Human Capital
Further Guidance, Assistance, and Coordination Can Improve Federal Telework Efforts Gao ID: GAO-03-679 July 18, 2003Telework--work done at a location other than a traditional office--has gained widespread attention over the past decade as a human capital flexibility offering various potential benefits to employers, employees, and society. Using such flexibilities as management tools can help the federal government address its human capital challenges. GAO did this study in response to a congressional request to assess the federal government's progress in implementing telework programs and to determine what else can be done to give federal employees the ability to telework under appropriate circumstances.
The statutory framework for federal telework requires agencies to take certain actions related to telework, provides agencies with tools for supporting telework, and provides both the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA) with lead roles and shared responsibilities for the federal telework initiative. Both agencies offer services and resources to support and encourage telework in the federal government. However, these agencies have not fully coordinated their telework efforts and have had difficulty in resolving their conflicting views on telework-related matters. As a consequence, agencies have not received consistent, inclusive, unambiguous support and guidance related to telework. After we discussed the issues created by the lack of coordination between GSA and OPM with both agencies, a GSA official then indicated that GSA and OPM expressed a new commitment to coordination. Such a commitment reflects a promising start for better assisting federal agencies in improved implementation of their telework programs. However, the key to success will be sustained efforts by both agencies to work together in assisting agencies and providing consistent and straightforward guidance, services, and resources on the governmentwide telework initiative. GAO identified 25 key practices in telework-related literature and guidelines as those that federal agencies should implement in developing telework programs and grouped these practices under seven categories. While the four selected executive agencies we reviewed--the Department of Education (Education), GSA, OPM, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)--have taken at least some steps to implement most of the key practices, only 7 of the 25 key practices, such as establishing a cross-functional project team and establishing an agencywide telework policy, had been fully implemented by all four agencies. Although some telework-related resources from GSA and OPM provide federal agencies with information on how to implement several of the key practices we identified, agencies may need additional guidance, guidelines, and/or individualized technical support to fully implement these practices.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-03-679, Human Capital: Further Guidance, Assistance, and Coordination Can Improve Federal Telework Efforts
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On January 8, 2004, this document was revised to add various
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Report to the Chairman, Committee on Government Reform, House of
Representatives:
July 2003:
Human Capital:
Further Guidance, Assistance, and Coordination Can Improve Federal
Telework Efforts:
[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-679] GAO-03-679:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-03-679, a report to the Chairman, Committee on
Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives
Why GAO Did This Study:
Telework”work done at a location other than a traditional office”has
gained widespread attention over the past decade as a human capital
flexibility offering various potential benefits to employers,
employees, and society. Using such flexibilities as management tools
can help the federal government address its human capital challenges.
GAO did this study in response to a congressional request to assess
the federal government‘s progress in implementing telework programs
and to determine what else can be done to give federal employees the
ability to telework under appropriate circumstances.
What GAO Found:
The statutory framework for federal telework requires agencies to take
certain actions related to telework, provides agencies with tools for
supporting telework, and provides both the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) and the General Services Administration (GSA) with
lead roles and shared responsibilities for the federal telework
initiative. Both agencies offer services and resources to support and
encourage telework in the federal government. However, these agencies
have not fully coordinated their telework efforts and have had
difficulty in resolving their conflicting views on telework-related
matters. As a consequence, agencies have not received consistent,
inclusive, unambiguous support and guidance related to telework.
After we discussed the issues created by the lack of coordination
between GSA and OPM with both agencies, a GSA official then indicated
that GSA and OPM expressed a new commitment to coordination. Such a
commitment reflects a promising start for better assisting federal
agencies in improved implementation of their telework programs.
However, the key to success will be sustained efforts by both agencies
to work together in assisting agencies and providing consistent and
straightforward guidance, services, and resources on the
governmentwide telework initiative.
GAO identified 25 key practices in telework-related literature and
guidelines as those that federal agencies should implement in
developing telework programs and grouped these practices under seven
categories. While the four selected executive agencies we reviewed”the
Department of Education (Education), GSA, OPM, and the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA)”have taken at least some steps to implement most
of the key practices, only 7 of the 25 key practices, such as
establishing a cross-functional project team and establishing an
agencywide telework policy, had been fully implemented by all four
agencies.
Although some telework-related resources from GSA and OPM provide
federal agencies with information on how to implement several of the
key practices we identified, agencies may need additional guidance,
guidelines, and/or individualized technical support to fully implement
these practices.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO makes recommendations to the Director, OPM, and the Administrator,
GSA, regarding further guidance and assistance they can provide to
executive agencies in implementing telework programs. In joint
comments, the administrator and director generally agreed with our
recommendations and committed to taking steps towards their
implementation. Both agencies disagreed with several findings on both
their governmentwide and internal telework efforts. Comments from the
Secretary, VA, and Director, Human Resources Services, Education, also
generally agreed with our report, but VA disagreed with several
findings. Our characterizations were generally accurate, but we made
changes in response to agencies‘ comments, as appropriate.
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-679.
To view the full report, including the scope and methodology, click on
the link above. For more information, contact J. Christopher Mihm at
(202) 512-6806 or mihmj@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Results in Brief:
Background:
Federal Laws and Their Requirements Cover a Gamut of Telework Issues:
Lack of Clarity in OPM Guidance Led to Misleading Telework Data, but
OPM Has Recently Taken Steps to Address This Issue:
GSA and OPM Provide Services and Resources to Support Governmentwide
Telework Implementation, but Their Efforts Have Not Been Well
Coordinated:
Selected Federal Agencies Are Not Fully Implementing Key Telework
Practices:
Agency Officials Identified Governmentwide Actions That Could Be Taken
to Encourage Federal Agencies to Increase Telework Participation:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Agency Action:
Agency Comments:
Appendixes:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
Appendix II: Descriptions of Efforts by the Selected Agencies to
Implement the 25 Key Practices:
Program Planning:
Telework Policy:
Performance Management:
Managerial Support:
Training and Publicizing:
Technology:
Program Evaluation:
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Education:
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
GAO Responses to Comments from VA:
Appendix V: Comments from the General Services Administration and the
Office of Personnel Management:
GAO Responses to Comments from GSA and OPM:
Table:
Table 1: Summary of Services and Resources Provided or Offered by GSA
and OPM:
Figures:
Figure 1: Key Telework Practices for Implementation of Successful
Federal Telework Programs:
Figure 2: Extent to Which Selected Agencies Had Implemented Key
Telework Practices:
Abbreviations:
CFO: Chief Financial Officers:
DOE: Department of Energy:
DOI: Department of the Interior:
EIRO: E-Connected Intelligent Remote Operations:
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency:
GSA: General Services Administration:
IT: information technology:
ITAC: International Telework Association and Council:
OPM: Office of Personnel Management:
MSPB: U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board:
VA: Department of Veterans Affairs:
Letter July 18, 2003:
The Honorable Tom Davis,
Chairman
Committee on Government Reform
House of Representatives:
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Telework, also referred to as telecommuting or flexiplace, has gained
widespread attention over the past decade in both the public and
private sectors as a human capital flexibility that offers a variety of
potential benefits to employers, employees, and society.[Footnote 1],
[Footnote 2] The term telework refers to work that is performed at an
employee's home or at a work location other than a traditional office.
Using such readily available flexibilities as management tools is
critical to addressing the federal government's human capital
challenges. In the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) 2003 report
to Congress on the status of telework in the federal government, the
Director of OPM described telework as "an invaluable management tool
which not only allows employees greater flexibility to balance their
personal and professional duties, but also allows both management and
employees to cope with the uncertainties of potential disruptions in
the workplace, including terrorist threats."[Footnote 3]
This report is in response to your request that we assess various
aspects of the progress federal agencies have made in implementing
telecommuting initiatives. In this regard, and as agreed with your
staff, the objectives of this report were to (1) characterize the
federal laws and their requirements that currently apply to
telecommuting within the federal agencies in the executive branch, (2)
determine what the General Services Administration (GSA) and OPM are
doing, as lead agencies, to coordinate and promote telecommuting in the
federal government, (3) determine the extent to which selected federal
agencies are implementing key practices in developing telecommuting
programs, and (4) identify additional governmentwide actions that could
be taken to encourage federal agencies to increase telecommuting
participation.
