[DOCID: f:sr526.110]
From the Senate Reports Online via GPO Access
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Calendar No. 1101
110th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 110-526
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TELEWORK ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 1000
TO ENHANCE THE FEDERAL TELEWORK PROGRAM
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
November 19, 2008.--Ordered to be printed
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas NORM COLEMAN, Minnesota
MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
BARACK OBAMA, Illinois PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri JOHN WARNER, Virginia
JON TESTER, Montana JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire
Michael L. Alexander, Staff Director
Kevin J. Landy, Chief Counsel
Lawrence B. Novey, Senior Counsel
Kenya N. Wiley, Counsel
Thomas J.R. Richards, Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the
District of Columbia
Brandon L. Milhorn, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Amanda Wood, Minority Director for Governmental Affairs
Jennifer A. Hemingway, Minority Staff Director, Subcommittee on
Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the
District of Columbia
Trina Driessnack Tyrer, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 1101
110th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 110-526
======================================================================
TELEWORK ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007
_______
November 19, 2008.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Lieberman, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1000]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1000) to enhance
the Federal Telework Program, having considered the same,
reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that
the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................1
III. Legislative History..............................................6
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................7
V. Estimated Cost of Legislation...................................10
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................11
VII. Changes in Existing Law.........................................12
I. Purpose and Summary
S. 1000, the Telework Enhancement Act of 2007, requires
federal agencies to establish telework policies, determine the
eligibility of employees to participate in telework programs,
establish a Telework Managing Officer, and improve the
reporting on telework programs.
II. Background and Need for the Legislation
Precursors to telework in the federal government date back
as far as the 1930s, when employees worked from their homes or
other off-site locations on issues as sensitive as financial
reports of credit union examinations.\1\ In the 1960s a
consultant rocket scientist named Jack Nilles teleworked from
Los Angeles to Washington, DC for the U.S. Air Force Space
Program, and in 1973 he coined the terms ``teleworking'' and
``telecommuting.''\2\ Over the subsequent decades, federal
agencies began promoting ``flexiplace'' programs under which
federal personnel worked from home or remote sites, and, by the
early 1990s, the President's Council on Management Improvement
implemented a pilot flexiplace program government-wide.\3\ Over
the past decade, advances in information and computer
technology have greatly increased the ability of many federal
employees to work from home or from other locations convenient
to home, and in 2006 there were over 110,000 employees
teleworking in the federal government.\4\
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\1\Congressional Research Service Report, Telework in the Federal
Government: Background, Policy, and Oversight (RL30863), by Lorraine H.
Tong and Barbara L. Schwemle (April 3, 2002), at page 3.
\2\Id.
\3\Id., at pages 3-5.
\4\U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Status of Telework in the
Federal Government: Report to Congress 2007 (December 2007), available
online at [http://www.telework.gov/Reports_ and_Studies/Annual_Reports/
2007_TeleworkReport.pdf] (hereinafter referred to as the ``2007
Telework Status Report''), at page 2.
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This Committee believes that telework is an important tool
for agencies to use in improving many areas of their
operations. The Congressional Research Service has summarize a
number of the ways in which telework is seen as offering
valuable benefits to agencies:
Management considerations, such as productive and
satisfied workers; environmental considerations, such
as reduced traffic congestion and improved air quality;
and quality of life considerations, such as
accommodating the short- or long-term health problems
or family responsibilities of employees, have been
offered as justification for telework programs. Some
believe that the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the
discovery of anthrax in Washington, DC, and other
cities have fundamentally changed the workplace and
demonstrated the practical application of telework to
the continued operation of the government. Issues of
security, crisis management, disaster recovery, and
remote access to office computer systems are prompting
some federal executive and legislative branch agencies
and their employees to expand existing telework
programs or to consider telework.\5\
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\5\CRS Report, note 1 above, at Summary page.
