Back to Work Act

House Bill

H.R. 357

119th Congress

Back to Work Act

In Committee

Introduced:Jan 13, 2025

Primary Sponsor

W. Gregory Steube

Representative

Republican

FL-17

Cosponsors

1

Quick Stats

Policy Area

Government Operations and Politics

Summary

This bill limits federal employees telework to 40 percent of work days per pay period and eliminates locality pay adjustments for teleworking employees. Agencies must monitor telework via remote technical methods and conduct annual reviews. Waivers available for military spouses, specialized positions, and emergencies.

Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

AI Summary

Plain-English explanation of this bill

This bill limits federal employees telework to 40 percent of work days per pay period and eliminates locality pay adjustments for teleworking employees. Agencies must monitor telework via remote technical methods and conduct annual reviews. Waivers available for military spouses, specialized positions, and emergencies.

Last updated: 1/5/2026

Official Summary

Congressional Research Service summary

Back to Work ActThis bill limits federal agency employees' telework to up to 40% of the work days in any pay period and eliminates certain pay increases for teleworking employees.Under current law, executive agencies must maintain policies detailing how their employees may work remotely and enter into telework agreements with participating employees. The bill requires telework agreements to cap employees' telework at 40% of the work days in a pay period, specify that the agency will monitor employees' telework via remote technical methods, and make telework subject to annual review by the agency. The bill also eliminates locality-based and automatic annual pay adjustments for employees with telework agreements.The bill authorizes agencies to further restrict the amount of telework permitted based on an employee's specific role or other circumstances (e.g., working with classified information). Agencies may also waive the limitation for inclement weather or exigent circumstances or for an employee who (1) is married to a member of the Armed Forces or federal law enforcement officer; (2) holds a position requiring highly specialized experience or frequent travel; or (3) holds a position that is difficult to fill.Additionally, the bill requires annual agency reports to Congress describing the effectiveness of agency telework policies. The Government Accountability Office must evaluate the accuracy and thoroughness of each report in an accompanying report to Congress.

Key Points

Main provisions of the bill

Caps federal telework at 40 percent of work days
Eliminates locality pay adjustments for teleworkers
Requires remote monitoring of telework
Mandates annual agency reviews of telework
Allows waivers for military spouses and specialized roles

How This Impacts Americans

Potential effects on citizens and communities

Federal employees who telework would face significant restrictions on remote work and lose locality-based pay adjustments. Agencies would need to implement monitoring systems. The bill reflects ongoing debate about federal workforce productivity and office presence following pandemic-era telework expansion.

Policy Areas

Primary Policy Area

Government Operations and Politics

Related Subjects

Commuting

Computers and information technology

Congressional oversight

Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Scope & Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction Level

federal

Congressional Session

119th Congress

Citation Reference

357, 119th Congress (2025). "Back to Work Act". Source: Voter's Right Platform. https://votersright.org/bills/118-hr-357