{"id":22315,"date":"2020-07-30T18:54:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T18:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/30\/democratic-senators-propose-task-forces-to-protect-feds-safety\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:45:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:45:37","slug":"democratic-senators-propose-task-forces-to-protect-feds-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2020\/07\/30\/democratic-senators-propose-task-forces-to-protect-feds-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Fears about safety of federal works sparks reform effort on Capitol Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legislation introduced in the Senate Wednesday would give federal employees a more direct line to influence government reopening and safety precautions by creating executive-level and agency-level task forces responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on agency response policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis bill is about protecting our federal workers during the COVID pandemic,\u201d said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, in a news release. \u201cBy promoting a constructive dialogue between federal agencies and public servants, these task forces will help make sure the federal government creates good policy for its workers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill would require the task forces to review agency telework, leave, cleaning and training policies, while requiring agency leadership to include employees and unions in their COVID response decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed law, formally known as the Federal Labor-Management COVID Partnership Act, was introduced by Sens. Schatz, Gary Peters, D-Mich., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.. <\/p>\n\n\n\t