Information about how telework can be a powerful management
tool for federal agencies was presented at a hearing before
this Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of
Columbia.\6\ In the area of human capital management, an Office
of Personnel Management (OPM) representative testified that
``telework is a useful tool which can help attract and retain a
21st century high-performing workforce that produces high-
quality results,''\7\ and the Director of the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (PTO), reported on his agency's own experience
that telework ``allows for decreased commute time, greater
control over workloads, and even a more balanced lifestyle.
This all translates into increased employee productivity and
satisfaction, as well as higher employee retention.''\8\
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\6\Hearing on ``Assessing Telework Policies and Initiatives in the
Federal Government,'' before this Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight
of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of
Columbia, 110th Congress, 1st Session, June 12, 2007, S. Hrg. 110-390
(hereinafter referred to as the ``Telework Hearing'').
\7\Testimony of Mr. Daniel A. Green, Deputy Associate Director for
Employee and Family Support Policy, Strategic Human Resources Policy
Division, Office of Personnel Management, at Telework Hearing, note 6
above.
\8\Testimony of the Honorable Jon W. Dudas, Under Secretary of
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office, at Telework Hearing, note 6 above.
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According to testimony of a representative from the General
Services Administration (GSA), telework is also a natural
mechanism for agencies' Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plans
for emergencies,\9\ such as natural disasters or terrorist
attacks that prevent employees from getting to the agency's
offices. To be an effective part of the COOP Plan, telework
must be a part of the agency's normal operations, ``so that
employees may fully transition to this alternative work
arrangement in the event of an emergency. The result would be a
more well trained and properly equipped work force that is
allowed to participate in telework to the maximum extent
possible.''\10\
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\9\Testimony of Mr. Stan Kaczmarczyk, Principle Deputy Associate
Administrator for Government-Wide Policy, General Services
Administration, at Telework Hearing, note 6 above.
\10\Id.
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Telework also has beneficial impacts on traffic congestion,
the environment, and energy conservation. As the GSA witness
explained, the Federal government is the largest employer in
the United States as well as the largest employer in the
National Capital Region, and strikingly large benefits could
accrue if half of the federal workforce were to telework two
days per week: ``that theoretically could cut nearly a fourth
(23 percent), or 944,000 tons of work trip emissions produced
by federal workers who commute to work in single occupancy
vehicles. Collectively, these teleworkers could theoretically
save nearly 2 billion miles of vehicle travel, more than 90
million gallons of gasoline, more than 277 million dollars in
gasoline expenses, and more than32,000 typical work years of
time.''\11\ This is one reason that the U.S. Department of
Transportation includes expansion of telecommuting as a key part of the
National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation
Network.\12\
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\11\Id.
\12\U.S. Department of Transportation, National Strategy to Reduce
Congestion on America's Transportation Network (May 2006), available
online at [http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/OST/012988.pdf].
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Witnesses at the hearing also testified about creative
arrangements to get the most benefit out of telework. One such
measure is called ``hoteling,'' where employees are not
assigned a permanent office workspace, yielding significant
cost savings. The Director of PTO testified that his agency's
telework program ``combines management-by-objective with
hoteling, which translates into documented space and related
cost-savings for the PTO.''\13\ A GSA witness further testified
that ``telework combined with alternative officing can enable
agencies to reduce cost and improve the utilization of existing
facilities.''\14\
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\13\Testimony of Jon Dudas, note 8 above.
\14\Testimony of Stanley Kaczmarczyk, note 9 above.
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Congress has long recognized that telework by federal
personnel can yield important benefits to agencies and the
public, and Congress previously has mostly used the
appropriations process to support telework policies and
programs. In 1990 the Treasury, Postal Service, and General
Government Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1991 authorized
federal agencies to pay for telephone lines, related equipment,
and monthly fees in the homes of teleworkers participating in a
telework pilot program.\15\ Five years later, that
authorization was made permanent in the same appropriations
bill for fiscal year 1996.\16\
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\15\Pub. L. No. 101-509, Sec. 624 (Nov. 5, 1990).