We took several steps to address these objectives. In order to
characterize the federal laws and their requirements that currently
apply to telecommuting within the federal agencies in the executive
branch, we identified and analyzed the relevant laws and discussed the
requirements of selected laws with agency officials. To determine what
GSA and OPM are doing to coordinate and promote telecommuting in the
federal government, we interviewed GSA and OPM officials regarding
their governmentwide telework efforts and analyzed documents related to
these efforts. We determined the extent to which selected federal
agencies are implementing key practices in developing telecommuting
programs by first conducting a review of literature and guidelines to
identify these practices. Then, we interviewed agency officials and
analyzed documents related to telework implementation at four agencies-
-the Department of Education (Education), the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), GSA, and OPM. These agencies were selected for various
reasons, including function, size, and reported level of telework
participation.[Footnote 4] This agency selection process was not
designed to produce findings that could be considered representative of
telework implementation in the federal government as a whole, but
rather to provide illustrative examples of the extent to which selected
individual agencies had used the key practices identified in our
literature review. To identify additional governmentwide actions that
could be taken to encourage federal agencies to increase telecommuting
participation, we interviewed officials and union representatives from
the four selected agencies, as well as other unions representing
federal employees. Our review was conducted in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. (See app. I for
additional information on our scope and methodology.):
Results in Brief:
A statutory framework including legislation on a wide range of issues
related to telework began to emerge from Congress in 1990. Within this
statutory framework, there are provisions that require agencies to take
certain actions related to telework, provide agencies with tools for
supporting telework, and provide both GSA and OPM with lead roles in
the implementation of telework in the federal government. The most
significant congressional action related to telework was the enactment
of Sec. 359 of Pub. L. No. 106-346 in October 2000, which provides the
current mandate for telework in the executive branch of the federal
government by requiring each executive agency to establish a policy
under which eligible employees may participate in telework.[Footnote 5]
OPM issued guidance to agencies in 2001 related to the implementation
of this law. However, until recently, OPM had not defined a statement
contained in that guidance which told agencies that eligible employees
who wanted to telework must be allowed that opportunity. Without such a
definition, we found that the agencies we reviewed did not use
equivalent interpretations of this statement, resulting in their
reporting incomparable data to OPM. These data were subsequently
included in OPM's 2003 report to Congress on the status of telework in
the federal government. After we discussed this issue with OPM
officials, OPM reacted promptly by issuing new telework guidelines that
defined what it meant by allowing this opportunity. If this new
definition is properly applied by all agencies in reporting data to
OPM, this should address the issue we found.
As lead agencies for the governmentwide telework initiative, both GSA
and OPM offer services and resources to support and encourage telework
in the federal government. Some of the services and resources are
offered jointly by both GSA and OPM, while others are offered
individually by both agencies or uniquely by either GSA or OPM.
Although GSA and OPM share responsibilities for the governmentwide
telework initiative and a GSA official recently indicated that GSA and
OPM have expressed a new commitment to working together, their past
efforts were not well coordinated. For example, a GSA official told us
that agencies had expressed concern about conflicting messages they had
received from GSA and OPM on several topics, including dependent care
and emergency government office closings. With regard to dependent
care, officials from both GSA and OPM confirmed that they had different
positions on this issue. GSA's position is that employees can care for
dependents when teleworking, as long as it does not interfere with
accomplishing tasks, while OPM's position was, until recently, that
dependents should not be in the home when an employee is teleworking.
After we discussed these conflicting messages with OPM officials, OPM
revised its position on this issue in the new telework guidelines it
released shortly thereafter. These guidelines state that while
teleworkers should not generally be engaged in caregiving activities
when working at home, teenagers or elderly dependents might be at home
when the employee is teleworking, as long as those dependents are
independently pursuing their own activities. Because such lack of
coordination can create confusion for agencies and employees, we are
recommending that the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM, ensure
that their offices with responsibilities for the governmentwide
telework initiative better coordinate efforts to provide federal
agencies with consistent, inclusive, unambiguous support and guidance
related to telework.
We identified 25 key practices in telework-related literature and
guidelines that federal agencies should implement in developing
successful telework programs. For purposes of analysis, we grouped
these practices under seven categories. (See fig. 1.):
Figure 1: Key Telework Practices for Implementation of Successful
Federal Telework Programs:
[See PDF for image]
[End of figure]
While all four agencies we reviewed have taken at least some steps to
implement most of the key practices, many practices remain in need of
attention. Seven of the key practices, such as establishing a cross-
functional project team and establishing an agencywide telework policy,
had been fully implemented by all four agencies. However, in each of
the categories, there were practices that some or all of the agencies
had not implemented or had only partially implemented. For example,
none of the agencies reviewed have established measurable program goals
or fully implemented the practice of training all involved. To enable
agencies to more effectively implement these practices, we are
recommending that GSA and OPM use their lead roles in the federal
telework initiative to assist executive agencies in implementing the
key telework practices.
In addition to the key practices we identified as being integral to
developing successful federal telework programs, we asked agency and
union officials from the four agencies we reviewed to identify
governmentwide actions that could be taken to encourage federal
agencies to increase telework participation. Some of the actions they
identified are closely related to the key practices we identified, such
as the need for funding of telework programs, the need for training,
and the importance of obtaining top-level support for telework. Several
officials also commented on the need for clarification regarding the
implementation of the telework provisions in Pub. L. No. 106-346.
We provided a draft of this report in June 2003 to the Secretaries of
Education and VA, the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM. The
Director of Human Resources Services from Education provided comments
via e-mail (see app. III for a summary of these comments). In addition,
we received written comments from the Secretary, VA, and joint written
comments from the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM, in
response to a draft of this report (see app. IV and V). Where
appropriate, we made changes in our report in response to these
comments.
Education generally agreed with the contents of the draft report and
stated that the department was pleased that we recognized its efforts
to advance telework. VA agreed with our conclusion that there is a need
for further guidance and assistance from GSA and OPM regarding federal
telework implementation and suggested two areas where such guidance
would be helpful. VA disagreed with several of our findings related to
the status of VA's implementation of the telework practices we
identified. However, when we asked for documentation to support the
statements that VA made in its comments, VA was unable to provide such
information. Absent any evidence that would support VA's comments, our
assessment remains unchanged.
In their combined comments, GSA and OPM agreed to implement our
recommendation that they use their lead roles in the federal telework
initiative to assist agencies in implementing the key telework
practices we identified. In addition, GSA agreed with our
recommendation that it work with Congress to determine what was meant
by the phrase "GSA telecommunication center" in Section 314, Division
F, title III of Pub. L. No. 108-7 and whether this provision is in
conflict with the provision contained in 40 U.S.C. 587(d)(2). GSA
stated that it will coordinate internally and with the appropriate
congressional committees to resolve the conflicting language in the
statutes and then provide clarification to its customer agencies. On
the other hand, both GSA and OPM disagreed with several of our findings
relating to their lead roles in the governmentwide telework initiative.
For example, GSA and OPM strongly disagreed with our finding that they
have not fully coordinated their governmentwide telework efforts in the
past. This contradicts information that was conveyed to us by agency
officials during our review. However, we have added to the report,
where appropriate, to reflect the agencies' new position on the issue
of coordination. GSA and OPM also said in their comments that they have
recognized the need to better outline separate and shared
responsibilities and that a Memorandum of Understanding was among the
options they were considering to clearly designate each agency's
responsibilities.
OPM also raised a number of issues with our analysis of its internal
telework program. In its comments, OPM stated "[E]ach comment listed
was conveyed to GAO during the interview process." On the contrary,
OPM's written comments, for the most part, contain new information and/
or information that does not correspond with what was conveyed to us by
OPM officials during our review. Much of this information contradicts
what was conveyed to us by agency officials during our review. However,
we have revised the report where appropriate to reflect OPM's new
positions on some issues. While GSA did not disagree with our findings
pertaining to its internal telework program, the agency did note
several areas where it would like us to revise statements relative to
its implementation of the key practices we identified. We considered
these comments and incorporated new language into the report where
appropriate.
Background:
Over the last decade, telework has emerged as a management tool in the
federal government. Congress and the executive branch have shown
interest in telework, primarily based upon the belief that its use will
benefit the federal government. Benefits of telework include reducing
traffic congestion and pollution, improving recruitment and retention
of employees, increasing productivity, and reducing the need for office
space. Employees also can realize benefits from teleworking, including
reduced commuting time; lowered costs in areas such as transportation,
parking, food, and wardrobe; removal of barriers for those with
disabilities who want to be part of the workforce; and improvement in
the quality of worklife and morale accruing from the opportunity to
better balance work and family demands. Guidance issued by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency,[Footnote 6] along with telework-related
literature, also suggests that telework programs can facilitate
emergency preparedness by helping agencies to maintain continuity of
operations in emergency situations, thereby increasing agencies'
effectiveness. In light of the uncertainties facing the United States
today, telework can be a particularly relevant and useful tool.
The importance of telework to federal employees has been highlighted in
recent studies. Based on its 2000 Merit Principles Survey, the U.S.
Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reported that, of all the family-
friendly programs studied, telework showed the greatest disparity
between importance and availability, potentially making it the most
desired but least available family-friendly program. In addition, the
MSPB said that, of all the work-life programs it asked about in the
survey, only telework appeared to have a relationship to employees'
intentions regarding leaving their employment in the coming year, with
those who considered telework important being more likely to plan to
leave when it is not available (55 percent) than when it is available
(44 percent).[Footnote 7] According to OPM's 2002 Federal Human Capital
Survey, almost 74 percent of federal employee respondents said that
telework was at least somewhat important to them.
Despite this level of importance, more than 59 percent of the
respondents reported that this flexibility was not available to
them.[Footnote 8]
Since 1990, Congress has supported the telework initiative by holding
hearings and passing a number of laws related to telework, including
laws that provided for the establishment and funding of the GSA
telework centers.[Footnote 9] Most significant was the Department of
Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, Pub. L.
