Federal Workforce Health and Safety During the Pandemic Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7341 To provide support and flexibility for the Federal workforce during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 25, 2020 Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. GOMEZ, and Ms. SPEIER) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide support and flexibility for the Federal workforce during the COVID–19 pandemic, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Workforce 4 Health and Safety During the Pandemic Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7341 IH SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT FOR CHILD AND FAMILY CARE 1 FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES DURING COVID–19 2 PANDEMIC. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—During the period beginning on 4 the date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 5 31, 2020, any employee who is unable to care for a de- 6 pendent child of the employee or a relative of the employee 7 who has COVID–19 as a result of the employee being re- 8 quired to report to their duty station (either permanent 9 or temporary) or to telework shall be entitled to reim- 10 bursement for the costs of such care. 11 (b) APPLICATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any payment provided by 13 operation of subsection (a) shall be paid on a month- 14 ly basis, with payments being made to the employee 15 on the last day of each month. 16 (2) SUBMISSION OF RECEIPTS.—For purposes 17 of determining reimbursement amounts, each em- 18 ployee shall submit to their employing office receipts 19 or other documents as the office may require. 20 (3) LIMIT.—Reimbursement may not be paid to 21 any employee under this section for any month in an 22 amount greater than $2,000 per child or relative. 23 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 24 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7341 IH (A) an employee of the Library of Con- 1 gress; 2 (B) an employee of the Government Ac- 3 countability Office; 4 (C) a covered employee as defined in sec- 5 tion 101 of the Congressional Accountability 6 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301), other than an ap- 7 plicant for employment; 8 (D) a covered employee as defined in sec- 9 tion 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; 10 (E) a Federal officer or employee covered 11 under subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, 12 United States Code; or 13 (F) any other individual occupying a posi- 14 tion in the civil service (as that term is defined 15 in section 2101(1) of title 5, United States 16 Code); and 17 (2) the terms ‘‘dependent child’’ and ‘‘relative’’ 18 have the meaning given those terms in paragraphs 19 (2) and (16), respectively, of section 109 of the Eth- 20 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 21 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO TELEWORK. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective immediately upon the 23 date of enactment of this Act, the head of any Federal 24 agency shall require any employee of such agency who is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7341 IH authorized to telework under chapter 65 of title 5, United 1 States Code, or any other provision of law, to telework 2 during the period beginning on the date of enactment of 3 this Act and ending on December 31, 2020. 4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 5 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ has the meaning given 6 that term in section 2(c)(1); and 7 (2) the term ‘‘telework’’ has the meaning given 8 that term in section 6501(3) of title 5, United 9 States Code. 10 SEC. 4. WEATHER AND SAFETY LEAVE FOR COVID–19. 11 (a) WEATHER AND SAFETY LEAVE.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 13 provision of law, including subsection (b) of section 14 6329c of title 5, United States Code, during the pe- 15 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this Act 16 and ending on December 31, 2020, any employee 17 who is prevented from safely traveling to or per- 18 forming work at an approved location as a result of 19 the COVID–19 pandemic, or who is prevented from 20 performing work in order to care for a child, relative 21 of the employee, or other individual as a result of 22 the COVID–19 pandemic, shall be provided weather 23 and safety leave under such section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7341 IH (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Notwith- 1 standing subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(2)(B) 2 of such section 6329c, intermittent employees de- 3 scribed in such subparagraph shall be eligible for the 4 leave provided by paragraph (1) of this subsection. 5 (3) DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE.—In this sub- 6 section, the term ‘‘employee’’ has the meaning given 7 that term in section 2(c)(1). 8 (b) APPROVED LOCATION.—Section 6329c(a) of title 9 5, United States Code, is amended— 10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 11 (1); 12 (2) by striking the period at the end of para- 13 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘approved location’ means any lo- 16 cation at which an employee has been approved to 17 perform work, including any Federal office, a tele- 18 working site, or other location as determined by the 19 head of the agency at which the employee is em- 20 ployed.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7341 IH SEC. 5. EFFECT OF DEPENDENT CARE ON TELEWORK ELI- 1 GIBILITY. 2 (a) TITLE 5 EMPLOYEES.—Section 6502(a) of title 3 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 4 the following new paragraph: 5 ‘‘(3) DEPENDENT CARE.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The presence of a de- 7 pendent individual at the location from which 8 an employee teleworks shall have no effect on 9 the eligibility of such employee to telework if 10 such dependent individual is cared for by a 11 caregiver other than such employee while such 12 employee is teleworking. 13 ‘‘(B) TEMPORARY UNAVAILABILITY OF 14 CAREGIVER.—The temporary unavailability of a 15 caregiver described in subparagraph (A) does 16 not affect the eligibility of the relevant em- 17 ployee to telework if— 18 ‘‘(i) such unavailability is due to un- 19 usual or extraordinary circumstances; and 20 ‘‘(ii) an alternative caregiver is not 21 reasonably available. 22 ‘‘(C) DEPENDENT INDIVIDUAL DE- 23 FINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘depend- 24 ent individual’ means a dependent child or rel- 25 ative (as such terms are defined in paragraphs 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7341 IH (2) and (16), respectively, of section 109 of the 1 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 2 App.)) who is dependent on the employee for 3 care.’’