\16\Pub. L. No. 104-52, Sec. 620 (Nov. 19, 1995).
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In October 2000, the Department of Transportation and
Related Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2001 included
provisions that required each executive agency ``to establish a
policy under which eligible employees of the agency may
participate in telecommuting to the maximum extent possible
without diminished employee performance,'' and required the
Director of OPM to apply the requirements of the legislation to
25 percent of the federal workforce population in 2001 and to
an additional 25 percent of the federal workforce population
each year thereafter.\17\ To further keep track of agencies'
compliance with telework requirements, the legislation required
the OPM to conduct an annual survey of federal agencies'
implementation of telework.\18\
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\17\Pub. L. No. 106-346, Sec. 359 (Oct. 23, 2003).
\18\Id.
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OPM reported that, between 2001 and 2004, the number of
federal employees eligible to telework rose from 521,542 to
752,337, bringing the total eligibility up to 44 percent of the
1.7 million member federal workforce.\19\ Furthermore, the
number of federal employees who were actually teleworking rose
from 72,844 to 140,694 between 2001 and 2004.\20\ However, in
2003, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that,
since each agency had its own telework policy to fit the
agency's mission and culture, efforts to report on and measure
telework programs were inconsistent.\21\
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\19\U.S. Office of Personnel Management, The Status of Telework in
the Federal Government 2002, available online at [http://
www.telework.gov/Reports_and_Studies/tw_rpt02/status-toc.aspx]; U.S.
Office of Personnel Management, The Status of Telework in the Federal
Government 2005 (December 2005), available online at [http://
www.telework.gov/ tw_rpt05/index.aspx].
\20\Id., at page i.
\21\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Human Capital: Further
Guidance, Assistance, and Coordination Can Improve Federal Telework
Efforts (GAO-03-679) (July 2003).
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In response to the low percentage of federal employees
actually participating in telework, Congress adopted a
requirement, as part of the fiscal year 2004 Commerce, Justice,
State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
that agencies must designate an employee to be the telework
coordinator and take on the responsibility of developing agency
telework programs.\22\ The next year, Congress approved a
provision in the fiscal year 2005 Commerce, Justice, and State
Appropriations Act that required each agency within that bill's
jurisdiction to report to the Appropriations Committees and
certify that telework opportunities were offered to 100 percent
of the eligible workforce.\23\ If agencies did not meet this
requirement, $5 million would be withheld from their
funding.\24\ Subsequently, the Science, State, Justice,
Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal
year 2006 included provisions to withhold $5 million from those
agencies if they had not increased the number of eligible
teleworkers above the previous year's level and provide
quarterly reports to the Appropriations Committee on the
status.\25\
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\22\Pub. L. No. 108-199, Sec. 627 (Jan. 23, 2004).
\23\Pub. L. No. 108-447, Sec. 622 (Dec. 8, 2004).
\24\Id.
\25\Pub. L. No. 109-108, Secs. 617 and 619 (Nov. 22, 2005).
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Despite these actions by Congress, and despite resources
provided by OPM and GSA, only 110,592 employees were
teleworking in the federal government and only slightly more
than half of those employees were teleworking one or more days
per week, according to the 2007 Annual Telework Report from
OPM.\26\ In comparison, 1,250,980 employees were eligible to
telework and only 554,761 employees were ineligible to
telework.\27\ When looking at significant barriers to telework,
OPM's 2007 telework survey reported that 60 percent of agencies
said ensuring adequate ``office coverage'' (i.e., ensuring that
necessary in-office functions are staffed) was a barrier, 49
percent cited ``management resistance,'' and 46 percent said
that ``organizational culture'' was a barrier.\28\ All three of
these issues reflect the challenge for agency leadership in
making telework a priority in the culture, management, and
operations of the agency.