No. 106-346, October 23, 2000. Section 359 of this law provides the
current mandate for telework in the executive branch of the federal
government. This law, which was to be implemented in 25 percent
increments over 4 years, required each federal agency to "establish a
policy under which eligible employees of the agency may participate in
telecommuting to the maximum extent possible without diminished
employee performance" and instructed OPM to provide for the law's
requirements to be met.
Telework has also received significant attention in the executive
branch since 1990, when the President's Council on Management
Improvement approved plans for the implementation of a governmentwide
pilot flexiplace program. In the executive branch, telework has been
proposed as a tool to address a number of issues, including
establishing a family-friendly workplace, reducing traffic congestion
and pollution, and enabling people with disabilities to join the
federal workforce. Currently, GSA and OPM share responsibilities for
the federal government's telework initiative, providing federal
agencies with services and resources related to this initiative. To
this end, both GSA and OPM have included strategies, goals, and
measures directly related to their efforts to support the
governmentwide telework initiative in their fiscal year 2003 annual
performance plans and their related strategic plans. For example, GSA's
fiscal year 2003 performance plan includes a goal to increase the
percentage of federal employees that telework to 5 percent by the end
of fiscal year 2003 under its performance goal to increase the number
of agency programs meeting their social and environmental
responsibilities in areas of GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy
responsibility.
Also among efforts in the executive branch was the formation of an
Interagency Telework Issues Working Group, with participants from 15
federal agencies. GSA and OPM jointly established and led this group,
which canvassed agencies to identify policy actions needed to
facilitate agency use and expansion of telework. A final report, issued
in August 2002, contained a series of recommendations related to such
policy actions.[Footnote 10]
Interest in and implementation of telework programs has also occurred
in states and foreign countries. Several states piloted telework
programs in state government agencies in the mid-to late 1990s and have
since implemented telework in individual agencies or on a statewide
basis. For example, in Florida, telework became a permanent option for
state employees in October 1998 after two 3-year pilot studies. In
Europe, about 6 percent of the workforce was teleworking as of 1999
and, in some countries, the participation rate for telework was higher.
Finland, for example, had a telework participation rate of about 17
percent of the workforce in 1999. However, only 4 percent of all
teleworkers in European countries worked for government entities.
According to OPM's January 2003 report to Congress on the status of
telework in the federal government, 77 executive agencies reported
that, as of November 2002, 90,010 of their employees teleworked on
either a regular or episodic basis,[Footnote 11] which is 5 percent of
those agencies' 1,806,192 employees.[Footnote 12] The U.S. Department
of Labor reported that, in May 2001, 19.8 million persons, accounting
for 15 percent of total employment, usually did some work at home as
part of their job. However, only 17 percent of these
workers had a formal arrangement with their employer to be paid for the
work they did at home.[Footnote 13]
Federal Laws and Their Requirements Cover a Gamut of Telework Issues:
Legislation related to telework began to emerge from Congress in
1990.[Footnote 14] Since then, these provisions have typically, but not
always, been included in a variety of appropriations acts and have
covered a wide range of issues related to telework. The statutory
framework for telework includes provisions that require agencies to
take certain actions related to telework, provide agencies with tools
for supporting telework, and provide both GSA and OPM with lead roles
in the implementation of telework in the federal government.
Within this framework, the most significant congressional action was
the enactment of Section 359 of Pub. L. No. 106-346 in October 2000,
which provides the current mandate for telecommuting in the executive
branch of the federal government. This law, for the first time,
required each executive branch agency to establish a telework policy
"under which eligible employees of the agency may participate in
telecommuting to the maximum extent possible without diminished
employee performance."[Footnote 15] It also directed OPM to provide
that the law's requirements were applied to 25 percent of the federal
workforce by April 2001 and to an additional 25 percent of the federal
workforce in each subsequent year, until 2004 when the law is to be
applied to 100 percent of the federal workforce. The requirements of
this law should also be considered in combination with its conference
report and guidance that has been issued by OPM.
The conference report accompanying Pub. L. No. 106-346 stated that
agencies shall "develop criteria to be used in implementing [a
telecommuting] policy" and "ensure that managerial, logistical,
organizational, or other barriers to full implementation and successful
functioning of the policy are removed."[Footnote 16] Furthermore, it
stated that agencies "should also provide for adequate administrative,
human resources, technical, and logistical support for carrying out the
policy." It also clarified what constitutes eligibility for telework by
defining an eligible employee as "any satisfactorily performing
employee of the agency whose job may typically be performed at least
one day per week [by telecommuting].":
On February 9, 2001, OPM sent a memorandum to department and agency
heads containing guidance on the requirements of Pub. L. No. 106-346
that directed agencies to examine the barriers that inhibit the use of
telecommuting, act to remove them, and increase participation. This
memorandum went on to say, "The law recognizes that not all positions
are appropriate for telecommuting; therefore, each agency must identify
positions that are appropriate in a manner that focuses on broad
objective criteria. Once an agency has established eligibility
criteria, subject to any applicable agency policies or bargaining
obligations, employees who meet them and want to participate must be
allowed that opportunity if they are satisfactory performers." OPM
recently clarified this statement in a publication entitled, Telework:
A Management Priority--A Guide for Managers, Supervisors, and Telework
Coordinators. This guide, which was released on May 8, 2003, indicates
that agencies should offer eligible employees the opportunity to
telework by having supervisors extend the option of teleworking to all
employees they determine are eligible, using established
criteria.[Footnote 17]
Congress also passed other laws that require agencies to take certain
actions related to telework. One such provision requires executive
agencies to consider whether needs for additional space can be met
using alternative workplace arrangements, such as telework.[Footnote
18] Another recent provision, contained in the fiscal year 2003
appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the
Judiciary, and the Small Business Administration, makes $100,000
available to each of the departments and agencies covered by this
provision only for the implementation of telecommuting programs. These
departments and agencies are required to provide the committees on
appropriations with a report on the status of their telecommuting
programs every 6 months and to designate a "Telework Coordinator" to
oversee the implementation of telecommuting programs.[Footnote 19]
In addition to these provisions, another provision directs executive
agencies to make a minimum of $50,000 available annually for the
necessary expenses to carry out telecommuting programs, which would
permit employees of 20 specified federal departments and agencies,
including Education, GSA, OPM, VA, the Department of the Interior
(DOI), and the Department of Energy (DOE), to perform all or a portion
of their duties at GSA telework centers.[Footnote 20] However, a
provision has been included in the appropriations acts for DOI and
related agencies since fiscal year 2001 prohibiting several departments
and agencies, including DOI and DOE, from using appropriated funds for
the use of "GSA telecommunication centers."[Footnote 21] GSA officials
believe that the provisions contained in these appropriations laws were
intended to apply to GSA telework centers. However, this remains
unclear, because these statutes pertain to "GSA telecommunication
centers," which is not a title by which the GSA telework centers are
known. At least in some instances, though, this provision has not been
applied to the telework centers. OPM's January 2003 report to Congress
identified two of the agencies prohibited from using funds as described
by this provision--DOI and DOE--as having provided funds for telework
center usage fees in fiscal year 2002.
Generally, when statutory provisions in separate laws are in conflict,
as may be the case with the laws detailed above, the requirements of
the most recently passed law supercede the requirements of the earlier
law. In this case, the provision prohibiting the use of funds for "GSA
telecommunication centers" would take precedence over the provision
that requires specified agencies to make $50,000 available annually for
use of the GSA telework centers, but only for those departments or
agencies that are common to both provisions. However, because of the
lack of a definition or explanation for "GSA telecommunication centers"
in the appropriations law and the fact that the legislative history
does not provide any insight, it is not clear whether the provisions
are in conflict. Given that both of these provisions refer to one or
more types of GSA operations, GSA should work with Congress to
determine what was meant by the phrase "GSA telecommunication centers"
and then issue guidance to the relevant agencies to clarify these
provisions and explain the impact of these laws on agencies' telework
programs.
Congress has also provided agencies with several tools to support
telework. For example, federal agencies were authorized to spend money
for installation of telephone lines, related equipment, and monthly
charges for federal teleworkers through legislation that was originally
enacted in 1990 and made permanent in 1995.[Footnote 22] In 1992,
Congress established the first federal telework centers, which were to
be maintained by GSA.[Footnote 23] Since then, Congress has passed
several laws to continue funding the centers, change the formula for
funding the centers, and add new telework center locations.[Footnote
24]
The legislative framework for telework also contains provisions that
provide both GSA and OPM with lead roles in the implementation of
telework in the federal government. As stated above, Pub. L. No. 106-
346 directs OPM to provide that the requirements of the law are applied
as specified with regard to the federal workforce. In addition,
$500,000 of the money appropriated for OPM's salaries and expenses for
fiscal year 2003 is intended to be used by OPM to provide a
telecommuting training program to educate managers in executive branch
agencies, where less than 2 percent of employees telework, about the
benefits and logistics of telework.[Footnote 25] According to OPM's
comments on a draft of this report, the agency plans to conduct focus
groups for managers in four locations across the country this summer to
identify reasons why some managers resist permitting telework. OPM
plans to use the focus group data to tailor agency telework training.
