Posted on 11/23/2010 2:47:17 AM PST by Nickname
It’s a stocking stuffer many federal workers in the Capital region have been anticipating for years – the authorization and ability to work for the government from home.
On Nov. 18, the House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote of 254-152 adopted the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, a bill that improves and expands teleworking in federal agencies by requiring them to establish a policy under which eligible government employees are approved to telecommute. The bill also instructs federal agencies to notify their workers of their eligibility to telework, and it establishes a Telework Managing Officer to develop and implement the program.
The legislation, already approved by the Senate Sept. 29, now heads to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature into law. The administration has previously stated its support for the bill.
Congressman Frank Wolf (R-Va.), one of the authors of the bill and a longtime advocate for telecommuting opportunities for federal workers, applauded the bill.
(Excerpt) Read more at loudountimes.com ...
It looks like Federal employees being current on their taxes in order to qualify to work from home was removed from earlier versions.
But those who have been officially disciplined for "viewing, downloading, or exchanging pornography, INCLUDING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, on a Federal Government computer or while performing official Federal Government duties" won't qualify.
Great...now the SEIU minions can just stay home and produce nothing, rather than taking up office space with their feet up.
I think most agencies have teleworking rules in place anyway so I’m not sure that this bill does much beyond the current rules.
Talk about a great gig, a no-show government job....sweet!
This topic came up in a major way after the big snow storm in DC back in Feb of this year (I’m a gov’t worker who faced the same issue). Eventually, they decided that after the snow-days...they couldn’t repeat that again...so if everyone had laptops...they’d just work at home (their logic, not mine).
So over the past couple of months...they’ve produced rules and standards over teleworking. You actually have to have your office phone routed to your home phone. You have to attend meetings via a ‘messenger-like’ service. You have to attend classes to teach you ethics and accountability over teleworking.
So I brought this up to my Army boss (a LTC)...and he said I was needed at the job, period. Even in the event of complete blizzard...I needed to make my way to the job. So when you read up on this telework business for gov’t workers...don’t anticipate that we all get offered this deal.
I have worked, exclusively out of my home that entire time. In fact I have only been at the corporate office once in my life, the week I was hired/trained.
There is no reason that the "paper pushers" (people that do all of their work via the computer) can't do the same. I love it, and wouldn't change a thing.
Some of the things you describe are why I’m skeptical that this is going to actually save money.
It looks like each agency will require a Telework Officer. Each employee will need to be properly equipped and trained to work at both home and the office. And given the nature of government programs and employee demands, it’s probably a matter of time before taxpayers provide coffee allowances, OSHA-compliant home offices and a little extra to offset their increased utility bills.
Now we have the permanent five o’clock shadow government; swell. Now that all those bureaucrats won’t have to even get out of bed in the morning maybe they can sell some of those huge government office buildings and quit paying for all that electricity and and security and direct those funds to pay down the $14 trill national debt.
Riiiighht !
Nope - they will still have all those buildings with all those empty offices, with all of the lights on, just waiting for some bureaucrat with a nameplate needing a cubical space to get away from the family for a few hours since there’s zero chance to seduce that temporary administrative assistant while sitting at home in your pajamas with the family. Oh yes, the administrative assistants will have to start making house calls. I can see so many neat unintended consequences that spur from this wonderful work of the US Congress. /sarc
I’m a senior IT manager and I work from home 5 days week. A well disciplined employee who is properly managed can actually be more productive at home than in an office.
There is on rare occasion for me to be able to complete modifications to documents, writing specs to generate contracts, and database functions that don’t require me to be anywhere in particular to complete. If there is a chain of command that checks and verifies that 8 hours of labor was accomplished, the employee should be paid.
It codifies Teleworking into law so those managers who require asses in seats for 8 hours and leave forms for taking off an hour early will have more of a burden in denying someone’s teleworking request. In my shop, we are already expected to be available after hours and on vacation for decisions, consulting, and troubleshooting so it’s not going to make much of a difference.
Agreed.
Work should be judged by deliverables rather than hours.
What is an 8 hour work day? ;)
That is the downside of telecommuting, long days but I start early...
I was (and still am) an extremely social person. Having the discipline of keeping on schedule, and beating deadlines has made me actually work (that's a joke). When you are not surrounded by other social people, you would be surprised at the work that you can accomplish.
I don't think I ever want to go back to an office setting again, my home office suits me fine.
I work for a global company and my direct reports span many timezones. I start at 0600 when my EU reports are already at work and often go until 1800 or later when my AP report comes online.
Corporations would get so much more out of their employees if they focused on actual work completed rather than the numbers of hours occupying a chair.
That said, teleworkers must be appropriately managed and have self-discipline and integrity.
I don't think those with actual valuable and needed skills will telecommute.
I anticipate the ones who really only take up space, are seniority-blessed and "earned" the right to put their feet up because "they paid their dues", and those who essentially got their positions becuase they're someone's brother-in-law and/or were hired as a "diversity fill" position will now not be required to report to a worksite.
“That said, teleworkers must be appropriately managed and have self-discipline and integrity.”
Accountability, self-discipline, integrity.
This is a small fraction of our federal workforce.
But really, who cares? They can do nothing at home just as easily as they can do nothing in the office - as long as they stay out of the way of the productive class (literally - on the roads - as well as bureaucratically) I’m all for it.
>> Work should be judged by deliverables rather than hours.
Works for you and me.
But GOVERNMENT? What the hell do those pukes “deliver” but pain?
Should their metric be how many small businesses they drive out of business with their regulations, per day/week/month?
>> Accountability, self-discipline, integrity. This is a small fraction of our federal workforce.
Those traits are disqualifiers for government employees.
I work from home full time, and so do several other workers that have to attend to “issues” early AM or late PM. I’m sometimes am at the computert 5:30 AM doing work, and am oftentimes working at 11 PM. The upside is during the day my schedule is more flexible, I’m not strapped to a desk 8 hours a day. But the upside for my company is that I’m available if there’s a problem, 24/7. Another upside for me is no distractions, I love that part.
I’ve often joked that those of us that telecommute are the most reliable employees. We work when we’re sick (without infecting the rest of the employees), we have surgery and are back on our computers working on our laptops once we’re home. (I have MS and I know there would have been days that had I needed to “go” to an office, I wouldn’t have been able to, but I can get on my laptop and get the work done from home, no problem.) We never have an excuse like, the traffic held us up, or the weather is too bad to come in.
Telecommuting makes lots of sense to me, and our company uses it to great advantage.
I am able to schedule my time, my way. I usually like to work longer Mondays and Tuesdays, then by Friday I usually work 4-8, and have the rest of the day free.
PS. I am writing this on my home computer, not my work computer during a quick coffee break.
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