THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY AUGUST 2024 13 Back to Work Act Introduced Anew bill limiting telework for federal employees, the Back to Work Act (S. 4266), was introduced on May 7 by Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and co-sponsored by Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va. at the time, now I-W.Va.). The bill would limit telework to no more than 40 percent of days within an employee’s pay period, allow flexibility and waivers for certain positions, and require agencies to monitor telework productivity and report on metrics and potential negative effects. A press release introducing the bill cited an October 2023 Government Accountability Office report that found many federal agency headquarters buildings largely vacant. The Office of Personnel Management’s 2023 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey found that the majority of federal employees are still teleworking at significantly higher levels than before the pandemic, according to a report at FedSmith.com. The bill is part of a broader effort, supported by President Joe Biden and other lawmakers, to increase in-person work among federal employees following the pandemic. Other legislative efforts include the Telework Transparency Act and the Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies (USE IT) Act, both aiming to scale back telework and better utilize federal office space. Tech Diplomacy Academy at State The State Department has become the rst organization to adopt the new Tech Diplomacy Academy platform launched by the Purdue Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy, according to an April 30 report in FedScoop.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=