Teleworkers express more confidence in emergency plans

Nearly half of 150 federal employees canvassed by an online organization advocating increased use of telework said their agencies have not given them direction on how to respond to disasters.

Forty percent of those answering the survey conducted by the Alexandria, Va.-based Telework Exchange between Nov. 9 and Nov. 17 said their agency was not prepared to continue normal business operations in the event of a calamity.

But respondents from agencies that had incorporated teleworking into emergency planning were more confident. Of the 48 percent that fell into this group, 90 percent said they felt ready to continue normal operations in the event of a catastrophe.

Of the respondents who telework, 73 percent said they had personal guidance from their agency on how to respond to a disaster. Only 44 percent of those who do not telework reported receiving such direction.

Of the 167 federal employees surveyed for the 11-page report, titled "Federal Government Continuity Operations Planning - A Wake Up Call," 13 percent work at the Defense Department and 10 percent at the Veterans Affairs Department. Eight percent are employed at the Health and Human Services Department and another 7 percent work at the departments of Agriculture and Transportation.

The study's findings "demonstrate the value of telework programs as well as the need to increase awareness of business continuity preparedness," said Stephen O'Keeffe, executive director of the Telework Exchange. "Telework can provide better inter- and intra-agency communications with minimal to no business interruption."

People with e-mail addresses ending in .mil, .gov, .edu or .us can register to use the Telework Exchange's Web site. Respondents to the survey were federal employees who registered for the site by providing data on their commuting habits, including information on the type of vehicle they drove and the distance of their commute.

A month ago the Telework Exchange released a study that found that federal employees registered on the site spent an average of 233 hours a year commuting, at a cost of $10,580. Of the 3,500 registrants included in last month's study, 58 percent said they were interested in teleworking, 20 percent already were teleworking and 5 percent were telework managers.

A handful of agencies are under financial pressure from Congress to step up telework efforts. Language in the fiscal 2006 State-Justice-Commerce appropriations bill (H.R. 2862), signed by President Bush on Nov. 22, requires five agencies to increase the number of employees who work away from the office, or lose out on $5 million each.

The Office of Personnel Management's annual telework survey found that the practice of working away from the office grew by 37 percent in 2004, continuing an upward trend in telework.