Telecommuting moving along at a snail’s pace, report finds

While the percentage of federal employees who telecommute at least once a week has doubled since 1998, the number of employees participating in telework and telecommuting programs remains small, according to an interim report on teleworking from the Office of Personnel Management. The report, "Telework in the Federal Government," stemmed from an OPM request earlier this year that agencies identify positions that lend themselves to telecommuting and then offer those employees the option of working from home or at a telework center. OPM also ordered agencies to report any barriers that kept them from increasing their number of teleworkers. Those reports were due on April 16. The report's findings confirmed what many inside and outside the government already knew: While the majority of agencies have telework plans in place, few employees are actually using them. In fact, just 2.6 percent of the 1.7 million federal employees telecommute at least once a week. That percentage rises only slightly when you include employees who telecommute less than once a week. "This is a long-term endeavor, with the potential to significantly change the way the federal government conducts and carries out its business. Substantial advances in telecommuting require very significant culture changes within organizations," Teresa Jenkins, director of Workforce Relations at OPM, told the House Subcommittee on Technology and Procurement Policy on Thursday. Agencies with fewer than 300 employees use telecommuting more than larger agencies, the report said. OPM says this is because managers at smaller agencies have "personal knowledge of employees' performance and capabilities." Treasury Department employees telecommute the most, with 20,087 telecommuters who represent nearly half of the 2.6 percent of federal workers telecommuting weekly. The Commerce Department came in second, with 4,564 telecommuting employees. According to Jenkins, 76 agencies reported having telework policies in place covering the majority of their employees. Another 18 agencies said they had no plan in place. However, Jenkins told legislators, the information culled from the agencies is incomplete because some agencies find it difficult to identify and track teleworkers. Other agencies said they had employees who telecommute occasionally, but did not provide estimates of those intermittent telecommuters. Some agencies said they were in the budding stages of implementing a telecommuting program, including starting pilot programs, drafting or completing a policy or finalizing negotiations with unions. Some agencies are revising current policies or incorporating information gleaned from a pilot program. The report also spoke to the barriers to telecommuting that are keeping it from being used more frequently in the federal workplace. Those include manager reluctance, money, concerns about computer security and employee fears that they'll become out of touch with the workplace. In the months since the reports were received, OPM has stepped up its efforts to promote telecommuting, including issuing telecommuting guidance and collaborating with the General Services Administration to create www.telework.gov, a Web site that publicizes guidance and policies on telecommuting from agencies across the government. Jenkins said OPM plans to create a program that will allow agencies to electronically track telecommuters through personnel or payroll systems. OPM also plans to develop an internet-based training module that will help eliminate managers' resistance and employees' fears. OPM is also working with the Chief Information Officers Council to develop guidance that will help agencies in areas such as data security, connectivity, legal and procurement issues, taxes and training. According to Jenkins, OPM plans a second survey this fall. Agency officials hope it will provide better information than the interim report.