Agencies are making progress in implementing a 2010 telework law, including increasing telework participation rates and notifying employees of their eligibility to work remotely.
In a webcast on Wednesday by Telework Exchange, the majority of participants (71 percent) reported that they had been notified by their agency of their telework eligibility status. Thirteen percent of participants said they had not been notified, while 6 percent said they were in the process of being notified, and the remaining 10 percent did not know one way or another.
Under the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act signed into law one year ago by President Obama, agencies are required to notify all employees of their eligibility status for telework. The law also requires each agency to designate a telework managing officer, ensure that telework is part of continuity of operations planning and establish telework policies in consultation with the Office of Personnel Management.
Participants in Wednesday's webcast also noted that the 2010 law is having an impact on telework participation rates at their agency. For example, 54 percent of participants said telework participation has increased during the past six months, with the majority of those respondents saying participation has increased between 1 percent and 9 percent. Forty-five percent of webcast attendees said they have seen no change in telework participation over the past six months.
Meanwhile, many participants (41 percent) said increased employee demand has prompted a stronger focus among agencies on telework. But there were other factors that contributed to the greater agency interest in telework, including an increased focus on business continuity plans (25 percent), recruitment and retention efforts (18 percent), and more customer/client demands (4 percent).
"Hopefully by the time we get these policies finalized, through legal and through everybody's review . . . we'll actually be able to see more and more increases [in telework] over the coming year," said Telework Exchange General Manager Cindy Auten, who moderated the webcast.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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