OPM indicated that it plans to train agencies' human resources
directors and telework coordinators and provide them promotional
telework materials. Congress has also provided GSA with a lead role in
the federal government's telework initiative, giving the agency
responsibility for maintaining the federal telework centers and the
authority to provide guidance, assistance, and oversight regarding the
establishment and operation of telework and other distributive work
arrangements.[Footnote 26]
Lack of Clarity in OPM Guidance Led to Misleading Telework Data, but
OPM Has Recently Taken Steps to Address This Issue:
Until recently, OPM had not defined a statement contained in its
February 2001 guidance regarding the implementation of Pub. L. No. 106-
346, which told agencies that employees who wanted to participate in
teleworking must be allowed that opportunity. Without such a
definition, we found that the agencies we reviewed did not use
equivalent interpretations of this statement, resulting in their
reporting incomparable data to OPM. These data were subsequently
included in OPM's 2003 report to Congress on the status of telework in
the federal government. After we discussed this issue with OPM
officials, OPM reacted promptly by issuing new guidelines that defined
what it meant by allowing this opportunity.
Our discussions with officials at the four agencies we reviewed and
analysis of data in OPM's January 2003 report to Congress revealed
that, without a definition from OPM regarding what constituted being
allowed the opportunity to telework, agencies had not always used
equivalent interpretations of this statement in reporting their data.
For example, telework program officials at both GSA and OPM told us
that, for their internal programs, they considered eligible employees
to have been allowed the opportunity to telework if they chose to apply
for telework or discuss the option of teleworking with their managers,
regardless of whether they were actually approved for telework. In
keeping with this interpretation, these two agencies reported, in
response to OPM's 2002 governmentwide telework survey, that essentially
the same number of employees who were eligible for telework had also
been given that opportunity. On the other hand, Education and VA
reported significant differences between the number of employees who
were eligible for telework and those who were given the opportunity to
telework, which demonstrated that they were using different
interpretations of opportunity than GSA and OPM. Because these agencies
were not applying equivalent interpretations of the term "opportunity,"
the data that they provided in response to OPM's survey and that OPM
included in its report to Congress were not comparable across agencies.
Moreover, OPM's 2003 report to Congress showed these data as the number
of eligible employees "offered" telework, although OPM had not made it
clear, in either the survey or in its previously issued guidance, that
agencies should interpret allowing the opportunity to mean directly
offering eligible employees the option to telework. Furthermore,
characterizing all agencies' data in this manner is misleading because,
as shown above, some agencies did not use that interpretation in
reporting the data.
We met with OPM officials in late April 2003 and informed them that the
lack of a written definition of what OPM meant when it asked agencies
to report how many eligible employees had been allowed the opportunity
to telework had resulted in incomparable telework data. To its credit,
OPM reacted promptly by defining the statement in a set of frequently
asked questions that were distributed at its quarterly telework
coordinators' meeting on May 6, 2003, and in a new telework guide for
managers, supervisors, and telework coordinators that was released 2
days later.[Footnote 27] Both the frequently asked questions and the
guide indicate that agencies should offer eligible employees the
opportunity to telework by having supervisors extend the option of
teleworking to all employees they determine are eligible, using
established criteria. To ensure that the information contained in the
guide reaches all federal telework coordinators, an OPM official said
that a hard copy of this guide would be mailed to each coordinator. In
addition, the guide has been posted at [Hyperlink, www.telework.gov]
www.telework.gov.
OPM also further clarified the statement about allowing eligible
employees an opportunity to telework by including a definition in the
draft survey it plans to send to agencies in the fall to obtain data
for its January 2004 status report to Congress. Immediately following
our meeting with OPM officials, this draft survey was distributed at
OPM's May 2003 quarterly telework coordinators meeting. As in last
year's survey, respondents would be asked for the number of eligible
employees given the opportunity to telework. However, the following
additional wording has been proposed for that question: "How many
eligible employees are given the opportunity to telework, i.e. are
actively asked if they wish to telework or are able to telework because
their supervisor informed them they could telework on some basis?" If
this new definition is properly applied by all agencies in reporting
data to OPM, this should address the issue we found. Also included in
the draft survey are two new proposed questions related to allowing
employees the opportunity to telework. These questions ask how
employees were presented with the option to telework and how many
turned it down.
The steps taken by OPM in response to our findings show a ready
willingness to address issues that are hindering telework
implementation. Continued efforts by OPM to publicize these new
telework guidelines will help to ensure that telework coordinators in
federal agencies have a clear understanding of the information they
need to fully implement their own telework programs.
GSA and OPM Provide Services and Resources to Support Governmentwide
Telework Implementation, but Their Efforts Have Not Been Well
Coordinated:
As discussed earlier, the legislative framework for telework has
provided both GSA and OPM with lead roles in the implementation of
telework in the federal government, providing each agency with
responsibilities for the telework initiative. Given these
responsibilities, GSA and OPM provide federal agencies with a range of
services and resources related to this initiative. Table 1 summarizes
their efforts in this regard.
Services and resources provided jointly by GSA and OPM:
Run a Web site (www.telework.gov), which was designed to provide
information and guidance; GSA and OPM: Yes.
Established and led the Interagency Telework Issues Working Group,
which canvassed agencies to examine existing policies and produced a
report with a series of recommendations in August 2002; GSA
and OPM: Yes.
Services and resources provided individually by GSA and/or OPM:
Provides guidelines for agencies implementing telework programs;
GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Conducts telework-related research and produces reports on telework
issues; GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Conducts and participates in seminars; GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Develops telework training materials; GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Provides customer support and consulting; GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Provides general promotion, advocacy, and outreach (promotion of
telework policy through publications, speaking engagements, brochures,
conferences, etc.); GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Is responsible for federal telework centers, including managing and
encouraging other agencies to use the centers; GSA: Yes; OPM: No.
Offered agencies a free 60-day trial period of the telework centers
from March through June 2002; GSA: Yes; OPM: No.
Established and maintains a mailing list server for telework
coordinators; GSA: Yes; OPM: No.
Developed a list of agencies' telework coordinators; GSA: Yes; OPM: No.
Has an agency outreach initiative to assess program barriers and
successes at federal agencies; GSA: No; OPM: Yes.
Hosts quarterly telework coordinators' meetings; GSA: Yes; OPM: Yes.
Source: GAO analysis of testimonial evidence and/or information and
documentation collected.
[End of table]
As shown in table 1, some of the services and resources are offered
jointly by both agencies, while others are offered individually by both
agencies or uniquely by either GSA or OPM. For example, each of these
agencies independently provides consulting, marketing, and training
services, but only OPM has undertaken an outreach effort to meet face
to face with agencies' telework coordinators and GSA has sole
responsibility for federal telework centers.
In addition, although a GSA official told us that GSA has been
promoting its E-Connected Intelligent Remote Operations (EIRO) feature
as a mobile solution for government agencies, we found that this
feature was not functioning for a period of at least 5 months in 2003.
According to its Web site,[Footnote 28] EIRO was supposed to have
launched in March 2001 and was intended to offer services and products
from GSA Federal Supply Schedules[Footnote 29] for mobile government
work, including telework. The EIRO Web site also states that customers
seeking mobile solutions could identify providers that are highlighted
as EIRO contractors by the EIRO logo at "GSA Advantage!", GSA's online
shopping and ordering system; however, a GSA official told us that this
function was never operational. Also, although this official told us
that EIRO had launched on schedule, from a period of at least January
2003 through May 2003, we observed that this feature was not
functional. We asked numerous GSA officials about the status of this
feature, but they were all unaware of the problems we were
experiencing. In fact, one official told us that GSA had been promoting
EIRO to federal agencies as if it were a functioning feature.
Ultimately, a GSA official told us that changes to the agency's Web
portals must have disabled the EIRO feature and assured us that GSA is
pursuing solutions to get it back online.
Although GSA and OPM share responsibilities for the governmentwide
telework initiative and a GSA official recently indicated that GSA and
OPM have expressed a new commitment to working together, their past
efforts did not always demonstrate coordination. According to officials
at both agencies, GSA and OPM have not developed a Memorandum of
Understanding or other formal agreement regarding their
responsibilities for the federal government's telework initiative or
regarding which agency will provide specific services, resources, and
guidance. Therefore, these agencies have not established a delineation
of their respective roles. In comments on a draft of this report, GSA
and OPM said that they have recognized the need to better outline
separate and shared responsibilities and that a Memorandum of
Understanding was among the options they were considering to clearly
designate each agency's responsibilities.
Despite the fact that GSA and OPM hold quarterly partnership meetings
to discuss telework-related issues in the federal government, officials
from both agencies told us that very little coordination has occurred
at these meetings. Rather, the meetings have actually served as a means
to raise differences of opinion that have been identified by either
agency, but the resolution of those differences has proven to be
difficult. In addition, according to the GSA and OPM officials, these
meetings are used to present updates on the status of the two agencies'
independent governmentwide telework efforts, not to collaborate on
these efforts. On occasion, officials from each agency have asked
officials from the other agency to provide comments on their
independent draft guidelines or other information.
