What This Bill Does
This bill requires federal agencies to go back to their work-from-home policies that existed before December 31, 2019, when the COVID-19 pandemic started. Agencies must study how expanded remote work affected their operations during the pandemic and create a plan showing how they want to use telework in the future before they can expand those policies again.
Who It Affects
Executive branch federal agencies and their employees. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management also plays a key role by reviewing and certifying agency plans.
Key Provisions
- All federal agencies must reinstate and use their telework policies, practices and levels from December 31, 2019 within 30 days of the bill becoming law. Agencies cannot expand these policies until they submit a plan to Congress with approval from the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. (Sec. 2)
- Within 6 months of the bill becoming law, each agency must submit to Congress a study examining how expanded telework during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the agency's ability to perform its mission, including impacts on customer service, costs from underused office space, problems with providing secure technology access to remote workers, and how the expansion spread the workforce across the country. (Sec. 3(a)(1))
- Agencies must submit a plan for any future telework expansion that must be certified by the Director. The Director can only approve the plan if it will improve mission performance, lower real estate or pay costs, and ensure remote workers have necessary secure technology without substantially raising overall costs. (Sec. 3(a)(2) and (a)(3))
- Agencies cannot implement any telework expansion plan unless the Director certifies it meets the required standards. If the Director rejects a plan, the agency can submit additional plans for approval. (Sec. 3(b))
What Changes
Federal agencies must stop any expanded telework policies they have in place and return to how they handled work-from-home arrangements on December 31, 2019. Agencies cannot increase telework beyond those 2019 levels until they complete a study of pandemic-era remote work impacts and receive Director approval of a future telework plan.
Important Definitions
- "Agency" means an Executive agency as defined in federal law (Sec. 3(c)(1))
- "Director" means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (Sec. 3(c)(2))
- "Locality pay" means the additional pay federal employees receive based on where they work (Sec. 3(c)(3))
- "Telework" and "teleworking" include remote work and have the meanings provided in federal law (Sec. 3(c)(4))
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
IIB
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 139
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY 2, 2023
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs
AN ACT
To require Executive agencies to submit to Congress a study
of the impacts of expanded telework and remote work
by agency employees during the COVID–19 pandemic
and a plan for the agency’s future use of telework and
remote work, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Home Office
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Work’s Unproductive Problems Act of 2023’’ or the
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‘‘SHOW UP Act of 2023’’.
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SEC. 2. REINSTATEMENT OF PRE-PANDEMIC TELEWORK
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POLICIES, PRACTICES, AND LEVELS FOR EX-
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ECUTIVE AGENCIES.
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Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment
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of this Act, each agency shall reinstate and apply the
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telework policies, practices, and levels of the agency as in
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effect on December 31, 2019, and may not expand any
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such policy, practices, or levels until the date that an agen-
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cy plan is submitted to Congress with a certification by
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the Director of the Office of Personnel Management under
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section 3.
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SEC. 3. STUDY, PLAN, AND CERTIFICATION REGARDING EX-
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ECUTIVE
AGENCY
TELEWORK
POLICIES,
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PRACTICES, AND LEVELS FOR EXECUTIVE
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AGENCIES.
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(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the
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date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency,
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in consultation with the Director, shall submit to Con-
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gress—
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(1) a study on the impacts on the agency and
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its mission of expanding telework by its employees
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HR 139 RFS
during the SARS–CoV–2 pandemic that commenced
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in 2019, including an analysis of—
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(A) any adverse impacts of that expansion
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on the agency’s performance of its mission, in-
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cluding the performance of customer service by
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the agency;
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(B) any costs to the agency during that ex-
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pansion attributable to—
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(i) owning, leasing, or maintaining
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under-utilized real property; or
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(ii) paying higher rates of locality pay
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to teleworking employees as a result of in-
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correctly classifying such employees as
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teleworkers rather than remote workers;
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(C) any degree to which the agency failed
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during that expansion to provide teleworking
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employees with secure network capacity, com-
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munications tools, necessary and secure access
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to appropriate agency data assets and Federal
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records, and equipment sufficient to enable each
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such employee to be fully productive;
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(D) any degree to which that expansion fa-
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cilitated dispersal of the agency workforce
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around the Nation; and
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(E) any other impacts of that expansion
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that the agency or the Director considers ap-
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propriate;
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(2) any agency plan to expand telework policies,
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practices, or levels beyond those in place as a result
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of section 2; and
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(3) a certification by the Director that such
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plan will—
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(A) have a substantial positive effect on—
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(i) the performance of the agency’s
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mission, including the performance of cus-
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tomer service;
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(ii) increasing the level of dispersal of
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agency personnel throughout the Nation;
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and
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(iii) the reversal of any adverse im-
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pact set forth pursuant to paragraph
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(1)(D);
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(B) substantially lower the agency’s costs
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of owning, leasing, or maintaining real prop-
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erty;
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(C) substantially lower the agency’s costs
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attributable to paying locality pay to agency
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personnel working from locations outside the
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HR 139 RFS
pay locality of their position’s official worksite;
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and
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(D) ensure that teleworking employees will
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be provided with secure network capacity, com-
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munications tools, necessary and secure access
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to appropriate agency data assets and Federal
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records, and equipment sufficient to enable each
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such employee to be fully productive, without
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substantially increasing the agency’s overall
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costs for secure network capacity, communica-
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tions tools, and equipment.
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(b) LIMITATION.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may not imple-
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ment the plan submitted under subsection (a)(2) un-
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less a certification by the Director was issued under
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subsection (a)(3).
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(2) SUBSEQUENT PLANS.—In the event an ini-
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tial agency plan submitted under subsection (a)(2)
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fails to receive such certification, the agency may
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submit to the Director subsequent plans until such
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certification is received, and submit such plan and
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certification to Congress.
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(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act—
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(1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given
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the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in section 105 of title
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5, United States Code;
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(2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of
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the Office of Personnel Management;
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(3) the term ‘‘locality pay’’ means locality pay
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provided for under section 5304 or 5304a of such
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title; and
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(4) the terms ‘‘telework’’ and ‘‘teleworking’’
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have the meaning given those terms in section 6501
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of such title, and include remote work.
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Passed the House of Representatives February 1,
2023.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
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