Telework Bill

The Congressional Budget Office has said that enactment of a measure to encourage teleworking by federal employees would have the relatively low cost of $5 million in the first year and significantly less in the following years, mainly related to the bill’s requirement that agencies better inform employees of their teleworking options. The bill, S-1000, would require agencies to establish and implement policies to enable eligible employees to participate in telework programs. Under current law, agencies are required to establish policies for employees to participate in telework programs to the maximum extent possible without diminishing employees’ performance. The measure, which could come to a Senate vote at any time, also would reauthorize for nine years a pilot program that expired in 2005 to test alternative ways of reimbursing employees for their travel expenses.