Telework Enhancement Act

In today’s Federal Newscast, a Washington D.C. attorney says hundreds of thousands of federal employees are potential plaintiffs in this class action suit.

A Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee is holding a series of hearings to collect best practices on telework, which members say may inform new legislation or policy for the federal workforce.

If there is an electrified third-rail within the nation’s largest employer, Uncle Sam Inc., it is teleworking.

Following the recent rollback of telework agreements at the Education and Agriculture departments, two D.C.-area lawmakers have introduced legislation aimed at protecting and expanding existing agency telework agreements.

Federal employees are hearing a lot of mixed messages about telework these days, so Federal News Radio set out to answer their most common questions.

The percentage of the federal workforce eligible to telework remained unchanged between fiscal 2014 and 2015, but more workers could be eligible to use the program, the Office of Personnel Management said. About 46 percent of eligible employees participated in the program in 2015, a bump over the previous year’s rate.

The number of federal employees deemed eligible to telework nearly doubled last year. All told, nearly half of the entire federal workforce – more than 1 million employees – has been determined to be eligible to telework, according to an annual report to Congress from the Office of Personnel Management. OPM’s report, the second since President Barack Obama signed the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, also noted sizable gains in the number of agencies with telework policies in place, in the number employees who signed telework agreements governing their work outside the office and in the frequency with which they telework.

Defense analyst Jim McAleese reviews the Defense Authorization Bill agreed on by both the Senate and the House yesterday. OPM Director John Berry says proposed rules to implement phased retirement are on the fast track. Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) discusses changes that will make it easier for feds to telework. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) talks about benefits that will help retain federal employees. Vivian Reifberg of McKinsey & Co. talks about why the current administrative transition is so important. Alex Bolton of The Hill discusses the fiscal cliff negotiations.

Some managers find it difficult to lead employees working outside of the building. But hesitant leaders can find comfort in setting realistic expectations based on information gathered while employees are in the office.

Panelists at Wednesday’s Telework Town Hall Meeting said the technology is there to make the federal workforce more mobile.