Web site lets feds tally telework savings

In an effort to increase teleworking, a new Web site allows federal workers to calculate how much money they spend commuting to work.

The Telework Exchange Web site calculates the annual amount a worker spends traveling to and from their job, the percentage of after-tax income spent, and the weight of the pollutants produced from a worker's commute.

The Telework Exchange is funded by four companies serving the federal market. Its advisory board consists of representatives from the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management, staff from congressional committees and industry executives.

On Tuesday, Karen Evans, OMB's administrator for electronic government, praised the Telework Exchange and said that the importance of telework goes beyond convenience and environmental benefits. "[Telework] deals with recruitment and retention," Evans said. "It ensures that the government can continue its operations."

The Web site also will include a federal teleworker chat room, a resource center and a newsletter, The Teleworker.

Virginia House Republicans Tom Davis and Frank Wolf started promoting telework five years ago, because they believe it will help ease traffic in the Washington metro area. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks they pointed to telework as a means to decentralize the workforce and make immobilizing the government more difficult.

Davis, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, praised the Telework Exchange, saying that the public-private partnership "harnesses the power of the industry to get this initiative in gear."

Founding industry members of the Telework Exchange include CDW Government Inc., Intel Corp., Citrix and Juniper Networks. O'Keeffe and Company, an events and marketing firm, will manage the Web site.

Alfred Toussaint, Intel's federal marketing manager, said that information technology is the engine powering the economy and new technologies are allowing workers to do their jobs away from the office.

The Web site launch corresponds with the release of a survey that shows that percentage of federal employees who telecommute has slightly increased since some agencies started facing financial penalties for failing to make the option available to all eligible employees.

The 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act required the Commerce, State and Justice departments and the Small Business Administration to make telecommuting available to all eligible employees by Feb. 8 or lose $5 million from each of their budgets. Under the legislation, sponsored by Wolf, the agencies are allowed to determine what makes an employee eligible for telework.

According to the survey by CDW Government, 20 percent of federal employees telework, an increase of 1 percent from two months ago; the percentage aware of their telework eligibility remains the same at 51 percent. Employees who cite rising gas prices as a reason for their interest in telework increased from 31 percent to 46 percent between the end of January and the end of March.

The survey was based on interviews with 101 federal employees in the Washington metropolitan area in the final week in March.

"Telework remains gridlocked," said Max Peterson, CDW-G's vice president of federal sales. "The purpose of the Telework Exchange is to generate awareness."