Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-110

§6504 Policy and Support

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

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Require each federal agency to work with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) when it makes telework rules. OPM must give guidance on pay and leave, agency closures, performance, official worksites, hiring and keeping workers, and help for employees with disabilities. OPM must help agencies set goals and measures for telework, and talk with FEMA, GSA, and the National Archives about emergency plans, telework centers and tech, and records. OPM must run a central telework website with links, announcements, its own guidance, and guidance sent by FEMA and GSA (which must be posted within 10 business days). The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), working with DHS and NIST, must issue security rules within 180 days to protect information and systems used for telework. The rules must cover access control, protecting personal data, reducing vulnerabilities, systems outside agency control, wireless and other communications, and stopping misuse like viewing or sharing pornography, including child pornography. Every agency must include telework in its continuity plan, and that plan overrides normal telework rules when it is active. Within 120 days, OMB must tell 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)Agency Consultation With the Office of Personnel Management.—
Each executive agency shall consult with the Office of Personnel Management in developing telework policies.
(b)Guidance and Consultation.—
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)Security Guidelines.—
(1)In general.—
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)Contents.—
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)Continuity of Operations Plans.—
(1)Incorporation into continuity of operations plans.—
Each executive agency shall incorporate telework into the continuity of operations plan of that agency.
(2)Continuity of operations plans supersede telework policy.—
During any period that an executive agency is operating under a continuity of operations plan, that plan shall supersede any telework policy.
(e)Telework Website.—
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)Policy Guidance on Purchasing Computer Systems.—
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 5, Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110