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By: FEDweek StaffIn passing a bill (HR-7337) to address a backlog of requests for veterans’ records at the National Archives and Records Administration, the House included a provision requiring the agency to scrutinize the impact of telework on its productivity.
The bill NARA to submit a detailed plan for eliminating the backlog of requests—now estimated at above 500,000, down from some 600,000—which in many cases are seeking information needed to qualify for veterans’ benefits. It meanwhile authorizes $60 million for NARA to directly address the NPRC backlog by improving response times to veterans’ requests for military records, improving cybersecurity, and improving the digitization and preservation of records.
The bill also contains what apparently is the first of many proposals to restrict telework sponsored by Republicans to clear either chamber of Congress. It would require that within 30 days of enactment, NARA must ensure that it “maintains staffing levels and telework arrangements that enable the maximum processing of records requests possible.”
“The main culprit of the backlog was federal employees working remotely, thereby being unable to process paper records,” said a statement from Republican leaders of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
The impact of high levels of telework due to the pandemic on productivity has been a long-running point of contention, with Democrats generally favoring continued hybrid work while several Republican-sponsored bills have sought to return agencies to pre-pandemic policies. Those arguments commonly center on the impact on productivity; however, there have been no formal studies of that issue and both sides have relied on anecdotes that support their positions.
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