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S 27 119th Congress Senate Government Operations and Politics Commuting Computers and information technology Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management

Federal Employee Return to Work Act

Introduced: January 7, 2025 Introduced by: Cassidy, Bill Republican · Louisiana See on congress.gov
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 7, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Jan 7, 2025
Introduced in Senate
 Votes taken on this bill 1
DateChamberWhat was voted onResultYes–No
Apr 2, 2001 Senate · vote #64 On Passage of the Bill S. 27 Passed 5941 See who voted →
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Federal Employee Return to Work Act

This bill prohibits providing certain annual or locality-based pay increases to teleworking federal employees.

Currently, federal law mandates annual adjustments to General Schedule (GS) pay rates according to (1) a formula based on the annual percentage change in the Employment Cost Index (a measure of labor costs in the private sector); and (2) the difference between public and private sector pay rates in an employee's locality, if that difference exceeds 5%. For example, in 2025, the default annual rate of pay for a GS-7 (step 1) employee is $49,960; the adjusted annual rate of pay for a GS-7 (step 1) employee in the locality pay area that includes Washington, DC, is $57,164. 

The bill makes executive agency employees who telework at least one day each week (or, in the case of an alternative work schedule, 20% or more each week) ineligible for these payments.

The bill is effective on the first day of the fiscal year beginning after the bill's enactment. 

What's happening now January 7, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 8

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 27: Federal Employee Return to Work Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-27/
MLA
"S. 27: Federal Employee Return to Work Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-27/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 27, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-27/.
Markdown link
[S. 27: Federal Employee Return to Work Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-27/)
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