Senate panel OKs bill to expand telework eligibility
Bill would make all federal employees eligible to telework unless they fall under certain categories that would prohibit it.
Citing the need to reduce long commutes and traffic congestion, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved a bill make more federal employees eligible to work from home or other remote sites.
The bill, S. 1000, was adopted by unanimous voice vote. It would make all federal employees eligible to telework unless they fall under categories that would prohibit it. Current law makes all federal employees ineligible to telecommute unless granted permission.
Employees who handle secure materials, work in protecting national security or the intelligence field, or have a job requiring their physical presence still would be ineligible.
The issue of security and privacy surrounding federal employees was heightened in 2006 when a laptop computer containing the personal information of 26.5 million veterans and military personnel was stolen after a Veterans Affairs Department employee took the computer home to complete work. The computer was later recovered but not without spurring numerous congressional hearings on data security.
A substitute amendment, which was approved by voice vote, set the definition of telework in the legislation as working away from the office at least 20 percent of each pay period.
Co-sponsor Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said the bill would help ease traffic congestion in cities, leading to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. He added that the bill is "going to be even more helpful to rural America."
The measure would require that every federal agency designate one full-time employee to serve as a telework managing officer. Those managers would be responsible for implementing telework plans and would serve as liaisons between employers and employees who telework.
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., praised the bill, saying that it would help federal agencies "overcome the inertia" that has prevented them from implementing a proper plan.
During a hearing before the committee earlier this year, Stephen O'Keeffe, CEO of the Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership that provides telework education, told members that the average federal employee spends 245 hours a year commuting to and from work. O'Keeffe added that telecommuting two days per week could yield a 98-hour reduction in annual commuting time and save $55.52 per month on gas at $3 per gallon.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is working on similar legislation.
A survey of 25 federal agencies by that panel found no consistent definition of telework. According to the Office of Personnel Management, 111,549 out of 1.8 million federal employees telecommuted in 2006.