Last Updated: October 11, 2026 Reading Time: 8 min

Under the telework statute, a denied telework request gets a federal employee nothing appealable today, though a union contract or a disability accommodation claim can open other routes. The Telework Enhancement Act makes telework something an eligible employee "may be authorized" to do under an agency policy, and the Merit Systems Protection Board hears only actions a law, rule or regulation makes appealable. The Federal Telework Protection Act, H.R. 10713, introduced October 1, 2026, would change that with a two-step appeal that ends at the MSPB and a 90-day clock that works in the employee's favor. It is also one committee referral old, and it is easy to overstate in three places.

Quick Answers: H.R. 10713 and Telework Denials

Can I appeal a denied telework request as a federal employee right now?

Not under the telework statute. 5 U.S.C. § 6502 requires your agency to set a telework policy, decide who is eligible and notify you, but says telework "may be authorized" and contains no appeal or grievance right, and the MSPB can hear only actions a law, rule or regulation makes appealable (5 U.S.C. § 7701(a)). Two routes that do exist are a union contract with telework language and, if the request is disability-based, the Rehabilitation Act's reasonable-accommodation process.

What would the Federal Telework Protection Act change if it passed?

H.R. 10713 would add a new 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e): an executive-branch employee requests telework from the immediate supervisor, who must make a "reasonable determination"; a denial can be appealed to a new telework office inside your agency and then to the Merit Systems Protection Board under 5 U.S.C. § 7701; no decision within 90 days of the request (supervisor) or of the appeal (telework office) means the request is "deemed approved until the date a final decision is made"; adverse personnel action in retaliation for requesting or appealing is barred, with no enforcement route stated; and agencies must publish their telework policies. The bill does not amend § 6502, so its eligibility exclusions stay.

Does the bill guarantee telework if my supervisor ignores my request?

Only on an interim basis. If the supervisor issues no decision within 90 days of your request, or the telework office issues none within 90 days of your appeal, the request is deemed approved, but only "until the date a final decision is made." A later final decision ends the interim approval.

What does the bill say about medical conditions and commuting time?

Supervisors and the telework office would have to consider "medical conditions, caregiving, disability, and significant commuting time to the employee's official duty station." For an urgent medical condition, the supervisor would, "if practicable," grant 10 to 15 business days of telework while the request is pending, and medical information given to the telework office could not be shared without your consent. Current law does not require supervisors to consider commuting time.

Would the bill repeal the January 2025 return-to-office order?

No. Section 4 bars federal funds from being used to implement the January 20, 2025 presidential memorandum "Return to In-Person Work" or any later directive to end remote work, which is a funding limitation, not a rescission. The sponsor's release describes this as rescinding an "executive order," but the January 2025 action is a memorandum and the bill's text does not revoke it.

Does the bill override my union's telework agreement?

No. Section 3(b) states that nothing in the Act "shall be construed to supersede any collective bargaining agreement," and lets future agreements bargain the substantive conditions and procedures of telework notwithstanding the Act.

Who is disqualified from telework under current law?

5 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(2) bars employees officially disciplined for being absent without permission for more than five days in a calendar year, or disciplined for viewing, downloading or exchanging pornography on a government computer or while on duty. Except in emergencies determined by the agency head, the telework policy does not apply to employees whose duties every workday require direct handling of secure materials the agency head determines inappropriate for telework, or activities that cannot be handled remotely or at an alternate worksite.

Where does the bill stand?

It was introduced on October 1, 2026 by Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) with Reps. Walkinshaw, Hoyer, McClellan, Ivey and Lynch, referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the same day, and, according to the sponsor's release, endorsed by NTEU, AFGE, POPA, NFFE, AFSCME and The Arc of Northern Virginia. As of mid-October, bill-tracking data shows no hearing or markup scheduled, and the bill contains no effective-date clause.

What a Denied Telework Request Gets You Today

Telework in title 5 means performing your position's duties from an approved alternate worksite, and chapter 65 covers title 5 "employees" of "executive agencies" (5 U.S.C. § 6501). Current law requires your agency to have a telework policy, decide who is eligible and tell you (5 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(1)). Eligible employees "may be authorized" to telework. That is permission the agency can withhold.

A telework agreement is a written, revocable arrangement. The statute requires a written agreement between an agency manager and the employee as a condition of participation, lets the agency revoke it when performance or compliance with the agreement falls short, and, except in emergencies determined by the agency head, does not apply the policy to employees whose duties every workday require direct handling of secure materials the agency head determines inappropriate for telework or activities that cannot be handled remotely or at an alternate worksite (5 U.S.C. § 6502(b)). Two statutory disqualifiers sit in 5 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(2), not in subsection (b): official discipline for more than five days absent without permission in a calendar year, and discipline for pornography on a government computer or on duty.

Read the whole section and you will not find a sentence giving you a right to appeal or grieve a denial. The MSPB's own statute limits appeals to actions "appealable to the Board under any law, rule, or regulation" (5 U.S.C. § 7701(a)). Nothing in the Telework Enhancement Act supplies that law, so under current law the MSPB has no jurisdiction over a denial under § 6502 as such.

Two routes do exist, and they run on different statutes.

Your union contract. If your collective bargaining agreement carries telework language, the negotiated grievance procedure applies. That is the route in the HHS and HUD arbitration cases we covered earlier this year.

