Telecommuting Bills Reintroduced

Legislation has been reintroduced (HR-1744) to encourage greater use of telecommuting in the federal workplace. The measure would: require OPM to produce new government-wide guidance on the program; allow employees eligible to do so at least 20 percent of the hours worked in every two administrative workweeks; establish a telework coordinator in each agency; increase training on the issue for managers and supervisors; and increase protections for employees who telework. A similar bill passed the House last year but did not reach a vote in the Senate. The Senate version of this year’s proposal (S-707) further would require that employees generally be deemed eligible to telecommute unless they fell under certain exceptions, a reversal of the current policy that eligibility must be established case by case. A recent report from OPM found that about two-thirds of federal employees have been designated as eligible to telework but that fewer than 8 percent of those do so at least once a month—although those who do telework are doing it more often. The number of telecommuters fell between 2006 and 2007, largely due to cutbacks in the program at DoD, offset somewhat by increases in other agencies.