Legislation to substantially increase the number of federal employees who telework on a regular basis was approved unanimously Wednesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, clearing the way for consideration by the full U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Gerry Connolly is a sponsor of the bill.

The legislation would expand telework in the federal government, require every federal agency to designate senior-level employees as Telework Managing Officers to implement telework, make telework a central element of federal agencies’ Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) to cope with a natural or manmade emergency, and require a study to gather data on telework’s benefits.

The Telework legislation is sponsored by Congressmen Connolly, Frank Wolf, Jim Moran, and John Sarbanes, and cosponsored by other members of the Washington-area congressional delegation.

The committee on Wednesday approved a Connolly amendment to the bill establishing a means to study the impact of increased telework by the federal workforce on worker productivity, traffic congestion and air quality in the region. 

In arguing for his amendment, Connolly said, “We need to transition from anecdotal reports to analytical data about the benefits of telework.  As we move forward with a robust telework program, a study will provide us with hard data to make sure that telework is doing what we set out to achieve.”

Another Connolly amendment which would require agencies to coordinate telework plans with FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security and include telework in their COOP plans was included in the bill when it was considered by the Federal Workforce Subcommittee in March.  “The safety of our region depends upon the federal government’s ability to function even if the region’s transportation network is paralyzed.  We have to be prepared,” he said.

Connolly credited the February blizzards “for raising the attention level” about telework, noting that more federal workers than originally anticipated teleworked during the storms, saving about $30 million per day in lost productivity costs.   He said it will also serve as an important tool for recruitment of the next generation of federal workers.

Currently about 6.5 percent of federal employees telework on a regular basis, a much lower rate than local governments and private sector employers in the region. 

As Chairman of the Fairfax County Supervisors, Connolly championed Telework for government and private sector employers in the county of 1.1 million people.  He used his bully pulpit as Chairman of the Metropolitan Council of Washington Governments to increase telework across the region.  Now he is using his knowledge of telework to seek expansion of the program in the federal government.

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FROM THE WASHINGTON POST:

House panel advances government telework bill

By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 15, 2010; Page B03

A House committee approved a bill Wednesday that would probably lead to more federal employees getting permission to work from home, boosting an effort to encourage government telework that has gained momentum in recent months.

The Oversight and Government Reform Committee, with bipartisan support and little debate, sent the measure to the House floor on a voice vote. It would require federal agencies to adopt policies allowing employees to work away from the office, with exceptions for those whose jobs cannot be performed elsewhere. Each agency would have to designate a telework managing officer to oversee the policies.

Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) said the Telework Improvements Act of 2009 is "a good-government bill that will save taxpayers money while reducing energy consumption, air pollution and traffic congestion." He called it "a win-win-win situation."

A House vote will probably be scheduled by Memorial Day, and approval is "very likely," said Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), a sponsor of the legislation. A similar bill passed the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last year.

Federal employee unions and telework advocates hailed the vote. William Bransford, general counsel for the Senior Executives Association, said the group supports the legislation but wants to ensure that employees who telework don't develop "a sense of entitlement: 'I'm on my telework day, so don't call me at home because that's my castle, and I don't want to answer e-mails.' That has happened in some workplaces."

Steve O'Keeffe, executive director of the Alexandria-based Telework Exchange, called that concern "yesterday's way of looking at things."

"We're well beyond that," he said. "If someone is teleworking, you should call them as if they were in the office."

The federal government has promoted telework for years, but resistance from managers and the need to maintain computer security had often stymied it.

But the effort gained a major boost this winter with the record snowfalls in Washington. Officials recently told Congress that telework during the snowstorms had reduced the estimated cost of lost productivity from $100 million a day to $71 million. President Obama also highlighted the benefits of a flexible workplace at a White House forum last month.

The government encouraged nonessential personnel in downtown Washington to telework during this week's nuclear summit because of expected traffic snarls. Officials could not provide a number for how many workers went along, but Connolly noted what numerous drivers observed: Commuting times were shorter than usual.

"Clearly, it did work,'' he said. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/14/AR2010041404825.html