REMOTE Act
Key claim: The REMOTE Act would require federal executive agencies to track and compare computer network activity of teleworking and on-site employees and report telework-related performance deficiencies to the Chief Human Capital Officers Council.
Abstract
(S21 · 119th Congress) Requiring Effective Management and Oversight of Teleworking Employees Act or the REMOTE Act This bill directs executive agencies to track employees’ computer network activity, compare the activity of teleworking and on-site employees, and report on any deficiencies in the performance of teleworking employees. First, the bill requires each agency to establish policies to track for every employee (1) the average number of daily logins, (2) the average daily duration of the network connection, and (3) the network traffic generated while the employee works. This information must be collected from employees working primarily on-site within 180 days after the bill’s enactment and from teleworking employees within one year after the bill’s enactment. The bill also directs each agency to publish this data in the agency’s fiscal year budget justification materials, including a comparison of the average login rates of on-site and teleworking employees. Next, the bill directs any manager who revokes a teleworking employee’s authorization to telework (due to a reason specific to that employee) to document for the employee and the agency’s Human Capital Office (1) the total number of days that the employee teleworked in the six work periods immediately preceding the revocation, (2) a narrative summary of the circumstances giving rise to the revocation, and (3) any steps the manager took to discipline the employee before revoking the employee’s telework authorization. Finally, agencies must report to the Chief Human Capital Officers Council about any adverse effects of telework policies on the performance of the executive agency. Latest action (2025-01-07): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Why this matters
The REMOTE Act would formalize computer-network-activity monitoring as a governmentwide tool for evaluating telework, embedding surveillance-based performance metrics into federal human capital governance via the CHCO Council. For federal employees, it could reshape the terms of remote work by tying continued telework eligibility to measurable network activity comparisons; for agencies, it adds a new compliance and reporting layer that intersects with existing performance appraisal and adverse-action frameworks.