In addition, a GSA official told us that agencies had expressed concern
about conflicting messages they had received from GSA and OPM on
several topics, including dependent care and emergency government
office closings. For example, officials from both GSA and OPM confirmed
that they had different positions with regard to dependent care. GSA's
position is that employees can care for dependents when teleworking, as
long as it does not interfere with accomplishing tasks, while OPM's
position was, until recently, that dependents should not be in the home
when an employee is teleworking. An OPM official told us that the
agency held this position because having dependents in the home while
teleworking could foster managerial resistance to telework. In its
recently released telework guide for managers, supervisors, and
telework coordinators, OPM revised its position on this issue, stating
that a teenager or elderly dependent might be at home while the
employee teleworks if those dependents are independently pursuing their
own activities. It also said that teleworkers should not generally be
engaged in caregiving activities while working and that dependent care
arrangements should not typically change because the employee is
teleworking.
Also, despite the fact that both GSA and OPM shared responsibility for
developing the governmentwide telework information Web site
(www.telework.gov), a GSA official told us that OPM, which hosts the
joint Web site, independently changed the layout and content of the
site in late 2002 without consulting with or informing GSA about the
changes. The GSA official also said that GSA subsequently met with OPM
and the contractor that redesigned the site to try to resolve some of
GSA's concerns. According to the official, the contractor ultimately
agreed with GSA and recommended that OPM make changes to the site,
because it looked too much like an OPM site and not like the telework
site for the entire federal government. While an OPM official confirmed
this information, she said that OPM has rejected these changes because
of "internal Web design policies." In their combined comments on a
draft of this report, however, GSA and OPM indicated that there was no
disagreement regarding the Web site and that "both agencies continue to
actively and successfully collaborate on [Hyperlink, www.telework.gov]
www.telework.gov."
Furthermore, a GSA official told us that GSA had asked OPM to place a
link to the Interagency Telework Issues Working Group report on the
governmentwide telework Web site, but OPM had refused to do so, despite
the fact that the working group was jointly formed by both agencies. An
OPM official told us that OPM has been hesitant to post this report
because many of its recommendations were directed at OPM and could not
be readily implemented. In their combined comments on a draft of this
report, however, GSA and OPM said that the two agencies had jointly
determined it would be inappropriate to post the "pre-decisional"
Interagency Telework Issues Working Group report on the federal
telework information Web site until they had had the opportunity to
analyze its findings, address issues contained therein, and fully
consider all recommendations. GSA, though, has already independently
posted this report on its own Web site with a disclaimer, stating:
"This final report does not in any way, specific or implied, represent
the official views, positions, or policies of the U.S. Government, OPM,
GSA, nor any of the agencies participating on the Working Group. This
report is currently under review by both OPM and GSA." Given that GSA
and OPM co-led this group with participation from 15 federal agencies
to identify policy actions needed to facilitate agency use and
expansion of telework and then make recommendations, we believe that
the report should be posted on [Hyperlink, www.telework.gov]
www.telework.gov, with the same or a similar disclaimer, in the
interests of transparency.
After we discussed the issues created by the lack of coordination
between GSA and OPM with both agencies, a GSA official indicated that
GSA and OPM expressed a new commitment to coordination, especially with
regard to the governmentwide telework Web site. Such a commitment
reflects a promising start for better assisting federal agencies in
improved implementation of their telework programs. However, the key to
success will be sustained efforts by both agencies to work together in
assisting agencies and providing consistent and straightforward
guidance, services, and resources on the governmentwide telework
initiative. Conflicts that have arisen from the lack of coordination in
the past underscore the need for GSA and OPM to work together to reach
a formal agreement establishing a delineation of their respective roles
regarding the governmentwide telework initiative in areas where their
respective responsibilities are not clear. In areas where the
responsibility is clearly aligned with the mission of a particular
agency, that agency should be responsible for providing official
guidance related to telework. However, the agencies should consult with
each other and attempt to reach consensus in providing that guidance.
Care should be taken to avoid situations in which agencies are either
left without needed guidance or provided with conflicting guidance
because GSA and OPM cannot reach agreement.
Selected Federal Agencies Are Not Fully Implementing Key Telework
Practices:
We identified 25 key practices in telework-related literature and other
sources as those that federal agencies should implement in developing
their individual telework programs.[Footnote 30] For the purposes of
analysis, we grouped the key practices into the following seven
categories: program planning, telework policy, performance management,
managerial support, training and publicizing, technology, and program
evaluation. Based on our interviews with agency officials at four
selected agencies--Education, GSA, OPM, and VA--and review of program
documentation and other information related to those agencies, we then
determined the extent to which the agencies had implemented each of the
practices that were identified in developing their telework programs.
While all four agencies we reviewed have taken at least some steps to
implement most of the key practices, we found that only 7 of the 25 key
practices had been fully implemented by all four agencies. Our analysis
also revealed that almost half of the key practices had not been fully
implemented by at least three of the four agencies, demonstrating a
need for these agencies to focus greater attention on the remaining key
practices to develop successful telework programs. Although some
telework-related resources from GSA and OPM, including GSA's telework
implementation manual and OPM's recently released telework guide for
managers, supervisors, and telework coordinators, already provide
federal agencies with information on how to implement several of the
key practices we identified, agencies may need additional guidance,
guidelines, and/or individualized technical support to fully implement
these practices.
Regular attention to the practices we identified can help to foster
program growth and remove barriers to telework participation. Figure 2
illustrates the extent to which the agencies reviewed had implemented
each of the practices.
Figure 2: Extent to Which Selected Agencies Had Implemented Key
Telework Practices:
[See PDF for image]
[End of figure]
Importantly, the table above is intended to provide an overall summary
of the history and status of the telework programs at the respective
agencies. For some of the practices that are historical in nature, such
as developing an implementation plan and establishing a pilot program,
we recognize that agencies with existing telework programs cannot, and
should not, attempt to implement these practices at this point.
However, existing programs that did not initially implement some of the
more developmental practices can still be successful with sustained
attention to the other practices we identified. Below is a summary of
the practices contained in each category and an overview of what we
found for each practice. Appendix II also includes a detailed
discussion of the steps each agency has taken to implement the
practices.
Program Planning:
In planning for an effective telework program, agencies need to take
several important steps. Agencies should designate a telework
coordinator, establish a cross-functional project team, establish
measurable telework program goals, develop an implementation plan for
the telework program, develop a business case for implementing a
telework program, provide funding to meet the needs of the telework
program, and establish a pilot program. As shown in figure 2, our
analysis of the telework programs at the four agencies reviewed
revealed that only two of the seven practices in the program planning
category--designating a telework coordinator and establishing a cross-
functional project team--have been fully implemented by all of these
agencies. The remaining five practices, including establishing
measurable program goals and providing funding to meet the needs of the
telework program, still need to be implemented by some or all of the
agencies.
Telework Policy:
According to Pub. L. No. 106-346, agencies must establish a telework
policy that allows eligible employees to participate in telework.
Telework-related literature suggests that, in addition to or within an
agencywide telework policy, agencies should establish eligibility
criteria to ensure that teleworkers are selected on an equitable basis
using criteria such as suitability of tasks and employee performance;
establish policies or requirements to facilitate communication among
teleworkers, managers, and coworkers; develop a telework agreement for
use between teleworkers and their managers; and develop guidelines on
workplace health and safety issues to ensure that teleworkers have safe
and adequate places to work off-site. As shown in figure 2, our
analysis indicates that two of the five practices in this category,
including establishing an agencywide telework policy, have been fully
implemented by all of the agencies. The remaining three practices,
including establishing eligibility criteria to ensure that teleworkers
are selected on an equitable basis, still need additional attention to
be fully implemented by some or all of the agencies we reviewed.
Performance Management:
Our recent work identified key practices that high-performing
organizations need to employ to develop effective performance
management systems. Such a system should be designed, implemented, and
continually assessed by how well it helps the employees help the
organization achieve results and pursue its mission.[Footnote 31] Using
standards derived from a modern, effective, credible, and validated
performance system, telework-related literature suggests that agencies
need to take steps to ensure that the same performance standards are
used to evaluate both teleworkers and nonteleworkers. In addition,
agencies need to establish guidelines to minimize adverse impacts that
telework can have on nonteleworkers before employees begin to work at
alternate worksites. Figure 2 shows that two of the four agencies we
reviewed have taken some steps to implement the practice of setting the
same performance standards for teleworkers and nonteleworkers and three
of the four agencies had fully implemented the practice of establishing
guidelines to minimize adverse impacts of telework on nonteleworkers.
Managerial Support:
Telework-related literature has shown that it is critical to obtain
support from top management and to address managerial resistance in
establishing an effective telework program. As our earlier work has
shown, and others recognize, changes in an organization's culture, such
as the acceptance of flexibilities like telework by managers throughout
the organization, are highly dependent on top management's support for
and commitment to
those changes.[Footnote 32] In addition, our 1997 report on agencies'
policies and views on telework in the federal government identified
managerial resistance as the largest barrier to implementing
telework.[Footnote 33] This resistance can be attributed to several
factors, including general resistance to change, since telework
requires managers to shift from managing by observation to managing by
results. However, as shown in figure 2, both of these practices still
need attention by most of the agencies we reviewed.
