Lawmaker Demands End to Maximum Telework

On Friday, Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas introduced a bill in the House, H.R. 5057, to require an end to the maximum telework policies federal agencies are using to keep employees safe while they continue to work. NTEU opposes this legislation.

The bill, called The Return Act, would require agencies to return—by the end of September—to the levels of telework in place as of Feb. 14, 2020. In other words, to pre-pandemic levels thus ignoring the success of telework and the current rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

This bill has no cosponsors and is unlikely to gain any traction. A similar Senate bill, S. 2681, introduced by Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, has two cosponsors but no movement. No lawmaker has provided any facts, data or reasoning to support these bills.  In the meantime, NTEU has called for federal agencies to delay any plans to return additional employees to federal worksites because of health and safety concerns and the union is working to permanently expand telework programs across the government.