Federal Manager's Daily Report

Advocates of telecommuting by federal employees are trying

a different argument in their efforts to spur agencies to

offer more opportunities to work from home or from

telecommuting centers, downplaying arguments based on

traffic and work/life balance and stressing disaster

preparedness.


That shift was apparent at a House Government Reform

Committee hearing last week in focusing on recent data

showing that only about 14 percent of federal employees

telecommute, that many of them are only “situational”–

versus regular–teleworkers and that even employees who

telecommute typically only do so several days a month.


Congressional advocates of telecommuting–particularly Reps.

Frank Wolf and Tom Davis, Virginia Republicans who represent

traffic-choked suburban districts outside the capital–

traditionally have stressed the value of telecommuting in

getting cars off the roads and saving commuting time for

employees. But a change of emphasis was signaled by the

title of the hearing: “the heightened need for telework

opportunities in the post-9/11 world.”


Said a committee statement: “Many federal departments and

agencies remain unprepared to operate in the event of a

catastrophic event. Telecommuting allows agencies to

function through natural or terrorist incidents that disrupt

business or force an extended evacuation of buildings, as

was the case with numerous government buildings following

the September 11th attacks, the anthrax mailings in October

2001, and Hurricane Isabel (which struck the East) during

September 2003.” Several witnesses at the hearing made

similar arguments.


Regardless of the justification, though, the committee said

that a cultural shift is needed before teleworking is more

fully accepted. “Telework challenges accepted views about

authority and accountability in office settings, and

consequently many federal managers seem slow to employ

telework in their agencies. Many supervisors cling to the

antiquated notion that if they cannot see their employees

they must not be working,” it said.