The Rehabilitation Act. Federal agencies are held to the standards of title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act through 29 U.S.C. § 791(f). A disability-based telework request from a qualified individual with a disability is a reasonable-accommodation request under 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o): the agency must assess the request through the accommodation process. It may provide another effective accommodation, or decline telework where essential duties cannot be performed remotely or it would cause undue hardship (29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(n) and (p)). That is a higher bar than § 6502's open discretion. Telework is not named in the regulation's list of example accommodations; the list is illustrative. Our accommodation rights and revoked accommodation posts cover the process.

What H.R. 10713 Would Change

The bill amends 5 U.S.C. § 6505, the Telework Managing Officer section, by adding a new subsection (e). It does not amend § 6502, so the eligibility exclusions, the written agreement and the revocation rules above stay in place. Each step below comes with the bill text it rests on.

Step What the bill says Where
Request "An employee of an executive branch agency may make a request to telework to the employee's immediate supervisor," who "shall make a reasonable determination" considering job requirements and other factors the supervisor deems appropriate proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(1)(A)
Urgent medical condition "If practicable," the supervisor grants "a period of ten to fifteen business days" of telework while the request is considered proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(1)(B)
First appeal To a telework office "established within each executive agency," responsible for reviewing appeals proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(2) and (e)(4)(A)
Second appeal "An employee may appeal an adverse decision by the telework office to the Merit Systems Protection Board under section 7701" proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(4)(C)
90-day clocks No supervisor decision within 90 days of the request, or no office decision within 90 days of the appeal, and the request "shall be deemed approved until the date a final decision is made" proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(5)
Factors "medical conditions, caregiving, disability, and significant commuting time to the employee's official duty station" proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(3)(B)
Retaliation "No adverse personnel action may be carried out in retaliation against an employee filing a teleworking request" or an appeal proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(3)(A)
Medical privacy The telework office may request medical or other supplemental information and "shall ensure that such information remains confidential"; it could not be shared without the employee's consent proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(4)(B)
Public policies Each agency updates its telework policy and publishes it "on the agency's public website" proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(6)
Reporting OPM reports approved, denied, condition-based and unprocessed request counts to Congress "not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment," then annually proposed 5 U.S.C. § 6505(e)(8)

The MSPB appeal would run under 5 U.S.C. § 7701, the same adjudication statute used for removals and suspensions, which gives the appellant a hearing with a transcript and puts a preponderance-of-the-evidence burden on the agency for most actions (5 U.S.C. § 7701(a) and (c)). The bill states no filing window for that appeal, and we are not asserting one. Commuting time would become a required factor for the first time; current law and the accommodation rules do not recognize commuting difficulty alone. The retaliation bar names no enforcement mechanism. And the Telework Managing Officer, today a senior official inside the Chief Human Capital Officer's shop with direct access to the agency head (5 U.S.C. § 6505(a) through (c)), would have to be a career employee rather than a political appointee and would sit inside the new telework office.

Union contracts win. Section 3(b) says nothing in the Act "shall be construed to supersede any collective bargaining agreement," and lets future agreements bargain the substantive conditions and procedures of telework notwithstanding the Act.

Three Places the Bill Is Easy to Overstate

"Rescinds the executive order." The sponsor's September 30 release lists, among the bill's features, that it "Rescinds President Trump's executive order that terminated telework across the government." The text does something narrower. Section 4 says no federal funds may be obligated or expended to implement the presidential memorandum "Return to In Person Work" of January 20, 2025, "or any subsequent order or directive, and agency guidance associated with such memorandum," for the purpose of ending remote work and requiring in-person work at duty stations. A funding limitation leaves the document in force; it rescinds nothing.

"Deemed approved." The 90-day rule is real, and silence works for the employee. But the approval lasts only "until the date a final decision is made." A supervisor who ignores a request for 91 days and then issues a final decision on day 120 ends the interim telework on day 120. The bill does not forfeit the agency's right to decide.

"Executive order." The January 20, 2025 action is a presidential memorandum, not an executive order. It directs agency heads to "take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements" and require full-time in-person work at duty stations, "provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary," and it is to be "implemented consistent with applicable law." The exemptions are at agency heads' discretion; the memorandum itself names no categories.

Where the Bill Stands

H.R. 10713 was introduced October 1, 2026 by Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) for himself and Reps. Walkinshaw, Hoyer, McClellan, Ivey and Lynch, and referred the same day to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The sponsor's release lists endorsements from NTEU, AFGE, POPA, NFFE, AFSCME and The Arc of Northern Virginia. According to bill-tracking data as of October 11, the only recorded actions are introduction and referral, no hearing or markup is listed, and a sixth cosponsor has signed on. Every cosponsor is a Democrat, so the honest frame is what the bill would change, not what is changing.

The bill's findings section asserts that telework improves productivity, continuity of operations and retention, and reduces turnover, absenteeism and sick-leave use. Those are the sponsors' assertions, not data, and we attribute them as such.

There is no effective-date clause. The only enactment-linked deadline in the bill is the first OPM report, due within a year of enactment.

What to Do If Your Request Was Denied Now

  1. Ask for the agency's written telework policy and your eligibility determination. Both are required by 5 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(1), and the bill would add public posting on top.
  2. Check whether the denial fits one of the statutory disqualifiers or exclusions in 5 U.S.C. § 6502(a)(2) or (b)(4). If it does not, the denial is still discretionary, but you know what you are arguing against.
  3. If you are in a bargaining unit, read the telework article of your contract and the grievance clock. The bill would preserve that route either way.
  4. If the request rests on a disability, file it as a reasonable-accommodation request, in writing, and start the interactive process. That request has a legal standard; a plain telework request does not.
  5. Watch the bill. If it moves out of committee, the first thing to check is whether the "deemed approved" clause and the MSPB step survive markup.

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