Training and Publicizing:
Because telework involves new ways of working, as well as supervising,
telework-related literature suggests that both employees and
supervisors should receive training to ensure a common understanding of
the program. The Interagency Telework Issues Working Group report
highlighted the need for telework training in its report. In addition,
the report states that telework training should consist of two key
components. One of these components should address policy issues and
include general information, such as policy updates and an orientation
to telework, while the other component should focus on telework program
activities, including such topics as information technology (IT)
applications, performance management, and time management. Telework-
related literature also suggests that it is important to inform the
workforce about the telework program. Despite their importance, figure
2 illustrates that both of these practices still need attention by some
or all of the agencies we reviewed.
Technology:
OPM's January 2003 report to Congress on the status of telework in the
federal government identified data security and IT issues as the two
most frequently cited barriers to telework, as reported by federal
agencies. In addressing technology barriers, telework-related
literature suggests that agencies should conduct an assessment of
teleworker and organization technology needs; develop guidelines about
whether the organization or employee will provide necessary technology,
equipment, and supplies for telework; provide technical support for
teleworkers; address access and security issues related to telework;
and establish standards for equipment in the telework environment.
Generally, as shown in figure 2, the four agencies we reviewed did
better in this category than in any other. One of the agencies--
Education--has fully implemented all of the technology practices and
the other three agencies each have only one practice out of the five
that had not been fully implemented. However, given the rapidly
changing nature of technology and the fact that, in OPM's 2002 telework
survey, many agencies governmentwide identified data security and IT as
barriers to growth in their telework programs, federal agencies should
provide specific and ongoing attention to these technology practices.
Program Evaluation:
Telework-related literature recommends that agencies develop program
evaluation tools and use such tools from the very inception of the
program to identify problems or issues with the program and to develop
an action plan to guide any necessary changes for telework or for the
organization. The literature also emphasizes the need for tracking
systems that can help to accurately ascertain the status of telework
implementation in the agencies and, subsequently, the federal
government. Such a tracking system should include, at the very least, a
formal head count of regular and episodic teleworkers, as well as
nonteleworkers. To this end, the Interagency Telework Issues Working
Group report recommended that OPM require all federal agencies to
establish a system for collecting the information that OPM requests for
its annual report to Congress on the status of telework in the federal
government. It further recommended that OPM provide agencies with the
necessary specifications, guidance, and technical assistance to
establish these systems.
Despite the fact that accurate data are absolutely integral to
assessing the status of a telework program and identifying areas that
require additional attention, figure 2 shows that none of the agencies
we reviewed have fully implemented the practice of establishing
processes, procedures, and/or a tracking system to evaluate their
telework programs. In addition, all of the four agencies still need to
take at least some steps to fully implement the practice of identifying
problems and/or issues with their telework programs and making
appropriate adjustments.
Agency Officials Identified Governmentwide Actions That Could Be Taken
to Encourage Federal Agencies to Increase Telework Participation:
In addition to the key practices we identified as being integral to
developing successful federal telework programs, we asked agency
program officials and union representatives at GSA, Education, OPM, and
VA for their views on what governmentwide actions could be taken to
increase telework participation in federal agencies. We also spoke with
officials representing federal employees governmentwide, such as the
National Treasury Employees Union and the National Federation of
Federal Employees, to obtain their views on potential governmentwide
actions. In addition, OPM's November 2002 telework survey asked
agencies about what OPM's governmentwide telework initiative could do
to assist agencies in fully implementing telework policies.
Some agency and union officials identified governmentwide actions that
are closely related to the key practices we identified, such as the
need for funding of telework programs, the need for training, and the
importance of obtaining top-level support for telework. In addition,
several officials identified the need for GSA and OPM to provide more
guidance or information about telework and the need for clarification
regarding the implementation of the telework provisions in Pub. L. No.
106-346. In particular, agency officials identified a need for
additional guidance related to their data reporting and collection
methods for OPM. Two agency officials stated that OPM has changed the
data that it requests from agencies from year to year, which has made
it difficult for them to establish systems to collect the necessary
data.
Conclusions:
Telework has received significant attention in Congress and the
executive branch and is an increasingly popular flexibility among
federal employees. Not only is telework an important flexibility from
the perspective of employees, but it has also become a critical
management tool for coping with potential disruptions to the workplace,
including terrorism. However, the federal government's telework
initiative needs further development to become an effective human
capital flexibility.
Congress' most significant demonstration of support for telework was
the enactment of Section 359 of Pub. L. No. 106-346. In guidance
related to that law, OPM told agencies that eligible employees who
wanted to telework must be allowed that opportunity, but did not
provide a definition for what constituted such an opportunity. Although
the lack of a definition for that statement resulted in the reporting
of incomparable telework data to Congress, OPM promptly released
publications defining the previously ambiguous statement following a
discussion in which we highlighted this issue for OPM officials.
On the other hand, the relationship between two other provisions--one
that requires specified agencies to set aside $50,000 each year for the
use of GSA telework centers and one that prohibits some of the same
agencies and several others from spending funds on GSA
telecommunication centers--remains in need of clarification. Although
GSA telework centers are not known by the term "GSA telecommunication
centers," GSA officials believe that this term does in fact refer to
GSA telework centers. Despite this belief, it has not been made clear
to all applicable agencies that the provision prohibiting certain
agencies from spending appropriated funds on GSA telecommunication
centers applies to GSA telework centers. This was supported by the fact
that two of the relevant agencies used appropriated funds for GSA
telework centers in fiscal year 2002, even though the provision
prohibiting them from spending appropriated funds on GSA
telecommunication centers was in effect.
Although GSA and OPM are lead agencies for the governmentwide telework
initiative, they have not fully coordinated their efforts in leading
the governmentwide telework initiative and have had difficulty in
resolving their conflicting views on telework-related matters. This
lack of coordination created confusion for federal agencies in
implementing their individual telework programs. Both GSA and OPM
officials recently indicated a willingness to work together to resolve
this issue, but sustained attention and actions that result in actual
solutions will still be needed.
In addition, the key telework practices we identified are integral to
the success of the telework initiative in the federal government and
need to be considered individually by each federal agency within the
context of its own mission, programs, and telework programs. However,
as our work at four agencies has shown, agencies face numerous
difficulties in implementing their individual agency programs. Regular
attention by agencies to the key practices is important to foster
program growth and remove barriers to telework participation.
Recommendations for Agency Action:
We recommend that the Administrator, GSA, work with Congress to
determine what was meant by the phrase "GSA telecommunication center"
in Section 314, Division F, title III of Pub. L. No. 108-7 and whether
this provision is in conflict with the provision contained in 40 U.S.C.
587(d)(2). Once these determinations are made, GSA should issue
guidance to the relevant agencies to clarify these provisions and
explain the impact of these laws on agencies' telework programs.
We also recommend that the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM,
ensure that the offices in their agencies with responsibilities for the
governmentwide telework initiative improve coordination of their
efforts to provide federal agencies with consistent, inclusive,
unambiguous support and guidance related to telework. To do so, they
should clearly delineate their responsibilities for this initiative and
work together to resolve existing areas of difference. The Memorandum
of Understanding that the agencies are considering could be very
helpful in making progress on this key issue.
Furthermore, to enable agencies to more effectively implement the key
practices that we identified as those that should be used for
successful implementation of federal telework programs, we recommend
that the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM, use their lead
roles in the federal telework initiative to assist agencies in
implementing these practices. Using the key telework practices, GSA and
OPM should identify areas where more information about implementation
of the practices may be needed and provide agencies with the additional
guidance, guidelines, and/or individualized technical support
necessary to assist them in implementing those practices that are still
in need of attention. Additionally, OPM agreed with a recommendation
included in our recent report for OPM to serve as a clearinghouse in
sharing and distributing information about the broad range of human
capital flexibilities available to federal agencies.[Footnote 34] In
implementing that recommendation, OPM should include information about
telework, because it is such a flexibility. To provide agencies with
the capabilities to effectively implement telework, both GSA and OPM
should continue to monitor agencies' telework programs and align their
efforts with areas that are still in need of attention.
Agency Comments:
We provided a draft of this report in June 2003 to the Secretaries of
Education and VA, the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM. The
Director of Human Resources Services from Education provided comments
via e-mail (see app. III for a summary of these comments). In addition,
we received written comments from the Secretary, VA, and joint written
comments from the Administrator, GSA, and the Director, OPM, in
response to a draft of this report (see app. IV and V). Where
appropriate, we made changes in our report in response to these
comments.
In its comments, Education generally agreed with the contents of the
draft report and stated that the department was pleased that we
recognized its efforts to advance telework. Additionally, the comments
stated that the department's "most significant comment" was, as our
draft noted, the need for a clear, unambiguous, and universally
accepted definition for what it means to allow employees the
opportunity to telework.
VA agreed with our conclusion that there is a need for further guidance
and assistance from GSA and OPM regarding federal telework
implementation and suggested two areas where such guidance would be
helpful. Specifically, VA indicated that OPM needs to redefine
participant eligibility criteria and that OPM and GSA should provide
guidance on how to effectively use telework in emergency situations. In
addition, VA expressed concern that the draft report, which stated that
we used participation rate as one of the criteria used in our selection
of agencies, did not recognize that VA's mission is a significant
factor accounting for its limited telework participation rate. VA also
disagreed with several of our findings related to the status of VA's
implementation of the telework practices we identified. However, when
we asked for documentation to support the statements that VA made in
its comments, VA was unable to provide such information. Absent any
evidence that would support VA's comments, our assessment remains
unchanged.