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\26\2007 Telework Status Report, note 4 above.
\27\Id., at page 8.
\28\Id., at page 6.
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This issue of agency leadership as a barrier to telework
was highlighted by a number of witnesses during the OGM
hearing. The PTO Director, who has established a robust
telework policy, discussed the importance of convincing
management to support telework:
The leaders really had to be convinced originally by
some very bright people within the office who
recognized the good that could be done and that
telework would improve morale. Managers who were just
honored at the tenth anniversary of our program went to
leadership at the highest levels to request we get this
done. Then it was just a matter of making certain all
the managers realized this is our direction and
vision.\29\
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\29\Oral testimony of Dudas at Telework Hearing, note 6 above, at
page 13.
The difficulties gaining manager support for telework were
further illustrated by a survey conducted by the Telework
Exchange and the Federal Managers Association (FMA), which
found that only 35 percent of managers felt their agencies
supported telework.\30\ As explained in testimony by a
representative of FMA, the study found that managers cite fear
of not having control over employees and productivity issues as
the top inhibitors of telework.\31\ However, the study also
found that, as managers become more exposed to and involved
with telework, they express more favorable attitudes towards
telework.\32\
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\30\Telework Exchange and the Federal Managers Association, Face-
to-Face with Management Reality--A Telework Research Report (January
22, 2007), available online at [http://www.teleworkexchange.com/
managementstudy/Face-to-Face-with-Management-Reality-Study-012207.pdf],
at slide 5.
\31\Testimony of Tom Davison, Trustee, Chapter 275, Environmental
Protection Agency Region 5 FMA, at Telework Hearing, note 6 above.
\32\Id.
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To help address managers' concerns and provide them
reassurance about telework, the FMA witness recommended
training of both managers and employees:
Strong policies and procedures in place before
teleworking occurs is one way to ensure employees focus
on their work. . . . Educating managers and employees
alike on the benefits of teleworking would certainly
make one more likely to participate. Training is an
essential part of helping both employees and agencies
realize the benefits of teleworking. . . . Without
educating managers and employees alike regarding
teleworking opportunities available across the
government, participation will remain stagnant.\33\
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\33\Id.
S. 1000, the Telework Enhancement Act of 2007, is designed
to address these leadership barriers and to enable greater
implementation of telework at federal agencies. Specifically,
the appointment of a Telework Managing Officer (TMO) under
S.1000 is important to overcoming an agency's leadership
barriers. Appointing a TMO whose primary responsibility is to
oversee and implement telework policies at a given agency will
enable the agency to focus the TMO's time solely on telework
issues for the agency.
This legislation would be the first comprehensive
authorization measure addressing telework policies within the
government. Telework is an important component of an agencies'
culture, and agency leadership should think of telework
programs as a part of overall human capital and agency
management strategies. The Committee believes this legislation
strikes an appropriate balance by mandating that each agency
must establish a telework policy, while providing agencies with
flexibility to work telework programs into their culture and
mission in an appropriate manner.
In addition to establishing a telework policy, each agency
would be required by the bill to determine whether employees
are eligible to participate in telework and to notify the
employees of their eligibility. Eligibility criteria ensure
that telework will not diminish performance. Each agency would
also have to set up a training program for all employees and
managers involved in telework.
III. Legislative History
S. 1000 was introduced by Senator Ted Stevens on March 27,
2007, and was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs. The bill was referred to the
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal
Workforce, and the District of Columbia on June 6, 2007. S.
1000 was co-sponsored by Senator Landrieu, Senator Voinovich,
and Senator Coleman.
The Subcommittee held a hearing on June 12, 2007, entitled
``Assessing Telework Policies and Initiatives in the Federal
Government.'' Testimony was received from: Daniel Green, Deputy
Associate Director, Center for Employee and Family Support
Policy, OPM; The Honorable Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, PTO; Stan
Kaczmarczyk, Principal Deputy Associate Administrator for
Government-Wide Policy, GSA; Bernice Steinhardt, Director of
Strategic Issues, GAO; Tom Davison, Trustee of Chapter 275,
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 FMA; Stephen O'Keeffe,
Executive Officer, Telework Exchange; and David Isaacs,
Government Affairs Director, Hewlett-Packard, Inc.
