United States General Services Administration

Interagency Telework Issues Working Group Subcommittee DRAFT Reports

United States Office of Personnel Management

(Revised May 10)

Existing Arrangements

• Under existing OPM guidance telecommuting is a management option rather than an employee benefit and does not change the terms and conditions of appointment.
• Executive Order 13078 dated March 13, 1998 establishing the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities requires, among other things, that 100,000 adults with disabilities be hired in the federal government.
• Section 359 of Public Law No. 106-346, October 23, 2000 requires each executive agency to establish a policy under which eligible employees may participate in telecommuting. OPM is required to apply the requirements of this Law to 25 percent of the Federal workforce, and to an additional 25 percent of the workforce each year thereafter.
• The International Telework Association & Council (ITAC) reported in "Telework America (TWA) 2000" that: (1) 13 percent of teleworkers surveyed would consider the ability to telework an important influence when making a decision to accept another job. (2) 10 percent of non-teleworkers surveyed considered that the ability to telework from home in a potential new job would have a moderate to decisive influence on their decision to make the move. (3) Many, if not most, experienced teleworkers are determined to continue teleworking; therefore, the ability to telework is important not only as a criterion for staying in their current job but also as a prerequisite for a new job.
• In an article entitled, "Employee Retention-Telework is a powerful way to keep and attract workers," AT&T cites an ITAC study pointing out that: (1) 53 percent of teleworkers say that the possibility of working at home some of the time is "important" in choosing an employer. (2) By contrast, 14 percent of teleworkers report that working at home is not at all important in considering a job. (3) Teleworking rates high on the list of desired employer traits. (4) Employers reap benefits from telework. Citing another ITAC survey, the article states that employers can: (1) save 63 percent of costs associated with absenteeism by allowing telework. (2) By retaining employees through telework companies can save over $14,600 per teleworker, the average cost of recruiting an employee.
• The 2000 AT&T Employee Telework survey (consisting of interviews with 1,238 managers) reveals that: (1) 67 percent of teleworkers who reported receiving a competing job offer reported that giving up an "AT&T telework environment" was a factor in their decision to turn down the offer. (2) 66 percent of all AT&T managers report that telework is an advantage in keeping and attracting good employees.
• Senator George V. Voinovich in his report entitled "Report To The President: The Crisis In Human Capital," discusses the impact of large scale retirements on the federal workforce. According to this report by the year 2004, 32 percent of the federal workforce will be eligible for regular retirement, and an additional 21 percent will be eligible for early retirement. That mans by 2004, over 900,000 employees - over 50 percent of the workforce - will be eligible to leave federal service. Estimates are that at least 660,000 employees will have retired by 2010, taking with them valuable and perhaps irreplaceable institutional knowledge, threatening to leave the government with an inexperienced and ineffective workforce. Any manager faced with such a potential loss should recognize the immediate need for action.
• Paul Light, author of the book "The New Public Service, points out that many young adults consider the government an employer of last resort. This negative image is further exacerbated by the perception that the federal government cannot compete with the private sector in terms of compensation and benefits.
• There is no statutory authority for federal agencies to pay for employees' licenses, certificates, and other professional credentials. This hampers the ability of federal agencies to compete in tight labor markets, and does not demonstrate that the federal government values the professional and career development of its employees. If this were changed, agencies would have a strong recruitment and retention tool.

Areas of Concern with Existing Arrangements

• Ensuring that disabled employees, in eligible positions, are given every opportunity to telework and that opportunities are widely publicized.
• Ensuring that OPM develops training programs for managers, supervisors on the use of telework as a recruitment and retention tool.
• Ensuring that OPM and agencies determine the effectiveness of recruitment and retention efforts as a result of offering telework programs; thus, baseline data should be collected before and after such programs are offered.
• Ensuring that agencies address eligibility criteria for telework in vacancy announcements. What is a reasonable time period that a new hire should spend in an organization, if any, before he/she is eligible to telework?
• Ensuring that agencies address the "equity issue" or the "digital divide" in determining which jobs are eligible for teleworking for recruitment and retention purposes. What level of supervision is needed; portability of assignments; availability of equipment etc.

Existing Flexibilities.