In their combined comments, GSA and OPM agreed that telework is an
important tool for federal agencies and stated that they would
encourage and champion telework as a key human capital flexibility and
do everything possible to facilitate its acceptance and use. The
agencies also agreed to implement our recommendation that they use
their lead roles in the federal telework initiative to assist agencies
in implementing the key telework practices we identified. In this
regard, GSA and OPM stated that they will provide agencies with a
checklist of the practices we identified and recommend that agencies do
a self-assessment of their telework programs using our analytical
framework. Both GSA and OPM will then offer to help agencies to improve
in the identified areas of deficiency. OPM will also include the key
telework practices that we identified in telework training, which, as
we had noted in the draft report, is being developed for launch on its
Web-based training site during fiscal year 2003.
In addition, GSA agreed with our recommendation that it work with
Congress to determine what was meant by the phrase "GSA
telecommunication center" in Section 314, Division F, title III of Pub.
L. No. 108-7 and whether this provision is in conflict with the
provision contained in 40 U.S.C. 587(d)(2). GSA stated that it will
coordinate internally and with the appropriate congressional committees
to resolve the conflicting language in the statutes and then provide
clarification to its customer agencies.
On the other hand, both GSA and OPM disagreed with several of our
findings relating to their lead roles in the governmentwide telework
initiative. For example, GSA and OPM strongly disagreed with our
finding that they have not fully coordinated their governmentwide
telework efforts in the past. This contradicts information that was
conveyed to us by agency officials during our review. However, we have
added to the report, where appropriate, to reflect the agencies' new
position on the issue of coordination. Interestingly, despite the fact
that GSA and OPM disagreed with our finding relating to coordination,
the agencies also said in their comments that they have recognized the
need to better outline separate and shared responsibilities and that a
Memorandum of Understanding was among the options they were considering
to clearly designate each agency's responsibilities.
OPM also raised a number of issues with our analysis of its internal
telework program. In its comments, OPM stated "[E]ach comment listed
was conveyed to GAO during the interview process." On the contrary,
OPM's comments, for the most part, contain new information and/or
information that does not correspond with what was conveyed to us by
OPM officials during our review. Much of this information contradicts
what was conveyed to us by agency officials during our review. However,
we have changed the report where appropriate to reflect OPM's new
positions on some issues.
GSA did not disagree with our findings pertaining to its internal
telework program. However, the agency did note several areas where it
would like us to revise statements relative to its implementation of
the key practices we identified. We considered these comments and
incorporated new language into the report where appropriate.
:
As agreed with your office, unless you announce the contents of this
report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days after its
issue date. At that time, we will send copies to the Secretary of
Education, the Administrator of GSA, the Director of OPM, and the
Secretary of VA. We will also provide copies of this report to other
interested congressional parties and make copies available to others
upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on
the GAO Web site at [Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov] http://www.gao.gov.
If you have any questions about this report, please contact me or Boris
Kachura on (202) 512-6806. Key contributors to this report were Joyce
Corry, Ellen Grady, Tiffany Tanner, and V. Bruce Goddard.
Sincerely yours,
J. Christopher Mihm
Director, Strategic Issues:
Signed by J. Christopher Mihm:
[End of section]
Appendixes:
Appendix I: Scope and Methodology:
The objectives of this report were to:
* characterize the federal laws and their requirements that currently
apply to telecommuting within the federal agencies in the executive
branch;
* determine what the General Services Administration (GSA) and the
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are doing, as lead agencies, to
coordinate and promote telecommuting in the federal government;
* determine what selected federal agencies are doing to implement key
practices in developing telecommuting programs; and:
* identify additional governmentwide actions that could be taken to
encourage federal agencies to increase telecommuting participation.
To address these objectives, we gathered information from a variety of
sources using several different data collection techniques and analyzed
this information. In order to characterize the federal laws and their
requirements that currently apply to telecommuting within the federal
agencies in the executive branch, we identified and analyzed the
relevant laws and discussed the requirements of selected laws with
agency officials. To determine what GSA and OPM are doing to coordinate
and promote telecommuting in the federal government, we interviewed GSA
and OPM officials regarding their governmentwide telework efforts and
analyzed relevant documents related to these efforts.
We took several steps to determine what selected executive agencies are
doing to implement key practices in developing telecommuting programs.
First, we conducted a review of literature and guidelines related to
telework in the federal government to identify the key practices that
executive agencies should implement in developing telework programs.
These guidelines and this literature were obtained from both government
and nongovernment sources including studies and reports issued by
interest groups, associations, consulting firms, GSA, OPM, and other
federal government agencies. A practice was considered to be "key" if
it was recommended in three or more sources as a practice that
organizations should use in implementing a telework program.
After identifying the key telework practices, we conducted semi-
structured interviews of selected telework program officials and other
relevant agency officials and analyzed documents related to telework
implementation at four agencies--the Department of Education
(Education), GSA, OPM, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
These agencies were selected from the 24 executive agencies covered by
the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 for various reasons,
including function, size, and reported level of telework
participation.[Footnote 35] GSA and OPM were selected because of their
lead roles in the governmentwide telework initiative. In addition, OPM
was reported to have the highest telework utilization rate among the
CFO Act agencies. Education was included because its reported
utilization rate was the second highest among the CFO Act agencies. VA
was selected based on its distinction as the second largest CFO Act
agency combined with its having the lowest reported telework
utilization rate among the CFO Act agencies.[Footnote 36] This agency
selection process was not designed to produce findings that could be
considered representative of telework implementation in the federal
government as a whole, but rather to provide illustrative examples of
the extent to which selected individual agencies with varied sizes,
reported utilization rates, and missions had implemented the key
practices identified in our literature review.
We interviewed officials and union representatives from the four
selected agencies to obtain their views on additional governmentwide
actions that could be taken to encourage federal agencies to increase
telecommuting participation. In addition, we contacted other unions
representing federal employees, including the National Treasury
Employees Union, the American Federation of Government Employees, and
the National Federation of Federal Employees, to solicit their views on
such additional actions. (Officials for the American Federation of
Government Employees did not respond to our request.) Our work was
conducted from May 2002 through May 2003 in accordance with generally
accepted government auditing standards.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Descriptions of Efforts by the Selected Agencies to
Implement the 25 Key Practices:
We identified 25 key practices in telework-related literature and other
sources as those that agencies should implement in developing their
telework programs. This appendix contains descriptions of how the four
agencies reviewed--the Department of Education (Education), the General
Services Administration (GSA), the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)--are implementing
each practice. Although attention to each of these practices is
integral to the success of the federal telework initiative, the four
agencies we reviewed have not fully implemented many of them. Regular
attention to the practices can help to foster program growth and remove
barriers to telework participation.
Program Planning:
Designating a Telework Coordinator:
Telework resources provided by both GSA and OPM in their roles as lead
agencies for the federal telework initiative state that, in
implementing their telework programs, federal agencies need to
designate agency telework coordinators and contacts.[Footnote 37] All
four of the agencies in our study have a designated telework
coordinator. At Education, the coordinator works on the agency's
telework program full time. At the other three agencies, the telework
coordinator has other responsibilities in addition to telework.
Establishing a Cross-Functional Project Team, Including, for Example,
IT, Union Representatives, and Other Stakeholders:
Our 2002 report on the effective use of flexibilities identified
stakeholder input as a key practice for effectively using human capital
flexibilities, such as telework.[Footnote 38] According to this report,
agency leaders, managers, employees, and employee unions need to work
together to develop policies and procedures, because such involvement
helps in reaching agreement on the need for change, the direction and
scope that change will take, and how progress will be assessed.
Stakeholder input should also be used to ensure that the policies
surrounding the use of flexibilities are clear and the procedures to
implement them are uncomplicated. Telework-related literature suggests
that stakeholder involvement should be obtained by establishing a
committee with members from human resources, information management,
risk management, facilities management, and senior management, as well
as employee and union representatives. All four of the agencies we
reviewed established cross-functional project teams in implementing
their telework programs.
Establishing Measurable Telework Program Goals:
According to the International Telework Association and Council's
(ITAC) e-Work Guide, research conducted by the American Management
Association in 2000 indicated that "68 percent of 'highly successful'
telework programs felt it was 'critical' to develop clear and
reasonable program objectives for their program" and another 27 percent
considered it to be helpful.[Footnote 39] None of the four agencies we
examined have taken any steps to implement this practice.
In comments on a draft of this report, both OPM and VA said they had
established measurable telework program goals. However, neither agency
was able to provide documentation of such goals. Therefore, our
assessments of these agencies on this practice remain unchanged.
Developing an Implementation Plan for the Telework Program:
Guidelines issued by OPM in its capacity as a leader of the
governmentwide telework initiative suggest that agencies should
establish a strategic plan with definitive timelines to accomplish
implementation of telework including an evaluation tool. The ITAC e-
Work Guide states that such a plan should include, at a minimum,
objectives and how their achievements will be measured; definitions and
policy details; a business case, including start-up and ongoing costs;
a technology plan; and an implementation plan.[Footnote 40] Two of the
agencies reviewed, Education and OPM, have fully implemented this
practice in their internal telework programs, while VA has not taken
any steps to implement this practice. However, in comments on a draft
of this report, VA said that it had developed an implementation plan
for the telework program. When we requested documentation of such a
plan, VA responded that, in fact, it did not establish an
implementation plan for its current telework policy. Therefore, our
assessment of VA on this practice remains unchanged. During our review,
GSA's telework coordinator told us that there was not a written
implementation plan for the telework program when it was first started.
