An Act To Reduce Costs and Emissions by Increasing Telecommuting at State Agencies
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1004
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: BERRY
Amends: 5 MRSA §901, 5 MRSA §902, 5 MRSA §904

Legislative Document
No. 1004
H.P. 746
House of Representatives, February 26, 2019
An Act To Reduce Costs and Emissions by Increasing 
Telecommuting at State Agencies
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BERRY of Bowdoinham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §901, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 270, §4, is amended to read:
§901.  Legislative findings and purpose
The Legislature finds that alternative working hours, including part-time work, job 
sharing and more flexible work schedules will lead to greater efficiency by state 
employees. There are many qualified and talented Maine citizens of all ages whose 
personal responsibilities make it difficult to work full time or during the traditional hours 
of employment.  The Legislature also finds that telework eliminates or substantially 
reduces the physical commute to and from an employee's usual work site.
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §902, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5.  Telework.  "Telework" means a flexible work arrangement under which an 
employee performs the duties and responsibilities of the employee's position from a 
location other than the office or location provided by the employer.
Sec. 3.  5 MRSA §904 is enacted to read:
§904.  Telework
1.  Telework rate.  The Director of Human Resources shall ensure that at least 30% 
of state employees are teleworking by January 1, 2030.
2.  Employees in collective bargaining units.  The Governor, or the Governor's 
designee who negotiates a collective bargaining agreement, may bargain and conclude 
agreements, pursuant to Title 26, chapter 9-B, that include provisions for telework.
3.  Employees not in collective bargaining units.  The Director of Human 
Resources shall adopt rules to implement telework for persons who are not in collective 
bargaining units.  Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as 
defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
4.  Report.  The Department of Administrative and Financial Services shall report 
annually to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over state 
and local government matters the State's progress in implementing this section.  The 
report must, at a minimum, contain a breakdown of the number of employees seeking 
telework and the number of employees teleworking by department, the increase or 
decrease in the number of such employees from the preceding year by department, an 
estimate of savings achieved or costs imposed and a narrative summary of the efforts 
taken by the State to encourage the development of telework.
Sec. 4.  Maine Revised Statutes headnote amended; revision clause.  In the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 69, in the chapter headnote, the words 
"alternative working hours" are amended to read "alternative working hours and 
telework" and the Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, 
publishing or republishing the statutes.
SUMMARY
This bill requires that, by 2030, at least 30% of state employees must be teleworking. 
The bill requires the Department of Administrative and Financial Services to annually 
report the State's progress toward this goal.