S 4043 — Telework Transparency Act of 2024

Regulatory authority.''.

<DELETED>SEC.

3.

GAO AUDITS AND REPORTS.</DELETED> <DELETED> (a) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--</DELETED> <DELETED> (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives;

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (C) any other congressional committee determined appropriate by the Comptroller General.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) Comptroller general.--The term ``Comptroller General'' means the Comptroller General of the United States.</DELETED> <DELETED> (3) Employee;

executive agency;

telework.--The terms ``employee'', ``executive agency'', and ``telework'' have the meanings given those terms in section 6501 of title 5, United States Code.</DELETED> <DELETED> (4) Executive department.--The term ``Executive department'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 5, United States Code.</DELETED> <DELETED> (5) Locality payment;

official worksite.--The terms ``locality payment'' and ``official worksite'' have the meanings given those terms in section 531.602 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation.</DELETED> <DELETED> (b) Office Building Space Utilization.--The Comptroller General shall conduct, and submit to Congress a report with respect to, the following audits:</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) For each of the first 3 fiscal years that begins after the date of enactment of this Act, an audit of-- </DELETED> <DELETED> (A) the measurements made under the benchmarks developed under section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act;

or</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) if the Director of the Office of Management and Budget has not developed the benchmarks described in subparagraph (A) as of the first day of the fiscal year in which the audit is scheduled to be performed, the calculations made by executive agencies under section 6504(b)(2)(A)(iv) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) An audit of the benchmarks developed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, including any changes to those benchmarks that are made after the benchmarks are first developed.</DELETED> <DELETED> (3)(A) An audit of each system established to track office building space utilization rates, as required under section 6503(d)(1) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act.</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) The Comptroller General shall conduct the audit required under subparagraph (A) once for each of the first 3 fiscal years that begins after the fiscal year in which the Director of the Office of Management and Budget develops the benchmarks required under section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, after which the Comptroller General shall conduct that audit-- </DELETED> <DELETED> (i) not more frequently than once each fiscal year;

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (ii) upon request by any Member of Congress.</DELETED> <DELETED> (c) Verifying Official Worksite and Locality Payment Accuracy.--</DELETED> <DELETED> (1) In general.--The Comptroller General shall-- </DELETED> <DELETED> (A) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, brief the appropriate congressional committees on how Executive departments determine the official worksite for an employee who teleworks, especially for the purpose of determining the amount of a locality payment paid to such an employee;

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) not later than 1 year after the date on which the Comptroller General provides the briefing required under subparagraph (A), submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report regarding the matters described in that subparagraph.</DELETED> <DELETED> (2) Contents of report.--The report required under paragraph (1)(B) shall include an assessment of--</DELETED> <DELETED> (A) how Executive departments--</DELETED> <DELETED> (i) ensure that employees regularly report to the official worksite of those employees;

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (ii) use the authorities under section 531.605(d)(2) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, including an assessment of-- </DELETED> <DELETED> (I) the frequency with which Executive departments use those authorities;

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (II) the average duration that employees telework under an exception granted under such section 531.605(d)(2);

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) the oversight practices that Executive departments use to review and verify the amount of a locality payment paid to an employee who teleworks.</DELETED> <DELETED> (3) Recurring analysis.--With respect to the practices described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2), the Comptroller General shall take the following actions:</DELETED> <DELETED> (A) Assess those practices once for each of the 5 fiscal years that begins after the fiscal year in which the Comptroller General submits the report required under paragraph (1)(B) and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report if the Comptroller General determines that there have been any changes to those practices since the last such assessment performed by the Comptroller General.</DELETED> <DELETED> (B) After carrying out subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, conduct an assessment described in such subparagraph (A)--</DELETED> <DELETED> (i) not more frequently than once each fiscal year, which shall include the submission to the appropriate congressional committees of a report if the Comptroller General determines that there have been any changes to those practices since the last such assessment performed by the Comptroller General;

and</DELETED> <DELETED> (ii) upon request by any Member of Congress.</DELETED> SECTION 1.

