United States General Services Administration

Interagency Telework Issues Working Group Subcommittee DRAFT Reports

United States Office of Personnel Management

(Revised May 10)

Existing Arrangements

The Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) guidelines on basic parameters for telecommuting in Federal agencies includes the issue of dependent care which states that "although telecommuting will give some employees more time for their family responsibilities, they may not use duty time for providing dependent care for any purpose other than official duties."

The General Services Administration (GSA) guidelines on the dependent care issue is that telecommuting is not a permanent substitution for dependent care, but identifies that one of the benefits of telecommuting is to accommodate employees with short or long term health problems or family responsibilities, such as problems associated with elderly adult care and latch-key children.

The Department of Interior provides on-site accommodations for employees who have child or elderly adult care issues related to sick children and unable to attend day care and/or school or an elderly adult who cannot attend a day care or have an appointment. These accommodations include providing an established Family Support Room with a bed, refrigerator, TV and VCR, toys, etc. for the child and/or elder to use. Also, a computer, printer, fax, and desk for the employee. The impacted employee continues to work a normal work schedule and takes care of the child or elder. This is not an ongoing substitute for child and/or elderly adult care, but an alternative for those specific times when child or elderly adult care arrangements are needed at the last minute.

Also, some Federal agencies allow an employee to bring a child on-site to the main office when school is closed for a day due to weather or school conferences. In these situations, the child normally remains in the work location of the employee and the employee continues to work a normal work schedule and take care of the child. In addition, in these instances, the child is often allowed to use the government equipment for entertainment.

In addition, Federal employees are afforded the opportunity to participate in alternative work schedules and flexible hours, which allows employees alternatives for making arrangements for dependent care. However, generally, the flexibilities do not include the concept of 24/7 with the exception of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "any 80" work schedule which defines the tour of duty as Monday 12:01 a.m. to Saturday 11:59 p.m. The FDA flexibility is further discussed in the Working Flexibilities Report.

Areas of Concern with Existing Arrangements

Due to OPM and GSA guidance on the issue of telecommuting not being a substitute for child and/or elderly adult care, telecommuters are not afforded the same short temporary accommodations their colleagues receive at the main work site. An example of these accommodations is providing Family Support Rooms or comparable accommodations that allows employees to bring their children and/or elderly adults to work with them at the main office site for short temporary reasons. Some of the reasons are: 1) a sick child can not attend school; 2) school closure due to weather or one day school conferences; 3) elderly adults need temporary assistance, etc. There should be no difference between this accommodation being provided to the employee at the main work site or a telecommuter at a remote location. The same work issues will apply to all employees regardless of their work location.

There may be legal implications when a child remains at an on-site work location during the day. If the child is injured at the work location, the employer maybe liable. If the child damages the government equipment, the employer, if he/she has sanctioned the arrangement, may be responsible for the associated costs of repairing the equipment.

Federal employees are afforded the opportunity to participate in alternative work schedules and flexible hours to assist all employees in balancing work and family obligations. But, the flexibilities do not include the concept of 24/7. External to the government, some employers provide the 24/7 flexibilities to telecommuters. For example, the Office of Technology for the State of Minnesota, allows telecommuters to develop the telecommuting hours around dependent care duties. An employee can telecommute in the evening when another person is available to provide care. An employee who has a sick child at home on a scheduled telecommuting day may use sick leave for that portion of the day when caring for the child.

Possible New Approaches

Recognize that telecommuting may be an appropriate short-term temporary substitute for child and/or elderly adult care in certain situations. Some examples of these situations are: 1) a permanent day care provider is unavailable on short notice, whether it be child and/or elderly adult care; 2) a child is sick and can not attend school; 3) an elderly adult is sick and can not attend a day care; 4) a child's school is closed for the day due to weather or other emergencies, etc.; 5) an elderly adult needs to be taken to a doctor's appointment. In these situations there is a dual benefit for both the manager and the employee. The telecommuter may continue to work with minimal interruption. Also, the telecommuter may only be required to take minimal sick leave to meet the situation. This would be a win-win situation for the management and the employee.

Authorize more extensive flexible work schedules (i.e. 24/7) that allow telecommuters to arrange their work schedule around child and/or elderly adult care issues. The 24/7 flexibility recommendations are discussed in more detail in the Working Flexibilities Report. With a more extensive flexible work schedule available a telecommuter can make arrangements to ensure their child and/or elderly adult care issues are met without interfering with their work. These extended work schedules would allow parents with school age children to be available when children return home from school. This new approach can eliminate some of the latch key children situations and provide parental supervision to unsupervised youth. In addition, it will allow employees with elderly adults to be present if care is needed. In most cases, the elderly adults may only require minimal assistance and/or care.

Allow telecommuters to have child and/or elderly adult care provided in their homes by other caregivers at the same time they are working in the home office. It would be the responsibility of the telecommuter to ensure the dependent care does not interfere with their workday. This would allow parents to spend break and lunch time with a child or elder. This arrangement is already afforded to those employees who work at the main site and have a childcare center on site or elderly adult care in the vicinity.

Instead of Federal agencies having Family Support Rooms and/or allowing children to be on-site at the main office for short temporary situations previously discussed above, allow these impacted employees to telecommute in these situations. These employees will be more productive because the child is at home in their permanent surroundings. In addition, the employee does not have to take the sick child outside of the home environment, commute with the child, and expose them to more germs. The child has activities in the home environment to entertain their self for the day.

Recommendations

We recommend that OPM and GSA clarify and/or modify their current guidance to state that telecommuting may be a substitute for short-term temporary dependent care. Some examples of these situations are: 1) a permanent day care provider is unavailable on short notice, whether it be child and/or elderly adult care; 2) a child is sick and can not attend school; 3) an elderly adult is sick and can not attend a day care; 4) a child's school is closed for the day due to weather or other emergencies, etc.; 5) an elderly adult needs to be taken to a doctor's appointment. In these situations there is a dual benefit for both the manager and the employee. The telecommuter may continue to work with minimal interruption. Also, the telecommuter may only be required to take minimal sick leave to meet the situation. This would be a win-win situation for the management and the employee.

We recommend that OPM and GSA clarify and/or modify their current guidance to allow telecommuters to have in-home caregivers for child and/or elderly adult care during their telecommuting days in home offices. It would be the responsibility of the telecommuter to ensure the dependent care does not interfere with their workday. This will allow parents to spend break and lunch time with a child or elderly adult. In addition, this arrangement is already afforded to those employees who work at the main site and have a childcare center on site or elderly adult care in the vicinity.

We support the recommendation to change the current work schedule alternatives to allow a 24/7 operation. A 24/7 operation will be of benefit to the whole workforce, whether they are a telecommuter or not. The flexibility will allow employees to have options to balance their work and family responsibilities. The end result is a more productive employee with a higher morale.

References

www.opm.gov/wrkfam/telecomm/basic.htm http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mp/library/policydocs/manula6.htm www.ot.state.mn.us/ot_files/handbook/telpolic.html

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