Title 5Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-73

§6504 Policy and support

Title 5 › Part PART III— - EMPLOYEES › Subpart Subpart E— - Attendance and Leave › Chapter CHAPTER 65— - TELEWORK › § 6504

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Agencies must work with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create telework rules. OPM must write guidance on things like pay and leave, agency closures, performance, official work locations, hiring and keeping staff, and help for employees with disabilities. OPM must also help set telework goals and measures and talk with FEMA, GSA, and the National Archives about emergencies, telework centers and technology, travel and dependent care, and records management (including Presidential and Vice‑Presidential records). The Director of OMB, with DHS and NIST, must issue security rules within 180 days to protect telework systems and data. Agencies must include telework in their continuity plans, and those plans override normal telework rules when in effect. OPM must run a central telework website and post FEMA and GSA guidance within 10 business days of receipt. Within 120 days, OMB must require agencies to buy computer systems that support telework unless there is a mission-specific reason not to.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §6504

Government Organization and Employees — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Each executive agency shall consult with the Office of Personnel Management in developing telework policies.
(b)The Office of Personnel Management shall—
(1)provide policy and policy guidance for telework in the areas of pay and leave, agency closure, performance management, official worksite, recruitment and retention, and accommodations for employees with disabilities;
(2)assist each agency in establishing appropriate qualitative and quantitative measures and teleworking goals; and
(3)consult with—
(A)the Federal Emergency Management Agency on policy and policy guidance for telework in the areas of continuation of operations and long-term emergencies;
(B)the General Services Administration on policy and policy guidance for telework in the areas of telework centers, travel, technology, equipment, and dependent care; and
(C)the National Archives and Records Administration on policy and policy guidance for telework in the areas of efficient and effective records management and the preservation of records, including Presidential and Vice-Presidential records.
(c)(1)The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, shall issue guidelines not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this chapter to ensure the adequacy of information and security protections for information and information systems used while teleworking.
(2)Guidelines issued under this subsection shall, at a minimum, include requirements necessary to—
(A)control access to agency information and information systems;
(B)protect agency information (including personally identifiable information) and information systems;
(C)limit the introduction of vulnerabilities;
(D)protect information systems not under the control of the agency that are used for teleworking;
(E)safeguard wireless and other telecommunications capabilities that are used for teleworking; and
(F)prevent inappropriate use of official time or resources that violates subpart G of the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch by viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography, including child pornography.
(d)(1)Each executive agency shall incorporate telework into the continuity of operations plan of that agency.
(2)During any period that an executive agency is operating under a continuity of operations plan, that plan shall supersede any telework policy.
(e)The Office of Personnel Management shall—
(1)maintain a central telework website; and
(2)include on that website related—
(A)telework links;
(B)announcements;
(C)guidance developed by the Office of Personnel Management; and
(D)guidance submitted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the General Services Administration to the Office of Personnel Management not later than 10 business days after the date of submission.
(f)Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this chapter, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue policy guidance requiring each executive agency when purchasing computer systems, to purchase computer systems that enable and support telework, unless the head of the agency determines that there is a mission-specific reason not to do so.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this chapter, referred to in subsecs. (c)(1) and (f), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 111–292, which was approved Dec. 9, 2010.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 6504

Title 5Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73