United States General Services Administration

Interagency Telework Issues Working Group Subcommittee DRAFT Reports

United States Office of Personnel Management

Existing Arrangements

• Currently, there is no regulatory requirement for a written agreement for telecommuting. However, OPM guidance specifies that an employee who works a telecommuting schedule (other than for short periods) should sign an agreement with the agency. The purpose of the agreement is to identify and communicate the terms of the telework arrangement so that there is understanding by both parties. Clearly the intent of such agreement is to clarify the responsibilities and liabilities of both the telecommuter and the agency. OPM provides a sample agreement that an agency may use or modify. GSA guidance also provides a sample telecommuting agreement for agencies to use.
• There is no requirement in the OPM Guide to Personnel Record Keeping to store or retain a written telework agreement in the employee's Official Personnel Folder. OPM guidance suggests that the supervisor and the employee each keep a copy of the agreement for reference.

Areas of Concern with Existing Arrangements

• Since there is no requirement for a written agreement to document the terms of a telework arrangement, short term telecommuting for episodic, project or medical reasons is generally not captured for reference or to document the telework arrangement. This may cause problems later, such as false expectations by the parties, failure to document the work performed, failure to protect the employee's rights (worker's compensation) or to shield the employer from liabilities. Also the lack of an agreement may impede the reporting of intermittent or short term incidents of telework completed by an agency's employees.

Existing Flexibilities

• Federal agencies can choose to use either the OPM or GSA sample telework agreement or develop their own to document telework arrangements. In practice, in most agencies a formal agreement is prepared only for regularly scheduled, long-term telework arrangements.
• The Department of Energy's Flexiplace Program states that ideally an agreement should be completed for all telework arrangements. Since this may be impractical because of the urgency of a project or the employee's personal situation, DOE requires that an agreement be completed for both medical and non-medical work situations that, at a minimum, are expected to last more than a few days. DOE also provides a one-page "quickie" agreement that contains the essentials for short-fuse situations when there isn't enough time to fully coordinate a complete agreement. If there is a significant change in the participant's assignment, then a new agreement should be prepared. If there is any other change to the agreement, then an amendment or addendum should be prepared and signed. DOE's telework agreements may be for any period of time, but the plan states that these agreements should be reviewed and re-certified at least semi-annually.
• Under DOE's plan, the original telework agreement is filed in the employee's Official Personnel Folder.

Possible New Approaches

• A telework agreement should be required for both regularly-scheduled and non regularly-scheduled (episodic) telework.
• Agencies can choose to have an agreement when any non regularly-scheduled (episodic) telework will occur.

Recommendations

• We recommend that each agency determine when a written agreement is required to document the terms and conditions of a telework arrangement between the agency and an employee, and identify the terms or conditions that must be incorporated in such agreements to protect the employees rights and the employer from liabilities.
• We recommend that each agency establish retention and storage requirements to document its telework agreements with employees.
• We recommend that each agency determine how often and in what manner a telework arrangement is reviewed and recertified by the supervisor and the employee.
• We recommend that OPM design a prototype telework agreement for regularly-scheduled telework arrangements and another that agencies can use to document on a blanket basis the terms of arrangements that are not regularly-scheduled.

References Used:

www.opm.gov/wrkfam/telecomm.policies.htm
http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mp/library/policydocs/mworkplce.htm
www.ma.doe.gov/pol/doeflex.html
OPM Guide to Personnel Recordkeeping at www.opm.gov/feddata/html/opf.htm

• Back To Draft Reports Home Page
• To GSA Home Page
• To GSA Site Map
• To OPM's Work & Family website
• To OPM Home Page
• To OPM website Index