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Office of Congressional Workplace Rights Requests $8.6 Million to Maintain Oversight, Training
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Summary
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights asked for $8.6 million for fiscal 2026, citing a 5% increase over FY2025 to sustain statutory duties under the Congressional Accountability Act and to retain specialized staff who inspect legislative branch facilities and run training and dispute-resolution programs.
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) requested $8.6 million for fiscal year 2026 from the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch to continue administering workplace rights, safety, accessibility and veterans' preference laws that apply to the legislative branch.
Mister Crane, appearing for the OCWR, told the subcommittee that the office’s request is roughly a 5% increase over the continuing resolution level for fiscal 2025 and is focused on mission-critical line items to maintain current services under the Congressional Accountability Act. Crane said the office operates with 34 authorized full-time equivalents and that more than 80% of the request covers personnel costs.
“Mister Crane” said OCWR enforces a broad range of laws through a mix of services: outreach and training, confidential advising for legislative branch employees, an administrative dispute resolution program that includes hearings and mediation, and facility inspections. Crane said OCWR inspects more than 18,000,000 square feet of legislative branch facilities and conducts a biennial survey of more than 30,000 legislative branch employees to assess workplace environment and effectiveness of reforms.
Crane described steps the office has taken to modernize and increase efficiency, including a secure online claims platform, secure video conferencing for virtual hearings, a virtual option for secret-ballot union representation elections, and a new in-house learning management system for training delivery. Crane said many practitioners and claimants prefer virtual hearings and that offering both virtual and in-person options has improved access.
During questioning, Crane emphasized the need to retain specialized staff—safety inspectors, IT, records and legal professionals—and said the requested funds would permit competitive compensation and the ability to perform services in-house that previously required contractors. He also noted the OCWR board submitted recommendations to the 119th Congress to maintain parity between legislative branch protections and those in the executive branch and private sector, and the office proposed technical language to extend nursing protections enacted by the PUMP Act to legislative branch employees after an apparent drafting exclusion.
The subcommittee entered OCWR’s written justification for the record; no formal vote on the agency’s request occurred during the hearing.
