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Citing the need to reduce long commutes and traffic congestion, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved a bill make more federal employees eligible to work from home or other remote sites.

The bill, S. 1000, was adopted by unanimous voice vote. It would make all federal employees eligible to telework unless they fall under categories that would prohibit it. Current law makes all federal employees ineligible to telecommute unless granted permission.

Employees who handle secure materials, work in protecting national security or the intelligence field, or have a job requiring their physical presence still would be ineligible.

The issue of security and privacy surrounding federal employees was heightened in 2006 when a laptop computer containing the personal information of 26.5 million veterans and military personnel was stolen after a Veterans Affairs Department employee took the computer home to complete work. The computer was later recovered but not without spurring numerous congressional hearings on data security.

A substitute amendment, which was approved by voice vote, set the definition of telework in the legislation as working away from the office at least 20 percent of each pay period.

Co-sponsor Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said the bill would help ease traffic congestion in cities, leading to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. He added that the bill is "going to be even more helpful to rural America."

The measure would require that every federal agency designate one full-time employee to serve as a telework managing officer. Those managers would be responsible for implementing telework plans and would serve as liaisons between employers and employees who telework.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., praised the bill, saying that it would help federal agencies "overcome the inertia" that has prevented them from implementing a proper plan.

During a hearing before the committee earlier this year, Stephen O'Keeffe, CEO of the Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership that provides telework education, told members that the average federal employee spends 245 hours a year commuting to and from work. O'Keeffe added that telecommuting two days per week could yield a 98-hour reduction in annual commuting time and save $55.52 per month on gas at $3 per gallon.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is working on similar legislation.

A survey of 25 federal agencies by that panel found no consistent definition of telework. According to the Office of Personnel Management, 111,549 out of 1.8 million federal employees telecommuted in 2006.

COMMENTS

• Some agencies, like mine, while permitting telecommuting in union contracts, have individual regions where management officials refuse to abide by the terms of the contracts thereby requiring the employees to resort to the grievance procedure. Such legislation is long needed and will advance the needs of both the government and the employees. Happy employees make for productive employees. I personally find that on the days I work at home I am significantly more productive than on the days I am in the office. I schedule my hearings on certain days, and set aside others for paperwork. If I am in the office on paperwork days I am often interruped by phone calls, conversation in the hallway on the way to the restroom and other things that cause me to waste time. At home, I get my computer out and begin work without distraction. I'm sure others who work at home find it to be much the same. I do hope that this legislation passes and is signed into law. joyce.krutick.craig Posted November 16, 2007 2:45 PM
• The bill will probably aid somewhat to the situation. However, as I read many of these comments. Its not enough. Agencies must be mandated and put in a position of justifying why they are not complying and allowing more employees to work, I teleworked for almost 2 1/2 years & saved literally hundreds of dollars. The current situation with Ag is terrible, there are double standards all over the place. I now have to justify literally everything that I'm doing when I telework on the episodic versus continuous. Absolutely everthing I do can be done from remote location. Ron Lester Posted November 16, 2007 2:27 PM
• Linda Green is correct - managers will fight tooth and nail to regain/maintain the "thumbs on" approach to management. How else can they justify excessive GS 15 payband salaries if they have no one to observe? We've had Flexiplace for years, but management uses removal from flexiplace as a sword to hang over the employees' heads. Lauri G NTEU Posted November 15, 2007 6:12 PM