On November 14, 2007, the Committee considered S. 1000. The
Committee ordered the bill favorably reported as amended by the
Akaka-Stevens Substitute Amendment by voice vote. Members
present were Lieberman, Carper, McCaskill, Tester, Collins,
Stevens, Voinovich, and Coleman. The substitute amendment
offered during the Committee markup revised the legislation to
include technical and substantive input from OPM, GSA, GAO,
PTO, federal employee groups, and other Members of the
Committee. The substitute amendment clarifies the eligibility
and participation policy requiring agencies to develop telework
agreements with employees, allows the legislative branch more
flexibility in creating telework policies, allows OPM greater
coordinating responsibility for developing telework guidelines
for agencies, removes the specific duties and full-time senior-
level employee requirements for the Telework Managing Officer,
clarifies OPM's reporting requirement and the Office of
Management and Budget's role in providing recommendations for
agencies, and adds a travel expenses test program.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title
This section states that the Act may be cited as the
``Telework Enhancement Act of 2007.''
Section 2. Definitions
This section defines ``telework'' as a work arrangement
where the employee regularly works at home or at sites
convenient to the employee's home during at least 20 percent of
each pay period.
This section also defines the term ``noncompliant'' as not
conforming to provisions in the Act, and defines the terms
``employee'' and ``executive agency'' by cross referencing
existing definitions in Title 5, United States Code.
Section 3. Executive agencies telework requirement
Subsection (a). Telework Eligibility. This subsection
requires each agency to establish a telework policy, determine
the eligibility for all employees of the agency to participate
in telework, and notify employees of their eligibility. This
must be done not later than 180 days after enactment.
Subsection (b). Participation. This subsection requires
that each agency's telework policy must--(1) ensure that
telework does not diminish employee performance or agency
operations, (2) require a written agreement between a manager
and employee in order for that employee to participate in
telework, (3) provide that employees may not be eligible to
telework if they violate the terms of the written agreement,
(4) exempt employees whose duties require daily physical
presence for activity with equipment or handling of secure
materials (except in an emergency), and (5) determine how
telework may be used as part of the continuity of operations
plans in the event of an emergency.
Section 4. Training and monitoring
This section requires that agencies develop interactive,
instructor-lead telework training programs for all employees
eligible to participate in telework and all managers of
teleworkers. The section further requires that, for employee
performance appraisals, no distinction is to be made between
employees who telework and those who do not, and that, when
determining diminished employee performance, agencies are to
consult OPM performance management guidelines.
Section 5. Policy and support
Subsection (a). Agency Consultation With the Office of
Personnel Management. This subsection requires executive
agencies to consult with OPM when developing telework policies.
Subsection (b). Guidance and Consultation. This subsection
requires OPM to provide telework policies and guidance to
agencies in the areas of pay and leave, agency closure,
performance management, official worksite, recruitment and
retention, and accommodation for employees with disabilities.
In developing this policy and guidance, OPM is to consult with
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the areas of
continuity of operations and long-term emergencies, and with
the General Services Administration (GSA) in the areas of
telework centers, travel, technology, equipment, and dependent
care.
Subsection (c). Continuity of Operations Plans. This
subsection provides that, when an agency is operating under a
continuity of operations plan, that plan will supersede any
telework policy.
Subsection (d). Telework Web site. This subsection requires
OPM to maintain a Web site dedicated to telework, including
telework-related links, announcements, guidance developed by
OPM, and guidance submitted by FEMA or GSA to OPM.