(2) Training and monitoring.--Section 6503 of title 5, United States Code, is amendedamended-- (A) in subsection (a)-- (i) by addingredesignating atparagraphs the(3) endand the(4) following:as paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively;

and (ii) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

``(3) managers of teleworkers, using appropriate methods, track and evaluate the performance of teleworkers, including with respect to the completion of tasks associated with the duties, responsibilities, and authorized activities of teleworkers;'';

and (B) by adding at the end the following:

``(4) Establishment of online tool.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall establish and maintain a publicly available online tool that-- ``(A) makes available the data required to be reported under paragraph (2)(2), including the average number of days per period that eligible employees telework, available in an appropriate and readable format;

``(B) incorporates appropriate protections for personal and sensitive information;information reported under paragraph (2);

``(d) Monitoring the Effects of Telework on Office Building Space Utilization and Executive Agency Performance.--The head of each executive agency shall-- ``(1) establish a system to track office building space utilization rates that aligns with guidance and benchmarks issued by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the Administrator of General Services and the Federal Real Property Council established by section 623(a) of title 40, under section 6504(b)(2)(A);

``(iv) the management of real property and related personal property;

and ``(4) with respect to the office building space utilization rates described in paragraph (1)-- ``(A) include those rates in the budget justification materials (as defined in section 3(b)(2) of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C.

(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;

``(i) Develop benchmarks for measuring office building space utilization that account for the use of telework.

``(ii) Provide guidance to each executive agency for collecting office building space occupancy data regarding the average daily onsite attendance in the office building space owned or leased by the executive agency.agency, which shall take into consideration-- ``(I) duties of employees of the executive agency that involve official travel, mobile work, or other job functions requiring such an employee to temporarily report to an offsite location;

``(iii)``(II) Establishvariation officewithin buildinga spaceyear utilizationwith raterespect goalsto forthe eachnumber of employees of the executive agency oftaking notscheduled lessor thanunscheduled 60leave percent.and the duration of that leave;

``(iv) Until the benchmarks described in clause (i) are developed, and the``(III) guidancedata describedcollected infrom clauseswipes (ii)of isPersonal provided,Identity ensureVerification thatCards eachor executiveCommon agency,Access notCards, lessas frequentlyapplicable, than quarterly, uses the following formula to calculate office building space utilization with respectappropriate toprotections thefor officepersonally buildingidentifiable spaceinformation. that the executive agency leases or owns:

``(I)``(iii) CalculateEstablish the usable square feet of the office building space soutilization leasedrate orgoals owned,for whicheach shallexecutive beagency-- calculated--``(I) ``(aa) by using the portion of thatnot officeless buildingthan space60 thatpercent; is available for occupants, including offices, team rooms, and conference rooms;

and ``(II) that takes into consideration the matters described in subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (ii).

``(iv) Until the benchmarks described in clause (i) are developed, and the guidance described in clause (ii) is provided, ensure that each executive agency, not less frequently than quarterly, uses the following formula to calculate office space utilization with respect to the office space that the executive agency leases or owns:

``(I) Calculate the usable square feet of the office space so leased or owned-- ``(aa) by using the portion of that office space that is available for occupants, including offices, team rooms, and conference rooms;

``(III) Divide the daily average of the number of individualsindividuals, including contractors, who are present working in the space that is the subject of the calculation under subclause (I) by the quotient obtained under subclause (II), which shall be expressed as a percentage.

(c) ContinuityReports.--Section of6506(b) Operations.--Section 6504(d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in theparagraph subsection(2)-- heading,(A) by striking ``Plans'';subparagraphs (D) and (E);

(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;

and (3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following:

``(1) Emergency incidents.-- ``(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term `emergency incident' means an event that, as determined by the head of an executive agency, would pose a threat to the life, health, or safety of an employee, or a group of employees, of the executive agency if the employee, or group of employees, were to report to the worksite of the employee or group of employees.

``(B) Telework during emergency incidents.-- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the head of an executive agency may require that an employee, or a group of employees, of the executive agency telework during an emergency incident under procedures established by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.''.

(d) Reports.--Section 6506(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in paragraph (2)-- (A) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E);

``(E) an explanation of whether or not each executive agency met the goals described in subparagraph (D) for the last reporting period and, if not, what actions are being taken to identify and eliminate barriers to meeting those goals for the next reporting period;

and ``(ii) increase the utilization rates of office building space owned or leased by the executive agency to not less than 60 percent (or any higher rate established by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under section 6504(b)(2)(A));

(e)(d) Regulatory Authority Over Agency Telework Policy.-- (1) In general.--Chapter 65 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding atinserting theafter endsection 6505 the following:

6507.6505A.

(2) Technical and conforming amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 65 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by addinginserting atafter the enditem relating to section 6505 the following:

``6507.``6505A.

(e) Report From Executive Agencies.-- (1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the terms ``employee'', ``executive agency'', and ``telework'' have the meanings given those terms in section 6501 of title 5, United States Code.

