Telecommuting program lauded at Patent and Trademark Office

Telecommuting efforts at the Patent and Trademark Office received kudos Wednesday from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The agency's Trademark Work-at-Home Program was praised by the Council, which awarded the agency its 2001 Commuter Connections Employer Recognition Telework Award. The award recognizes employers who initiate programs that encourage the use of commuting alternatives. "We are very pleased with the success of our Trademark Work-at-Home Program," said Nicholas Godici, acting PTO director. "The agency is benefiting from higher productivity because participants spend more time examining applications, and turnover among those working at home is minimal." PTO established a two-year pilot project in 1997, allowing 18 trademark attorneys to work from home. Officials started the program to keep good employees and relieve office overcrowding at the agency. Now, nearly 25 percent of the agency's 400 trademark attorneys telecommute and the agency has plans to expand the program to include patent examining attorneys. By law, federal agencies must establish policies allowing eligible employees to telecommute. The law also requires the Office of Personnel Management to ensure that 25 percent of the federal workforce is participating in telecommuting programs at least part of the time by April 2001. To comply with the law, OPM instructed agencies to identify positions that lend themselves to telecommuting and then offer employees in those jobs the option of working from home or at a telecommuting center. Agencies' telecommuting reports were due on April 16. OPM is evaluating the information for a report scheduled for release in the next few weeks.