Section 6. Telework Managing Officer
Subsection (a). In General. This subsection requires the
head of each executive agency to appoint an employee of the
agency to serve as the Telework Managing Officer, which is to
be established in the office of the Chief Human Capital Officer
or comparable office. This subsection also makes conforming
amendments to two previous appropriations acts, so that
telework-related positions established under those acts are
renamed ``Telework Managing Officers.''
Subsection (b). Duties. This subsection states that the
Telework Managing Officer will be devoted to policy development
and implementation related to agency telework programs; will
advise agency leadership on telework issues, be a resource for
managers and employees, and serve as a primary point of contact
for OPM on telework; and will perform other duties as assigned.
Section 7. Annual report to Congress
This section requires that OPM submit a report to this
Committee and to the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform addressing telework programs at executive
agencies within 18 months after the date of enactment and then
every year thereafter. OPM is also required to transmit a copy
of its annual telework report to the Government Accountability
Office (GAO) and to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
OPM's annual telework reports must include the following
information as provided to OPM by each executive agency: the
agency's telework policy and measures to carry it out and an
analysis of the telework participation by the agency's
employees during the preceding year. OPM's annual reports must
also include: an assessment of each executive agency's progress
in maximizing telework opportunities without diminishing
performance; each agency's definition of telework; certain
statistics on the eligibility and participation of each
agency's employees in telework; the extent to which barriers to
telework opportunities have been removed; and best practices in
telework programs.
Section 8. Compliance of executive agencies
Subsection (a). Executive Agencies. This subsection
establishes that an executive agency will be in compliance with
the Act if each agency employee who participates in telework
regularly works at home or at sites convenient to the
employee's home during at least 20 percent of each pay period.
Subsection (b). Agency Manager Reports. This subsection
requires each manager within an executive agency to submit an
annual report to the agency's Telework Managing Officer
andChief Human Capital Officer summarizing the efforts to promote
telework opportunities and any obstacles to that manager's ability to
promote telework opportunities.
Subsection (c). Chief Human Capital Officer Reports. This
subsection requires the Chief Human Capital Officer of each
executive agency, in consultation with the agency's Telework
Managing Officer, to submit annually to the Chair and Vice
Chair of the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council a
report on agency management efforts to promote telework. Then
the Chair and Vice Chair are required to include relevant
information from those reports in OPM's annual telework report
to Congress.
Subsection (d). Compliance Reports. This subsection
requires OMB to submit a report to Congress annually, within 90
days after submission of OPM's annual telework report. The
report from OMB must identify executive agencies that OMB
determines are non-compliant with the Act, describe progress
towards compliance and justifications of any continuing non-
compliance, and recommend corrective action plans to eliminate
non-compliance.
Section 9. Congress and legislative branch agencies
Subsection (a). Definition. This subsection defines the
term ``legislative branch agencies'' to mean GAO, the Library
of Congress, the Government Printing Office, the Capitol Guide
Service, the Capitol Police, the Congressional Budget Office,
the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the Office of the
Attending Physician, and the Office of Compliance.
Subsection (b). Application to Legislative Branch
Employees.
Paragraphs (1)-(2). Senate, House of Representatives. These
paragraphs require that, not later than 180 days after
enactment, telework policy guidelines be established for the
Senate and for the House of Representatives. Guidelines for the
Senate will be established by the Committee on Rules and
Administration, in consultation with the Majority Leader and
Minority Leader, and guidelines for the House of
Representatives will be established by the Committee on House
Administration, in consultation with the Speaker and the
Minority Leader. Not later than 180 days after the telework
policy guidelines for the Senate or for the House of
Representatives are established, each employing authority
included under the guidelines will submit to the Senate Rules
Committee or to the House Administration Committee a telework
policy under which covered employees may be authorized to
telework.
Paragraph (3). Legislative branch agencies. This paragraph
requires that, not later than 180 days after enactment, each
legislative branch agency must establish a telework policy
under which covered employees may be authorized to telework.
