S. 21

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To require each Executive department to establish policies and collect information regarding teleworking employees of the Executive department, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES · January 7, 2025 · Sponsor: Ms. Ernst · Committee: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Table of contents

• S. 21
  • SEC. 1. Short title
  • SEC. 2. Utilization data and reporting
  • SEC. 3. Chief Human Capital Officer reports

SEC. 1. Short title

• This Act may be cited as the or the .

SEC. 2. Utilization data and reporting

• (a) Definitions
  • In this section:
    • The term agency office means any office space—
    • The term budget justification materials has the meaning given the term in section 3(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 ( note). 31 U.S.C. 6101
    • The term computer network means software or a system—
    • The term contract employee means an individual who—
    • The term Executive department has the meaning given the term in section 101 of title 5, United States Code.
    • The term login means the act by which an employee of an Executive department, or a contract employee with respect to an Executive department, makes a digital connection to a computer network with respect to that Executive department.
    • The term network traffic means the volume and flow of data across and within a computer network.
    • The term teleworking employee means an employee of an Executive department, or a contract employee with respect to an Executive department, who is—
    • The term working remotely means, with respect to a teleworking employee, that the teleworking employee is performing work duties on a computer while located physically outside of an agency office with respect to the applicable Executive department (or, with respect to a contract employee, outside of office space owned or leased by the entity that employs the contract employee).
• (b) Data collection
  • The head of each Executive department shall—
    • not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, establish—
      • policies requiring the recording of the login activity of, and the network traffic that is generated by, each teleworking employee with respect to that Executive department; and
      • directives for managers of teleworking employees with respect to that Executive department to periodically review the network traffic generated by each such teleworking employee while that teleworking employee is working remotely; and
    • not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act—
      • begin retaining the data described in paragraph (1)(A), which shall include, with respect to each teleworking employee with respect to that Executive department who is working remotely—
        • (i) the average number of logins made each day by the teleworking employee;
        • (ii) the average daily duration of the connection by the teleworking employee to the applicable computer network; and
        • (iii) the network traffic that such teleworking employee generates while working remotely; and
      • establish a policy that the Executive department may dispose of data retained under subparagraph (A) not sooner than 3 years after the date on which the Executive department collects the data.
• (c) Swiped data collection
  • Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Executive department, with respect to each employee of the Executive department and each contract employee with respect to the Executive department who regularly performs the job duties of the employee or contract employee, as applicable, at the headquarters building of the Executive department—
    • shall require that employee or contract employee to use a Personal Identity Verification Card or Common Access Card, as applicable, to make a login;
    • shall collect login data by that employee or contract employee using a Personal Identity Verification Card or Common Access Card, as applicable, which shall include, with respect to the employee or contract employee—
      • the average number of logins made each day by the employee or contract employee;
      • the average daily duration of the connection by the employee or contract employee to the applicable computer network; and
      • the network traffic that such employee or contract employee generates while working from the headquarters building;
    • shall retain data collected under paragraph (2); and
    • may dispose of data retained under paragraph (3) not sooner than 3 years after the date on which the Executive department collects the data.
• (d) Report
  • With respect to the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and with respect to each fiscal year thereafter, the head of each Executive department shall publish the data collected pursuant to subsections (b)(2)(A) and (c)(2) in the budget justification materials of the Executive department in a format that, for the applicable fiscal year—
    • protects personally identifiable information;
    • compares the average login rates of teleworking employees working remotely on each weekday to the total number of teleworking employees approved to be working remotely on each weekday; and
    • compares the average login rates of teleworking employees working remotely on each weekday to the average login rates of employees working from the headquarters building of the Executive department.

SEC. 3. Chief Human Capital Officer reports

• Section 6506(d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
  • (1) In general
    • Each year, the Chief Human Capital Officer of each executive agency, in consultation with the Telework Managing Officer of that agency, shall submit a report to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Chief Human Capital Officers Council on agency management efforts to promote the efficient use of telework, which shall include a description of the adverse effects of telework policy on the performance of the executive agency, including any increased incidences of disciplinary actions against employees of the executive agency.
  • by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
  • by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
  • by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
    • (2) Collection and retention of relevant information
      • Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of the , the Chief Human Capital Officer of each executive agency shall establish a policy that requires any manager of an employee of the executive agency who teleworks who revokes the privileges of that employee to telework due to a reason specific to that employee to provide written information to the human capital office of that executive agency (which shall retain that information for a reasonable amount of time after the employee is no longer employed by the executive agency) and to the employee regarding the circumstances giving rise to that revocation, which shall include—
        • the name, title, office, years of service, official worksite, and annual rate of basic pay of the employee;
        • the total number of days that the employee teleworked in the 6 work periods immediately preceding the work period in which the revocation occurred, which shall include an itemized identification of each day on which that employee teleworked during those 6 work periods;
        • a brief narrative summary of the circumstances giving rise to the revocation, with detail sufficient to confirm the propriety of the revocation under the policies of the executive agency; and
        • any steps the manager took to discipline the employee before carrying out the revocation.