Supervisors essentially have the final say on whether an employee can telework or not. Their job is to encourage or discourage the use of telework in their respective offices, as they see fit. This means that some offices will be friendlier to teleworkers than others, despite OPM`s official position or agency management. OPM offers employees and executives a variety of courses and webcasts that they can use in their training, including topics such as the basics of telecommuting, benefits management, and long-term care. The TMO is the person within the Agency responsible for the telework program. This person advises the agency`s management and acts as the OPM`s contact person within the agency on teleworking matters. He or she also sets out the objectives and measures that measure the success of the program. Employees may also contact a telework coordinator who is responsible for the day-to-day implementation of telework in their agency. OPM has a tool that can help authorities find the contact details of their telework coordinators. Supervisors may also suspend or terminate an employee`s telework arrangement if they believe that telework is detrimental to the employee`s or organization`s performance.
Employee training also includes topics such as office connection and other practical aspects. Management training includes the design of a telework program and the effective monitoring of telework staff. The legislation sets out the roles, responsibilities and expectations of all federal executive agencies with respect to telework policies, employee eligibility and participation, program implementation and reporting, among other things. While the main focus is on the roles of federal agencies, the legislation specifically addresses the role of managers and other employee requirements in a number of areas. Specifically, the law states that one organization`s telework policy: OPM released a report in March after conducting a study on work-life balance programs such as telecommuting. Meanwhile, direct authority over individual telework arrangements for federal employees, including whether or not they can telework, rests with the employees` superiors. While OPM`s guidelines and the provisions of the Telework Enhancement Act apply uniformly to all organizations, telework at the employee level is considered a privilege rather than a right and is treated on a case-by-case basis. Specifically, OPM found that federal employees who telework or participate in one of their organization`s wellness programs are more likely to receive a “pass exceedance” rating in their last performance review than those who did not participate in any of these programs, according to OPM`s first study of government work-life programs. About 76% of teleworkers reported high performance ratings, compared to 72% of non-teleworkers.
The Act serves to support the development and further development of telework by defining a set of requirements to ensure that appropriate support structures (e.B. Leadership, policies, telework agreements) and competencies are in place to deliver effective programs. The law applies to all employees of the federal executive authorities. Subject to the restrictions described in the law and as defined in each organization`s telework policies and applicable collective agreements, workers may participate in telework regardless of where they work geographically. The separation lies in the way authority is distributed through telework. OPM doesn`t really have much power over telecommuting. It provides strategic direction and advice to organizations. It also helps them set quantitative and qualitative targets. But no agency can dictate telework policy. Organizations have more authority by being able to decide on the range of telework opportunities for staff. Agencies decide which jobs are eligible for telework and what schedules are possible for telework. In addition, they appoint a telework management officer and ensure that each teleworker has a written agreement setting out their specific plan.
Organizations are also responsible for ensuring that employees and managers complete telework training programs. While it`s far too early to expect quantitative data on the results of the USDA`s crackdown on telecommuting, department staff have since turned to them to express discontent and signal low morale. Federal employees must take telework courses if they want to telework. Managers also need to take telework training, whether they are teleworking themselves or simply supervising the employees who do so. However, some organizations have also developed tools that can be used to monitor the activities of teleworkers on agency networks to ensure that teleworkers do not abuse the program. Federal News Radio asked federal agencies what questions they had about telecommuting. Of the more than 70 different questions we received, most revolved around these five topics: There are several requirements that must be met when a manager formally denies an employee the opportunity to telework. Some of them include that the rejection must be in writing, must provide an explanation for the rejection, and must include all appeal or appeal procedures. This was an attempt to answer some of the most common questions the Fed asked us in an open survey. If you have any further questions about teleworking, please submit them here: Supervisors are also responsible for ensuring that teleworkable employees meet their productivity requirements.
OPM stresses Telework.gov that teleworkers must be bound by the same performance standards as their non-teleworking colleagues. The website also states that managers should focus more on results than physical presence. In addition, employees who participated in telework, work flexibility or health and wellness programs were much more satisfied with their work. Between 75% and 79% of employees who participated in one of these programs said they were satisfied with their work, compared to 67 to 72% of federal employees who did not participate in these programs. In fact, in 2017, the Government Accountability Office conducted a study on telework in four agencies. One of the things gao discovered is that this variation leads many federal employees to believe that their organization is implementing the telework program inconsistently. David Thornton is a digital editor for the Federal News Network, which deals with federal management, workforce and technology issues. Tanium Overview: The National Cancer Institute, Treasury, FEMA, and the Military explore how technology risk management is helping organizations better ensure that IT does what government agencies expect of it in this free webinar. Sign up for our daily newsletters so you never miss a beat in all federal affairs. .