(2) Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each executive agency, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Chief Human Capital Officer of the executive agency, the Chief Information Officer of the executive agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Administrator of General Services, shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives a report that identifies-- (A) what metrics and methods the executive agency has used to determine the productivity of employees who telework;

(B) any effects of telework, including the effects of telework on-- (i) costs;

(ii) security;

(iii) employee morale;

(iv) employee productivity;

and (v) waste, fraud, or abuse;

(C) barriers that prevent the executive agency from meeting in-person work targets, if applicable;

and (D) any initiatives of the executive agency to address the barriers described in subparagraph (C).

(1) AppropriateAgency.--The congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate``agency'' congressionalmeans committees''an means--agency (A)described thein Committeesection on901(b) Homelandof Securitytitle and31, GovernmentalUnited AffairsStates ofCode. the Senate;

(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means-- (A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;

(2)(3) Comptroller general.--The term ``Comptroller General'' means the Comptroller General of the United States.

(3)(4) Employee;

(4) Executive department.--The term ``Executive department'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 5, United States Code.

(b) Office Building Space Utilization.--The Comptroller General shall conduct, and submit to Congress a report with respect to, the following audits:

(1) For each of the first 3 fiscal years that begins after the date of enactment of this Act, an audit of-- (A) the measurements made under the benchmarks developed under paragraph (2)(A)(i) of section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i)6504(b) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act;

or (B) if the Director of the Office of Management and Budget has not developed the benchmarks described in subparagraph (A) as of the first day of the fiscal year in which the audit is scheduled to be performed, the calculations made by executive agencies under paragraph (2)(A)(iv) of section 6504(b)(2)(A)(iv)6504 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act.

(2) An audit of the benchmarks developed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under paragraph (2)(A)(i) of section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i)6504(b) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, including any changes to those benchmarks that are made after the benchmarks are first developed.

(3)(A) An audit of each system established to track office building space utilization rates, as required under subsection (d)(1) of section 6503(d)(1)6503 of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act.

(B) The Comptroller General shall conduct the audit required under subparagraph (A) once for each of the first 3 fiscal years that begins after the fiscal year in which the Director of the Office of Management and Budget develops the benchmarks required under paragraph (2)(A)(i) of section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i)6504(b) of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, after which the Comptroller General shall conduct that audit-- (i) not more frequently than once each fiscal year;

(c) Verifying Official Worksite and Locality Payment Accuracy.-- (1) In general.--The Comptroller General shall-- (A) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, brief the appropriate congressional committees on how Executiveagencies departments determine the official worksite for an employee who teleworks, especially for the purpose of determining the amount of a locality payment paid to such an employee;

(2) Contents of report.--The report required under paragraph (1)(B) shall include an assessment of-- (A) how Executiveagencies-- departments-- (i) ensure that employees regularly report to the official worksite of those employees;

and (ii) use the authorities under section 531.605(d)(2) of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation, including an assessment of-- (I) the frequency with which Executiveagencies departments use those authorities;

and (B) the oversight practices that Executiveagencies departments use to review and verify the amount of a locality payment paid to an employee who teleworks.

(3) RecurringAdditional analysis.--Withreports.--With respect to the practices described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2), the Comptroller General shallshall-- take(A) assess those practices as of the followingdate actions:that is 2 years, and as of the date that is 4 years, after the date on which the Comptroller General submits the report required under paragraph (1)(B);

(A)and Assess(B) thosesubmit practicesto once for each of the 5appropriate fiscalcongressional yearscommittees thata beginsreport afterregarding theeach fiscalassessment yearconducted in which the Comptroller General submits the report required under paragraphsubparagraph (1)(B)(A) andof submitthis toparagraph, thewhich appropriateshall congressionalinclude committees a reportdescription ifof the Comptroller General determines that there have been any changes to those practices since the last such assessment performedconducted by the Comptroller General.

(B)SEC. After carrying out subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, conduct an assessment described in such subparagraph (A)-- (i) not more frequently than once each fiscal year, which shall include the submission to the appropriate congressional committees of a report if the Comptroller General determines that there have been any changes to those practices since the last such assessment performed by the Comptroller General;

and4. (ii) upon request by any Member of Congress.

<all>NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.

No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying out this Act or the amendments made by this Act.

Calendar No.

735 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S.

4043 [Report No.

118-315] _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 5, United States Code, to make executive agency telework policies transparent, to track executive agency use of telework, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________ December 19 (legislative day, December 16), 2024 Reported with an amendment