Patent office union expresses concern over massive telework program

More than 225 employees have enrolled in a Patent and Trademark Office program that allows them to work primarily from their homes, but forces them to give up their individual offices -- a requirement their labor union said may make others hesitant to participate.

Agency officials, however, said that the program appears to be successful and that by the end of the year, they expect to meet their goal of having 500 examiners in the work-from-home arrangement. On Tuesday, PTO broadened the eligibility requirements to allow all qualified patent examiners to participate, rather than only senior examiners.

Robert Budens, president of the Patent Office Professional Association, said this move signaled that the agency is struggling to attract workers to its "hoteling" program, where participants work mostly from home and reserve spots in shared office workspace as needed.

But PTO spokeswoman Brigid Quinn said interest in the program has been overwhelming, and cited that as the reason the agency is making it available to more people.

Buden said a union survey of employees found that 35.5 percent of respondents wanted to participate in the hoteling program. But at the other extreme, 39 percent were not interested, he said, adding that many would prefer to see a long-standing agency telework program allowing qualified employees to work from home one day a week expanded to allow two days a week.

The Patent Office Professional Association represents about 4,000 patent examiners, classifiers and computer scientists.

In late 2005, PTO announced plans to enroll 500 employees a year into the hoteling program. The agency has agreed to pay for home office equipment, such as laptop computers and fax machines, but in turn, is making participants give up individual space at work. About one cubicle per every three employees in the program will be set aside for use when they need to come into the office.

Budens said many potential participants are concerned that they would not have enough time to see if they can work effectively from home before giving up their offices.

Under the new program, employees must come into the office at least one hour a week to fulfill an Office of Personnel Management requirement and allow the agency to keep its Alexandria, Va., headquarters as an official duty station. Otherwise, the agency could be billed for the time and the cost of trips between headquarters and workers' homes.

Quinn said the agency is working with OPM to eliminate the requirement.

Margaret "Peggy" Focarino, deputy commissioner for patent operations, said she has heard some employees do not want to give up their offices, but believes they are in the minority.

"I go out each week and talk to dozens of examiners and overwhelmingly they are very excited about it," Focarino said. "Out of 4,500 examiners I'm sure you'll run across a few that don't want to give up their office."

The agency's goal of hiring 1,000 examiners each year for the next five years is the primary reason for offering the hoteling option. Potential employees will see it as a huge benefit, Focarino said.

Agency officials believe the success of a telework program at PTO's trademark division, which is substantially smaller than the patent division, is indicative of what could happen with the new program, Quinn said.

A recent survey of nearly 75 percent of the 220 employees participating in the seven-year-old trademark telework program found that 99 percent of respondents were more satisfied with their jobs and 90 percent were influenced to remain at the agency.