Telework Exchange

On April 29th, the newly-appointed director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM), John Berry, announced a strong initiative to encourage agencies to adopt and expand telework.

"I'm here to put some giddy-yap into telework," said Director Berry. "I was raised in the D.C. metropolitan area, so I know a little something about the traffic congestion that frustrates commuters and saps them of energy even before they get to the office."

Among the steps underway to bolster Federal government telework, Berry cited the following:

• Advisory Group: OPM will establish a small panel of Federal telework coordinators to develop practical and actionable telework standards for agency reference and use
• Telework Policies: OPM will conduct a review to ensure that agencies are implementing strong, consistent telework policies
• Telework Managing Officer: OPM will encourage each agency to establish a Telework Managing Officer position to help employees, supervisors, and executive management to implement sound programs
• Appeals Process: OPM will encourage Federal agencies to provide for effective, transparent appeals processes for employees whose requests for telework and other flexible work arrangements are denied
• Training: OPM will provide improved, broadly-accessible telework training for Federal agencies

At present, Director Berry is focused on building an advisory group and reviewing each agency’s telework policies. As part of this review, agencies were asked to submit their telework policies to OPM by the end of May

For a complete summary of the OPM announcement, please visit: www.opm.gov.