PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
Return to Work Act
This bill requires the head of each executive agency to reinstate the telework policies in use by that agency on December 31, 2019.
People & committees
Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5] · R–AZ
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Mar 7, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.107 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.107 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.107 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.107 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Return to Work Act would require federal executive agencies to restore the policies governing remote work that they used on December 31, 2019, within 60 days after enactment. Those policies would replace conflicting or different remote-work terms in employment agreements, including union agreements. The actual changes for employees would depend on each agency’s earlier policies and their current agreement terms.
This Act may be cited as the Return to Work Act.
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each Executive agency shall reinstate the telework policies in use by such Executive agency on December 31, 2019.
the reinstated telework policy of such Executive agency shall apply in place of any telework provision of a teleworking, collective bargaining, or other employment agreement of such Executive agency to the extent that such telework provision conflicts with, or applies a different telework policy than, the reinstated telework policy of such Executive agency.
Each executive agency head would be responsible for restoring that agency’s December 31, 2019, remote-work policies. The deadline would be 60 days after enactment, rather than a fixed calendar date.
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each Executive agency shall reinstate the telework policies in use by such Executive agency on December 31, 2019.
Once an agency restored its earlier policies, those policies would override remote-work provisions in teleworking agreements, collective bargaining agreements negotiated with unions, and other employment agreements wherever the provisions conflicted with or applied a different policy. This rule addresses remote-work terms, rather than replacing entire employment agreements.
Beginning on the date on which the head of an Executive agency reinstates the telework policies in use by such Executive agency on December 31, 2019, the reinstated telework policy of such Executive agency shall apply in place of any telework provision of a teleworking, collective bargaining, or other employment agreement of such Executive agency to the extent that such telework provision conflicts with, or applies a different telework policy than, the reinstated telework policy of such Executive agency.
The proposal would use existing federal statutory definitions of “Executive agency” and “telework.” Those definitions are referenced but not reproduced, so the supplied text does not fully describe which organizations and work arrangements they cover.
The term Executive agency has the meaning given such term in section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
The term telework has the meaning given such term in section 6501 of title 5, United States Code.
The supplied action snapshot, updated March 7, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on January 3, 2025. It does not establish the bill’s status after that snapshot.
Source snapshot updated 2025-03-07T15:45:43Z. 2025-01-03: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 2025-01-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying earmark disclosures and committee materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential treatment, special exemption, or carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Mar 7, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI