Telework Exchange

Let's Talk Telework
By Kathy Kadilak

Q: Who pays the expense of setting up a Federal teleworker's office?
A: It all depends on the organization you work for and the nature of your telework arrangement – that is, the frequency and consistency of it. Another factor to consider is whether or not your position is deemed "essential," whereby you are expected to continue working in a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) situation.

Visit the Federal government's telework Web site (www.telework.gov) to review the laws Congress has passed that permit the Federal government to pay for installation of phone lines, Internet connectivity, and other telework-related expenses. Further, the site includes the name and contact information for your agency's Telework Coordinator, who can help you understand your agency's specific telework programs.

As a general rule, if you telework on a regular basis or will telework during a COOP emergency, agencies will furnish a government laptop or desktop computer and will pay for a dedicated phone line in your home for business purposes. If you telework full-time, such as many U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) staff do, a significant portion of your home office setup is funded by the Federal government.

Q: Will there be any change to my Federal compensation and benefits if I telework?
A: You do not mention how frequently you telework, which will affect the answer to this question. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) pay regulations require teleworkers to report into the primary office at least once a week in order for it to be considered the official duty station for compensation purposes. Therefore, if you telework four days or less per week, your compensation and benefits will not change. If you are considering teleworking more frequently than that, you should talk with your human resources management officials to determine what specific changes in pay you might encounter. The issue here is locality pay, which may vary by employee.

Q: I'm a Federal government attorney and I am currently unable to telework due to my need to access and transfer voluminous data files. The bandwidth capability available through the GSA-sponsored Telework Centers is insufficient for my purposes. Is there any initiative underway to provide Federal teleworkers with unlimited bandwidth at these telework centers? On a side note, what is the likelihood that agencies will relocate offices to some of the "bedroom" communities surrounding the D.C. area so that fewer workers will have to commute into D.C.?
A: Most GSA-sponsored Telework Centers currently do not offer the type of unlimited broadband capability you need, with the exception of the one in Winchester, Virginia. However, there is a major project underway in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area that will offer a solution. FiberLight is building a metro network of fiber optic cabling that will provide unlimited broadband access to its customers. The company already has installed an underground, 300-mile network connecting Baltimore, Southern Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. It is currently constructing 130 miles of underground, state-of-the-art fiber through Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier, Culpeper, and Rappahannock Counties that will connect to the Northern Virginia and D.C. network.

The good news for teleworkers is that, through FiberLight's expanded fiber footprint, telework centers, businesses, and even government agencies can directly access and realize the advantages of fiber optic communication. Those advantages go beyond the speed, volume, and reliability of data transmission to enabling the Internet to be used for videoconferencing and Webinars at a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, individuals will be able to use the fiber optic network through service providers, and this will greatly enhance the ability to telework from a home office in one of the areas noted above.

In response to your last question, I believe the advent of fiber optic capability will encourage the relocation of some government organizations to more rural areas. This makes sense from an economic, environmental, and emergency preparedness standpoint.

Q: I successfully teleworked under a previous manager for several years. His basic rule for teleworkers was: "Do the work." It was just great, and I felt empowered to do my job in ways that worked best for me and my organization. All of that has changed with the arrival of a new supervisor. My agency does not have specific guidance for managers to follow in supervising teleworkers and this supervisor is not at all familiar with remote work or inclined to support it. He wants teleworkers-but not in-office staff-to develop a detailed action plan for completing our assignments and include set dates for doing so. He also is requiring a weekly report on the action plan. I want to keep teleworking but am frustrated and upset at the burdensome documentation I now have to complete. Any suggestions?
A: I oversaw the Department of Justice's (DOJ) telework program for more than a decade and occasionally encountered managers who would construct serious roadblocks to discourage telework and make it as painful as possible for employees who chose to pursue it. This is certainly true in other organizations in the public and private sectors. Telework requires a different style of management from the traditional model where managers focus on supervising staff who are physically present in the main office. Basically, managers of remote workers need to define successful work by the timeliness and quality of the work produced. They also need to trust staff to work independently to produce those results.

I was a regular teleworker myself for more than 12 years. At DOJ, we established a policy that used the same performance and reporting standards for teleworkers and in-office staff. In my former organization, all staff (regardless of where they were sitting when they worked) would submit a weekly report. The format was the same for everyone. If you go to the DOJ Worklife Web site (www.usdoj.gov/jmd/ps/worklife.html), you can review all of the telework information (look at the "Worklife Programs" and the "For Managers" pages, in particular). You might also visit the www.telework.gov and www.teleworkexchange.com Web sites for some great information on telework and training opportunities for managers.

Other suggestions for you to consider:

• Find ways to allay your supervisor's concerns by communicating more frequently than you normally would. When I had a new supervisor who was hesitant about my telework arrangement, I called and e-mailed frequently to assure them that I was "at work" and interested in maintaining close communication.
• Develop a simple workplan that would reassure this supervisor and not involve too much of your time. Then use your plan as the foundation for a weekly report.

If you are interested, I would be happy to provide you with a free copy of the handbook I wrote for prospective teleworkers. The Get on Track and Off the Road guide offers helpful information on communication issues and a daily activity log that enables you to easily identify what you can do remotely (and highlight in your workplan). I can also provide you with a sample weekly report. Feel free to e-mail me at the address listed below.

Send your questions or contact Kathy Kadilak, President of Strategic WorkLife Solutions, LLC, at kkadilak@swlsolutions.net.