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.