Teleworking increases across government

The number of federal employees working away from the office grew by 37 percent in 2004, continuing an upward trend in telework, according to a new report from the Office of Personnel Management.

The report, called "The Status of Telework in the Federal Government," stated that 140,694 federal employees teleworked in 2004, up from 102,921 in fiscal 2003. In fiscal 2002 there were 90,010 teleworkers and in fiscal 2001 -- the first year agencies were surveyed - the total was 72,844.

OPM changed the reporting period to reflect status at the close of the calendar, rather than fiscal year, meaning that agencies had more than a year to boost their telework numbers between the 2003 and 2004 surveys.

Of the 1.8 million employees included in the latest survey, 752,337 were deemed eligible for telework by their agencies in 2004. Of those, nearly 19 percent -- or 140,694 - took advantage of the arrangement. About 14 percent of eligible employees worked away from the office in fiscal 2003.

Language included in the fiscal 2001 Transportation-Treasury appropriations act allows agencies to decide which employees can telework "without diminishing . . . performance."

OPM sent the 2004 survey to 86 agencies and 82 responded. Ten agencies reported telework statistics for the first time in this survey.

Twelve of the agencies responding did not have telework policies in place and 43 had specified occupations eligible for telework. Thirteen reported that their executives were ineligible for telework.

About a quarter, or 20, of the agencies responding said they purchased equipment for their teleworkers, and 35 expected employees to purchase their own equipment. Thirty-six agencies allowed teleworkers to bring their equipment into the office for repairs.

A 60-day trial period at the Washington Metropolitan Telework Centers resulted in 35 new employees working from remote sites. Twenty-four of those employees continued to use the centers after the trial period ended, according to the survey.

But agencies' overall use of the centers, which are furnished with computers, high-speed Internet access, phone service, printers, faxes, copiers, conference rooms and break areas, decreased. In 2003, 435 workers used the centers, but in 2004 that number fell to 386, resulting in a $51,219 drop in collected fees.

Agencies told OPM that office scheduling conflicts were the largest barrier to the successful implementation of telework in 2004. That was followed by the nature of the agency's work. Data security issues ranked as the third-most common barrier.

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 agencies included in the legislation are the departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Small Business Administration. These five agencies survived similar scrutiny last year.

At the Commerce Department, 38.9 percent of employees deemed eligible for teleworking in 2004 actually worked away from the office, as opposed to 38.7 percent in 2003. The Justice Department experienced a more dramatic jump, going from 4.4 percent of eligible employees teleworking in 2003 to 40.3 percent in 2004.

About 82 percent of those allowed to telework at the State Department did so in 2004, compared with 1.5 percent in 2003.

Both the SEC and SBA showed a minimal number of teleworking employees in OPM's 2004 survey. At the SEC, six out of 648 eligible employees took advantage of the arrangement. Only two of 328 employees eligible at SBA worked away from the office.

Percentages of eligible employees working away from the office did increase at both, however, rising from 9.5 to 16.7 percent at SEC and from 8.6 to 9.9 percent at SBA.

Because NASA and the National Science Foundation are now under the jurisdiction of the appropriations subcommittee that handles the State-Commerce-Justice spending bill, they also will be required to certify that teleworking opportunities are available to all eligible workers. But they do not have to show an increase because they were not subject to last year's requirements.