Pandemic Federal Telework Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4518 To require Federal agencies to permit employees to telework full-time during the public health emergency relating to COVID–19, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 10, 2020 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To require Federal agencies to permit employees to telework full-time during the public health emergency relating to COVID–19, 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 ‘‘Pandemic Federal 4 Telework Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. TELEWORKING REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL EM- 6 PLOYEES. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4518.IS S4518 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4518 IS (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means each authority of 1 the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the 2 Government of the United States; 3 (2) the term ‘‘covered period’’ means the period 4 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 5 ending on the date on which the public health emer- 6 gency declared by the Secretary under section 319 7 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) 8 on January 31, 2020, with respect to COVID–19 9 (including any renewal of that declaration) termi- 10 nates; 11 (3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 12 the Office of Personnel Management; 13 (4) the term ‘‘eligible employee’’ means an em- 14 ployee who— 15 (A) the head of the agency employing the 16 employee has determined is eligible to telework; 17 and 18 (B) has not been officially disciplined for— 19 (i) being absent without permission 20 for more than 5 days in any calendar year; 21 or 22 (ii) viewing, downloading, or exchang- 23 ing pornography, including child pornog- 24 raphy, on a Federal Government computer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4518.IS S4518 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4518 IS or while performing official Federal Gov- 1 ernment duties; 2 (5) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee of 3 an agency; 4 (6) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 5 of Health and Human Services; and 6 (7) the term ‘‘telework’’ has the meaning given 7 the term in section 6501 of title 5, United States 8 Code. 9 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi- 11 sion of chapter 65 of title 5, United States Code, the 12 head of each agency shall— 13 (A) permit eligible employees with respect 14 to the agency to telework on a full-time basis 15 during the covered period; and 16 (B) review, with respect to employees of 17 the agency for whom the agency head has not 18 made a determination described in subsection 19 (a)(4)(A), whether such a determination should 20 be made. 21 (2) WAIVER.—The head of an agency may 22 waive the requirements of any provision of para- 23 graph (1) that applies with respect to an employee 24 of the agency if the agency head determines that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4518.IS S4518 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4518 IS there is a compelling reason for the waiver that re- 1 lates to the effective operation of the Federal Gov- 2 ernment. 3 (3) PLAN FOR FUTURE OUTBREAKS.—Not later 4 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 5 the Director, in coordination with the Secretary, 6 shall establish a policy— 7 (A) to maximize the use of telework by the 8 Federal workforce during a period in which 9 there is in effect a public health emergency that 10 the Secretary declares under section 319 of the 11 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) on 12 a date that is after the date of enactment of 13 this Act with respect to an outbreak of an in- 14 fectious disease; and 15 (B) that shall be designed to be imple- 16 mented before implementing any continuity of 17 operations plan with respect to any outbreak 18 described in subparagraph (A). 19 SEC. 3. TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION FUND. 20 Section 1078(b)(3)(B) of the National Defense Au- 21 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (40 U.S.C. 11301 22 note) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including by enabling or 23 improving telework capabilities,’’ after ‘‘efficiency and cy- 24 bersecurity’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4518.IS S4518 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4518 IS SEC. 4. TRAINING AND MONITORING. 1 Section 6503(a) of title 5, United States Code, is 2 amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘and su- 4 pervisors’’ after ‘‘managers’’; 5 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 6 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(3) not later than 180 days after the date on 10 which a manager or supervisor described in para- 11 graph (1)(B) is appointed to a position as such a 12 manager or supervisor, the manager or supervisor 13 has completed interactive telework training that in- 14 cludes instruction relating to— 15 ‘‘(A) the benefits of telework; 16 ‘‘(B) technology used by the agency to fa- 17 cilitate telework; 18 ‘‘(C) strategies for engaging employees 19 who telework; 20 ‘‘(D) performance management in the vir- 21 tual workplace; and 22 ‘‘(E) information and security protections 23 for information and information systems used 24 during telework;’’. 25 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4518.IS S4518 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS