Heinrich Introduces RETURN Act To Get Federal Workers Back To The Office

WASHINGTON (Feb. 17, 2022) – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced The Return Employees To Understaffed Worksites to Reopen Now (RETURN) Act, legislation that would direct federal agencies to submit a comprehensive plan to resume in-person operations and address constituents’ concerns about federal government services. The legislation would codify and expand upon the Biden administration order for agencies to submit plans to return their workers to the office, while also recognizing the need to make plans for future disruptions to federal services.

“Federal agencies provide critical services that can serve as a lifeline for many New Mexicans, especially our seniors and veterans. Almost every industry has had to make changes because of the pandemic to ensure their services remain intact – a federal agency is no exception,” said Heinrich. “Providing services online and creating flexibility for remote work are important to modernizing our government, but cannot take the place of providing essential services in person. That’s especially true for so many New Mexicans who lack access to broadband. I’m proud to introduce the bipartisan RETURN Act that requires concrete plans for return to in-person operation at federal agencies, and guarantees New Mexicans can get the support they need.”

On June 10, 2021, GSA, OMB, and OPM issued a memo regarding the return of federal employees and contractors to physical workplaces. The deadline to submit plans was July 19, 2021. However, given the spread of new coronavirus variants, many agencies have had to produce new plans, which are currently still unavailable to the general public and to Congress despite ongoing requests.

The extended absence of some federal workers from their workstations has exacerbated ongoing concerns about the federal government’s general responsiveness and accessibility. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs case backlog rose sharply to 204,000 cases in October 2021 because of a pause of in-person Compensation and Pension examinations in 2020. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned that Americans should expect delays in the processing of their 2021 tax returns because the agency reportedly has 6 million unprocessed individual 2020 tax returns and 2.3 million unprocessed amended tax returns as of Jan. 1. Last year, the wait time for a new passport rose to 12 to 18 weeks. And the Social Security Administration has been widely criticized for a drop in services because offices are still closed to the public.

Among other provisions, the legislation would:

• Direct federal agencies to submit to Congress and publish on their website a plan for the agency to resume in-person operations no later than 30 days after enactment of the legislation;
• Enable employees who can successfully achieve their duties outside their workstation to work remotely if agency policy permits;
• Require federal agencies to devise explicit guidelines for employees who handle sensitive or private information to ensure essential services can be provided;
• Require agencies to implement performance metrics to identify employees failing to fulfill duties;
• Require federal agencies to establish a contingency plan for an increase in COVID-19 transmission that would require employees to work remotely;
• Require agencies to submit plans to prepare for an event in which remote work would become necessary; and
• Require agencies to report the utilization of physical work spaces and recommend the termination of leases for underused spaces to the Administrator of General Services no later than 60 days after enactment.

Senator Heinrich joined U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) in introducing the RETURN Act. Click here to read the full text of the legislation.

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