Another Bid to Spur Telecommuting

A member of Congress who has been a major force in pushing for federal employees to telecommute, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., has added language to the Commerce-State-Judiciary spending bill (HR-2799) requiring agencies covered that bill to make telecommuting available to all of their eligible employees within six months of enactment. It’s the latest in a series of attempts by Wolf, the Office of Personnel Management and the General Services Administration to encourage agencies to let more employees work from home or from telecommuting centers. Despite all the urging, though, only about 5 percent of federal employees telecommute even part-time. Numerous studies have blamed managers’ reluctance to lose control over their workers as a prime reason the government allows so little telecommuting, although a recent General Accounting Office report (GAO-03-679) said inconsistent messages from OPM and GSA also contribute.