. 4 (b) OTHER APPLICABLE EMPLOYEES.—With respect 5 to any employee not covered under chapter 65 of title 5, 6 United States Code, the terms and conditions with respect 7 to dependent care and teleworking under section 8 6502(a)(3) of such title (as added by subsection (a)) shall 9 apply. In this subsection, the term ‘‘employee’’ has the 10 meaning given that term under section 2(c)(1), but does 11 not include an employee as defined in section 6501(1) of 12 such title. 13 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 14 tion shall alter or otherwise affect the rights, remedies, 15 and procedures related to dependent care under the terms 16 of any collective bargaining agreement. 17 SEC. 6. PRESUMPTION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR WORKERS’ 18 COMPENSATION BENEFITS FOR FEDERAL 19 EMPLOYEES DIAGNOSED WITH 20 CORONAVIRUS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—An employee who is diagnosed 22 with COVID–19 during the period described in subsection 23 (b)(2)(A) shall, with respect to any claim made by or on 24 behalf of the employee for benefits under subchapter I of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7341 IH chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, be deemed to 1 have an injury proximately caused by exposure to 2 coronavirus arising out of the nature of the employee’s em- 3 ployment and be presumptively entitled to such benefits, 4 including disability compensation, medical services, and 5 survivor benefits. 6 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 (1) the term ‘‘coronavirus’’ means SARS–CoV– 8 2 or another coronavirus with pandemic potential; 9 and 10 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’— 11 (A) means an employee as that term is de- 12 fined in section 8101(1) of title 5, United 13 States Code, (including an employee of the 14 United States Postal Service, the Transpor- 15 tation Security Administration, or the Depart- 16 ment of Veterans Affairs, including any indi- 17 vidual appointed under chapter 73 or 74 of title 18 38, United States Code) employed in the Fed- 19 eral service at anytime during the period begin- 20 ning on January 27, 2020, and ending on Jan- 21 uary 30, 2022— 22 (i) who carried out duties requiring 23 contact with patients, members of the pub- 24 lic, or co-workers; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7341 IH (ii) whose duties include a risk of ex- 1 posure to the coronavirus; and 2 (B) does not include any employee other- 3 wise covered by subparagraph (A) who is tele- 4 working on a full-time basis during all of such 5 period. 6 SEC. 7. PANDEMIC DUTY DIFFERENTIAL. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’— 9 (A) means— 10 (i) each agency, office, or other estab- 11 lishment in the executive, legislative, or ju- 12 dicial branch of the Federal Government, 13 including— 14 (I) an Executive agency, as that 15 term is defined in section 105 of title 16 5, United States Code; 17 (II) a military department, as 18 that term is defined in section 102 of 19 title 5, United States Code; 20 (III) the Federal Aviation Ad- 21 ministration; 22 (IV) the Transportation Security 23 Administration; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7341 IH (V) the Department of Veterans 1 Affairs; 2 (VI) the United States Postal 3 Service and the Postal Regulatory 4 Commission; and 5 (VII) the Government Account- 6 ability Office; 7 (ii) the District of Columbia courts 8 and the District of Columbia Public De- 9 fender Service; and 10 (iii)(I) an Indian tribe or tribal orga- 11 nization carrying out a contract or com- 12 pact under the Indian Self-Determination 13 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 14 5301 et seq.); 15 (II) an Indian tribe or tribal organiza- 16 tion that receives a grant under the Trib- 17 ally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (25 18 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.); and 19 (III) an urban Indian organization 20 that receives a grant or carries out a con- 21 tract under title V of the Indian Health 22 Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1651 et 23 seq.); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7341 IH (B) does not include a nonappropriated 1 fund instrumentality under the jurisdiction of 2 the Armed Forces; 3 (2) the term ‘‘covered duty’’— 4 (A) means duty that requires— 5 (i) an employee to have regular or 6 routine contact with the public; or 7 (ii) the reporting of an employee to a 8 worksite at which— 9 (I) social distancing is not pos- 10 sible, consistent with the regularly as- 11 signed duties of the position of the 12 employee; and 13 (II) other preventative measures 14 with respect to COVID–19 are not 15 available; and 16 (B) does not include duty that an employee 17 performs while teleworking from a residence; 18 (3) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means the period 19 beginning on the date on which the Secretary of 20 Health and Human Services declared a public health 21 emergency under section 319 of the Public Health 22 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to 23 COVID–19 and ending on the date that is 60 days 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7341 IH after the date on which that public health emergency 1 terminates; 2 (4) the term ‘‘employee’’— 3 (A) means an employee of an agency; 4 (B) includes— 5 (i) any employee of an agency who oc- 6 cupies a position within the General Sched- 7 ule under subchapter III of chapter 53 of 8 title 5, United States Code; 9 (ii) any employee of an agency whose 10 pay is fixed and adjusted from time to 11 time in accordance with prevailing rates 12 under subchapter IV of chapter 53 of title 13 5, United States Code, or by a wage board 14 or similar administrative authority serving 15 the same purpose; 16 (iii) an official or employee of an In- 17 dian tribe, tribal organization, or urban In- 18 dian organization described in paragraph 19 (1)(A)(iii); 20 (iv) each employee of the Department 21 of Veterans Affairs, including an employee 22 appointed under chapter 74 of title 38, 23 United States Code, without regard to 24 whether section 7421(a) of that title, sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jul 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7341.IH H7341 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 7341 IH tion 7425(b) of that title, or any other pro- 1 vision of chapter 74 of that title is incon- 2 sistent with that inclusion; and 3 (v) any other individual occupying a 4 position in the civil service, as that term is 5 defined in section 2101 of title 5, United 6 States Code; and 7 (C) does not include— 8 (i) a member of the uniformed serv- 9 ices, as that term is de [Text truncated for display. 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