C) the number and percentage of em-
ployees who teleworked an average of at least 
20 percent of the hours that they worked in 
every 2 administrative workweeks, determined 
based on time spent actually teleworking; 
‘‘(D) the number and percentage of em-
ployees who teleworked at least once a month 
on a regular basis, determined based on time 
spent actually teleworking; 
‘‘(E) the number and percentage of em-
ployees who were not authorized to telework 
and the reasons why they were not so author-
ized; 
‘‘(F) the number and percentage of em-
ployees who were authorized to telework and 
then later stopped teleworking, the reasons why 
those employees stopped teleworking, and 
whether their stopping was voluntary or due to 
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other factors, such as office coverage needs or 
productivity; 
‘‘(G) the extent to which barriers to maxi-
mizing teleworking opportunities have been 
identified and eliminated; 
‘‘(H) the impact (if any) of the agency’s 
telework policy on the recruitment and reten-
tion of employees; 
‘‘(I) the impact (if any) of the agency’s 
telework policy on the performance of agency 
employees; 
‘‘(J) the level of employee satisfaction with 
the agency’s telework policy, determined based 
on employee feedback; and 
‘‘(K) the amount of training provided to 
supervisors and managers, and any additional 
training that would better enable supervisors 
and managers to manage teleworking employ-
ees; 
‘‘(3) evaluate the compliance of each agency 
with the requirements of this chapter; and 
‘‘(4) identify best practices in agency telework 
programs. 
A report under this subsection shall be submitted for the 
year in which the regulations under section 6502(a)(2)(A) 
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take effect and for each of the 4 succeeding years. Each 
such report shall be submitted within 6 months after the 
end of the year to which it relates. 
‘‘(c) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLIANCE.— 
For purposes of subsection (b)(3), an agency shall not be 
considered to be in compliance with the requirements of 
this chapter unless the employees of such agency who were 
authorized to telework were permitted to telework for at 
least 20 percent of the hours that they worked in every 
2 administrative workweeks (disregarding any workweeks 
for which such employees did not submit a request or for 
which they were otherwise ineligible to telework). 
‘‘§ 6506. Continuity of operations 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall 
ensure that— 
‘‘(1) to the maximum extent practicable, 
telework is incorporated into the continuity of oper-
ations planning of such agency; and 
‘‘(2) mission critical personnel, as determined 
by the head of such agency, are equipped to telework 
in time of a catastrophe. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION RULE.—The continuity of oper-
ations plan of an agency shall supersede any telework pol-
icy of such agency to the extent that they are inconsistent 
with one another. 
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‘‘(c) AGENCY DEFINED.—For purposes of carrying 
out subsection (a)(2), the term ‘agency’ means an agency 
named in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 
31.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) The analysis for part III of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 
63 the following: 
‘‘65. Telework ...................................................................................... 6501’’. 
(2) Section 622 of the Departments of Commerce, 
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 2005, as contained in the Consoli-
dated Appropriations Act, 2005 (5 U.S.C. 6120 note) is 
amended by striking ‘‘designate a ‘Telework Coordinator’ 
to be’’ and inserting ‘‘designate a Telework Managing Of-
ficer or designate the Chief Human Capital Officer or 
other career employee to be’’. 
SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) INCORPORATION
OF
TELEWORK
INTO
CON-
TINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLANNING.—Within 12 months 
after the effective date of the regulations under section 
6502(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code (as amended 
by section 2), the General Services Administration, in co-
ordination with the Office of Personnel Management, the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Chief 
Human Capital Officers Council, shall report to the appro-
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priate committees of Congress on the incorporation of 
telework into agencies’ continuity of operations planning, 
including— 
(1) the extent to which such incorporation has 
occurred within each of the respective agencies; 
(2) the extent to which each agency has con-
ducted continuity of operations tests and exercises 
incorporating telework for essential and non-essen-
tial personnel; 
(3) the extent to which agencies have used 
telework in response to emergencies; and 
(4) any recommendations the General Services 
Administration considers appropriate. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con-
gress’’ means the Committee on Oversight and Gov-
ernment Reform of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov-
ernmental Affairs of the Senate; 
(2) the terms ‘‘telework’’ and ‘‘continuity of op-
erations’’ have the meanings given those terms by 
section 6501 of title 5, United States Code (as 
amended by section 2); and 
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(3) the term ‘‘agency’’ means an agency named 
in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 901(b) of title 31, 
United States Code. 
Æ 
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