# Understanding the Earn Your Keep Act

This bill would require federal government agencies to go back to the telework policies they had before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. Essentially, it's saying that whatever rules were in place on December 31, 2019 about working from home would need to be reinstated within 30 days of the bill becoming law. If an agency has allowed more remote work during or after the pandemic, this bill would force them to return to stricter, pre-pandemic standards.

The bill includes a significant enforcement mechanism: any federal employee who doesn't follow the reinstated telework policy would be fired, and their job position would be eliminated entirely. This is a pretty harsh penalty compared to normal workplace discipline. The bill also says these reinstated policies would override any other agreements the agency has made with employees, including union contracts or other employment agreements that might allow more flexibility.

Additionally, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office (a congressional watchdog agency) to study federal employees who were working remotely during the pandemic. Specifically, they'd need to look at how much these employees were being paid based on where they lived and where they actually worked from. This suggests the bill's supporters may be concerned that remote workers in lower-cost areas were being paid salaries based on higher-cost areas, or vice versa.

For federal employees, this could mean a significant change in work arrangements—potentially requiring them to return to offices full-time if that's what the pre-pandemic policies required. For taxpayers, the bill's supporters argue it would ensure government workers are physically present in their offices, though critics might question whether forcing people back to offices is the most efficient use of government resources.

Earn Your Keep Act

Carl, Jerry L.

Earn Your Keep Act This bill requires each executive agency to reinstate the telework policies that were in effect on December 31, 2019. Employees who do not comply with the reinstated policies must be removed from the civil service, and their positions must be eliminated. The Government Accountability Office must report on the locality pay and geographic location of employees who were teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic.