Federal Employee Return to Work Act

House Bill

H.R. 236

119th Congress

Federal Employee Return to Work Act

In Committee

Introduced:Jan 7, 2025

Primary Sponsor

Dan Newhouse

Representative

Republican

WA-4

Cosponsors

21

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Government Operations and Politics

Summary

This bill denies annual pay increases and locality adjustments to federal employees who telework one day or more per week. It aims to incentivize federal workers to return to physical offices by withholding pay raises from remote workers.

Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

SponsorDan Newhouse (R-WA)

Introduced1/7/2025

StatusReferred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

ChamberHouse

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Vote Prediction

Federal Employee Return to Work Act

This bill denies annual pay increases and locality adjustments to federal employees who telework one day or more per week. It aims to incentivize federal workers to return to physical offices by withholding pay raises from remote workers.

Community Breakdown

Pass

0%

Fail

0%

0 predictions

This bill denies annual pay increases and locality adjustments to federal employees who telework one day or more per week. It aims to incentivize federal workers to return to physical offices by withholding pay raises from remote workers.

Bill Number: 236
Sponsor: Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
Introduced: 1/7/2025
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Policy Area: Government Operations and Politics

Data from Congress.gov

AI-generated summary

Fact Sheet

Title: Federal Employee Return to Work Act
Bill Number: 236
Sponsor: Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced: 1/7/2025
Summary: This bill denies annual pay increases and locality adjustments to federal employees who telework one day or more per week. It aims to incentivize federal workers to return to physical offices by withholding pay raises from remote workers.

Data from Congress.gov

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill denies annual pay increases and locality adjustments to federal employees who telework one day or more per week. It aims to incentivize federal workers to return to physical offices by withholding pay raises from remote workers.

Last updated: 1/5/2026

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Federal Employee Return to Work ActThis bill prohibits providing certain annual or locality-based pay increases to teleworking federal employees.Currently, federal law mandates annual adjustments to General Schedule (GS) pay rates according to (1) a formula based on the annual percentage change in the Employment Cost Index (a measure of labor costs in the private sector); and (2) the difference between public and private sector pay rates in an employee's locality, if that difference exceeds 5%. For example, in 2025, the default annual rate of pay for a GS-7 (step 1) employee is $49,960; the adjusted annual rate of pay for a GS-7 (step 1) employee in the locality pay area that includes Washington, DC, is $57,164. The bill makes executive agency employees who telework at least one day each week (or, in the case of an alternative work schedule, 20% or more each week) ineligible for these payments.The bill is effective on the first day of the fiscal year beginning after the bill's enactment.

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Denies pay increases to teleworking federal employees
Applies if teleworking 1 or more days per week
Affects annual General Schedule adjustments
Removes locality pay for remote workers
Incentivizes return to physical offices

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

Federal employees who telework would lose out on annual cost of living increases and locality pay adjustments that can add thousands to their salaries. This pressures workers to return to offices or accept stagnant pay.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Government Operations and Politics

Related Subjects

Commuting

Computers and information technology

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

236, 119th Congress (2025). "Federal Employee Return to Work Act". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-hr-236

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