• Increased use of the new student loan repayment benefit, if available, would increase the number of potential employees who accept positions with the federal government as well as increase retention numbers.
• Use of pay raises for certain IT workers that took effect in January, 2001 should be a strong recruitment tool for federal agencies.
• While managers and executives have the flexibility to be personally involved in the recruitment and retention process many do not see this as a priority. This must change if federal agencies want to compete effectively for the best and the brightest.
• The Career Intern Program provides new flexibilities for managers to recruit new employees into federal service.
• Existing OPM policy allows agencies to approve alternative work schedules for employees who telework. Prospective and existing employees would see this as an attractive recruitment and retention tool.
• Existing OPM rules on pay and leave administration apply to employees who telework Special provisions on overtime pay and night pay for employees on alternative work schedules may make it easier for employees who telework to work at the times they are most productive and, may encourage potential employees to apply for federal jobs or stay with the federal government:
• Existing OPM policy provides that although teleworking will give some employees more time for balancing their work and personal responsibilities, they may not use duty time for providing dependent care or any purpose other than official duties.

Possible New Approaches

• As stated in the Voinovich Report, federal agencies should encourage individuals to enter government as managers at both the Senior Executive Service (SES) and non-SES management level (GS-13 to15) by offering higher levels of compensation. For example, the IRS has the authority to offer levels of pay higher than that established for the SES as a way to attract the best mid-career private sector managers. Without this special pay authority, the IRS would not be able to match the level of compensation that these individuals command in the private sector.
• Individuals entering federal service after 15 years in the private sector would most likely have to surrender a considerable amount of vacation time, as they would start earning annual leave at the rate of four hours per two-week pay period. In other words, agencies currently must ask mid-career professionals to accept a benefit typically offered to the most junior employees. Federal agencies need to have the ability to offer more attractive benefits to potential employees when recruiting.
• Provide flexibility for federal agencies to pay for employees' licenses, certificates, and other professional credentials or for the costs of examinations to obtain such credentials. This would show that the federal government values the professional and career development of its employees. This would be a strong recruitment and retention tool.

Recommendations

• Give special pay authority to all federal agencies on a similar limited and restricted basis as that given to the IRS to attract the best mid-career managers.
• Give mid-career employees entering the federal government increased vacation time and other time-accrued benefits. NASA has expressed how difficult it can be to recruit new, more experienced employees as well as people in mid-career. The flexibility to offer higher annual compensation and leave rates to top performing candidates or for difficult- to-fill positions would greatly enhance the government's recruitment capability.
• The Human Resources Management Council should make telework an agenda item and establish a subcommittee to address recommendations from the telework workgroup.
• Human Resources Directors should send memorandums to managers emphasizing that the use of telework as a recruitment and retention tool is expected and they will be held accountable for results.
• OPM should develop a separate "telework site"on the USAJobs site for posting vacancies that are identified as telework positions by agencies; vacancy announcements must include elegibility criteria. OPM and agencies should also consider posting vacancies on www.portajobs.com, a DC area job announcement service that only deals with telework jobs.
• USAJobs should be updated to updated to process applications/resumes for all agencies on line and the screening/selection process should be automated like QuickHire provides.
• Federal agencies must work with the OPM employment group to develop telework recruitment and retention codes for reporting purposes using the CPDF. Agencies need to be able to identify telework positions for reporting purposes, it would be helpful if a special code/identifier could be developed to facilitate reporting.
• OPM and GSA should develop a "best practices" website spotlighting private and public organizations that have made the use of telework for recruitment and retention purposes a priority, for example-AT&T, the Department of Labor etc.
• OPM should conduct annual surveys of how agencies are using telework for recruitment and retention purposes and use the results to track performance.
• When conducting job fairs agencies should emphasize telework positions.
• Agencies should network with ITAC, AARP, IPMA and other associations to ensure that they are aware of the emphasis on telework as a recruitment and retention tool.
• Agencies should assess the effectiveness of telework as a recruitment and retention tool during new employee orientation and during exit interviews.

References

www.opm.gov/wrkfam/telecomm/policies.htm
http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mp/library/policydocs/manual5.htm
http://hydra.gsa.gov/pbs/owi/manual6.htm GovExec.com
Report To The President: The Crisis In Human Capital

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