Paragraph (4). Training. This paragraph requires training
of all legislative-branch employees and managers involved in
telework.
Paragraph (5). Similar policies. This paragraph provides
that the telework policies established in the legislative
branch may be similar to the policies developed by executive
branch agencies, but the requirements applicable to the
executive branch are not applicable to telework policies in the
legislative branch.
Section 10. Extension of Travel Expenses Test Programs
This section reauthorizes and modifies the travel expenses
test program under 5 U.S.C. 5710, which has expired.
Specifically, the section extends the authority to conduct
travel expenses tests until 16 years after the authority was
originally enacted (i.e., until October 19, 2014), and repeals
a provision in the existing statute that limits each travel
expenses test to a period of only 24 months.
After reauthorization, 5 U.S.C. 5710 will allow a federal
agency to seek GSA's approval of a test program under which the
agency may pay its employees' necessary travel expenses,
instead of paying the amounts of travel expenses ordinarily
specified in statute. This would include the authority to seek
GSA's approval of a test program under which the agency could
pay certain travel expenses of teleworkers at the agency.
V. Estimated Cost of Legislation
January 28, 2007.
Hon. Joseph I. Lieberman,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1000, the Telework
Enhancement Act of 2007.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag.
Enclosure.
S. 1000--Telework Enhancement Act of 2007
S. 1000 would require the executive and legislative
branches of the federal government to establish policies to
determine which federal employees are eligible to participate
in federal telework programs (programs that enable employees to
work part time from places other than their official duty
station for one day per 40-hour workweek). In addition, S. 1000
would reauthorize a travel expenses test program for an
additional nine years.
CBO estimates that implementing S. 1000 would increase
administrative costs across federal agencies by $5 million in
2008 and much smaller amounts in subsequent years for executive
and legislative agencies to notify employees of their
eligibility to participate in telework programs and to satisfy
the reporting requirements specified in the bill. S. 1000 could
also affect direct spending, but CBO estimates that any amounts
would not be significant in any year. Enacting the bill would
not affect revenues.
Under current law, executive branch agencies are required
to establish policies for employees to participate in telework
programs to the maximum extent possible without diminishing
employees' performance. The General Services Administration
(GSA) and the Office of Personnel Management provide guidance
and resources to federal agencies to support telework policies
governmentwide. (Although not required, some legislative branch
agencies currently offer some telework programs that are
similar to those of the executive branch.) This bill would
require agencies to establish and implement policies to enable
eligible employees to participate in telework programs, adding
to annual administrative costs.
For most agencies, any such impact on spending would be
subject to the availability of appropriated funds; however, the
bill could affect direct spending by agencies not funded
through annual appropriations, such as the Tennessee Valley
Authority and the Bonneville Power Administration. CBO
estimates, however, that any increase in spending for telework
programs by those agencies would not be significant.
By reauthorizing the travel expenses test program, the bill
also would allow agencies with the approval of GSA to test new
and innovative methods of reimbursing employees' travel
expenses (this authority expired in 2005). Based on information
from GSA and the experience of similar programs, CBO estimates
that enacting this provision would have no significant impact
on the federal budget.
S. 1000 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. This estimate was approved by Theresa M. Gullo,
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
VI. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill.
VII. Changes in Existing Law
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic and existing law, in which no
change is proposed, is shown in roman):
TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE: GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
PART III--EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER 57--TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION, AND SUBSISTENCE
Sec. 5710. Authority for travel expenses test programs
(a)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
subchapter, under a test program which the Administrator of
General Services determines to be in the interest of the
Government and approves, an agency may pay through the proper
disbursing official [for a period not to exceed 24 months] any
necessary travel expenses in lieu of any payment otherwise
authorized or required under this subchapter.
* * * * * * *
(e) The authority to conduct test programs under this
section shall expire [7 years] 16 years after the date of the
enactment of the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998.
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