However, in comments on a draft of this report, GSA indicated that it
had an implementation plan that was utilized 10 years ago when the
program was first developed, but this plan was not kept in the files,
because it was no longer in use. Therefore, we were unable to assess
GSA's implementation of this practice, and have modified the report
accordingly.
Developing a Business Case for Implementing a Telework Program:
ITAC's e-Work Guide states that "successful telework programs reside in
organizations that understand why they support telework, address the
relevant issues, minimize business risk and make the investment when it
supports their objectives."[Footnote 41] To achieve such success, the
guide recommends that organizations develop business cases for
implementing telework programs. The April 2002 report issued by Booz
Allen Hamilton on home-based telework technology barriers also
recommends that agencies develop business cases for implementing
telework in their organizations, because such an approach has proven
effective in engaging management on the benefits of telework to an
organization.[Footnote 42] Through business case analysis,
organizations have been able to identify cost reductions in the post-
telework office environment that offset additional costs incurred in
implementing telework and the most attractive approach to telework
implementation. Of the four agencies we reviewed, Education was the
only agency to have taken some steps to implement this practice. A
program official at this agency said that she has developed a
PowerPoint presentation of a business case for implementing a telework
program at Education. However, she has never actually given this
presentation to anyone at Education.
Providing Funding to Meet the Needs of the Telework Program:
Telework-related literature suggests that agencies should incorporate
requirements for home-based telework into their IT capital planning and
budgeting processes and provide for consistent allocation of the
resources necessary to establish telework arrangements, such as the
equipment and technology needed for remote access to agency networks.
However, providing funding to meet the needs of the telework program is
a practice that the four agencies have only partially implemented.
Under the provisions of 40 U.S.C. 587(d)(2), the only legislated
funding for telework programs that applies to the executive agencies
that we reviewed, specified agencies are to make at least $50,000 of
the funds appropriated for salaries and expenses available each fiscal
year for their employees' use of GSA telework centers.[Footnote 43]
However, the agencies covered under this legislation are not required
to spend the money made available. While this provision pertains to all
four of the agencies in our study, neither VA nor OPM actually spent at
least $50,000 for telework center use in fiscal year 2002. In contrast,
both Education and GSA spent more than this minimum set aside.[Footnote
44]
Although VA's telework policy states that the agency's telework
assignments may be established at community-based telework centers when
determined to be consistent with the agency's mission, a program
official said that VA generally does not choose to support use of the
centers. In fiscal year 2002, VA spent only $6,800 for two users at one
telework center. OPM's expenditures for telework center use in that
year were about $36,400. At Education, the telework program requests at
least a 10 percent increase in funds to be made available each year
over those requested the preceding year. For example, for fiscal year
2002, $82,000 was requested and approved, while for fiscal year 2003,
$125,000 was requested and approved. An Education program official said
that the 2003 request was much greater than the 2002 request because,
in 2002, the agency actually spent over $87,000 for use of the centers
and the demand was far greater than she had anticipated or could fund.
The expenditures for telework center use at GSA in 2002 were about
$97,000.
In addition to the funds made available for employees to work at
telework centers, each of the four agencies pays the salaries of
telework coordinators. In its comments on our draft report, GSA said
that it did not have a central telework fund. Instead, it said that
individual organizations within GSA provided their own funding for
telework. We had considered this information in our assessment of GSA's
level of implementation of this practice. OPM said in its comments that
the agency funds staff time to provide oversight and evaluation for the
telework program, as well as outreach and program promotion, but it is
not clear whether such funding would go beyond the already cited salary
payment for OPM's part-time telework coordinator or would even be
related to OPM's internal telework program as opposed to OPM's
governmentwide efforts. In addition, OPM stated that it had identified
resources to accommodate "every employee (who is otherwise eligible and
wants to telecommute) with appropriate computer equipment, technology
support, and remote connections." However, OPM did not provide
documentation of this funding. Also, an IT official at OPM said that
there were times that the agency has been short on the older computers
it loans to teleworkers. He said that the people who absolutely need to
telework get computers immediately, if they require one, but that
people who would like to telework, but do not have a "need" to do so,
have had to wait to begin teleworking until computers became available.
According to this IT official, managers usually make the decision about
whether telework is a "need," although employees will sometimes decide
for themselves that it is not necessary for them to telework. Given
these considerations, we did not change our assessment that GSA and OPM
had taken some steps to implement this practice.
Beyond these situations, the four agencies have not directly allocated
other funds to meet the functional needs of their telework programs.
Moreover, both Education and VA cited funding as a major barrier to
their agencies' telework programs in their responses to OPM's November
2002 telework survey. Education's response also characterized telework
as an unfunded mandate that agencies had to support with funds from
their appropriations for salaries and expenses.
Establishing a Pilot Program:
Booz Allen Hamilton's April 2002 report on barriers to home-based
telework stated that well-structured pilot programs have led to
successful telework programs. Guidelines issued by Commuter
Connections, a program coordinated through the Metropolitan Washington
Council of Governments, suggests that a telework pilot program may be
the best way to prove the concept and test the integration plan by
demonstrating effects on performance and productivity, evaluating
policies and procedures, testing remote access and technology support,
identifying resource requirements, evaluating new workplace concepts,
testing training effectiveness, and evaluating manager-team-remote
worker relationships.[Footnote 45] Of the four agencies we reviewed,
only Education had a pilot related to the implementation of its
agencywide telework program. Although GSA and OPM did not have
individual pilot programs for their internal telework programs, both
agencies were involved in the year-long governmentwide telework pilot
program that was implemented in 1990.
In comments on a draft of this report, VA said that it had two pilot
programs. However, when we requested documentation of a pilot relating
to implementation of its current program, VA responded that, in fact,
it did not conduct a pilot program for its current telework policy.
Therefore, we did not change our assessment of VA on this practice.
Telework Policy:
Establishing an Agencywide Telework Policy:
OPM's January 2003 report to Congress stated that of the 77 reporting
agencies, 63 reported having approved and implemented their telework
policies, 9 were in the process of policy development, 3 were in the
implementation stages, and 2 reported no policies or policy development
activity. All 4 of the agencies in our study have implemented telework
policies and, according to agency officials at all of these agencies,
they have given some consideration to updating their policies to
reflect changes within the agency and more recent trends in telework.
At VA, a program official provided us with a draft for an updated
policy, which was developed to modernize the agency's policy and expand
the eligible population at VA. According to this official, the draft
policy was going through the approval process at that time. Program
officials at all 4 of the agencies told us that revisions to their
policies would involve obtaining union input on those revisions.
Telework program officials at GSA and OPM said that reaching such
agreement with the unions can take a year or more.
Establishing Eligibility Criteria to Ensure That Teleworkers Are
Selected on an Equitable Basis Using Criteria Such as Suitability of
Tasks and Employee Performance:
Several telework-related sources have emphasized the need for
eligibility criteria to ensure that teleworkers are selected on an
equitable basis. Most of these sources advise that these criteria
should be based on the suitability of both the tasks and the employee
for telework. According to the Interagency Telework Issues Working
Group report, criteria for determining the suitability of the employee
should be based on objective criteria that are equitable, reasonable,
and clearly stated and not on general personal characteristics that are
assessed using subjective measures, such as being organized,
conscientious, highly disciplined, and a self-starter. The report went
on to say that using such criteria can lead to subjective supervisory
assessments, which can inaccurately or inappropriately impede telework
participation. To address this concern, the report recommended that OPM
establish a policy that all federal employees are potentially eligible
to participate in telework, unless excluded by their agency based on
objective criteria that are supportive of the intent of the telework
requirements in Public Law 106-346. The group also recommended that OPM
require each individual agency to identify and define, in its telework
policy, positions excluded from telework arrangements, based strictly
on tasks performed in the excluded positions.
Education has included eligibility criteria in its policy that are
similar to those that the Interagency Telework Issues Working Group
cautioned against using. Education's policy states that an employee who
is suitable to telework should exhibit self-starter characteristics,
good organizational skills, and the ability to function independently.
Education and OPM also require that teleworkers are performing at or
above a specified rating level such as "fully successful." In addition,
OPM's telework policy states that employees approved for telework
should be able to manage workloads with minimum supervision and that
generally, telework is not appropriate for new employees such as those
who need to be in the office to learn the organization and those who
require on-the-job training. GSA's policy does not include eligibility
criteria, but states that criteria for selecting occupations and
employees for telework are not hard and fast rules. However, the policy
also refers to a separate GSA Office of Human Resources document for
selection factors particularly relevant to telework. A GSA program
official said that she had been trying to locate that document for a
while, but to date has not been able to do so. VA's current policy
includes eligibility criteria based solely on position classifications.
However, a VA program official acknowledged that there is variation in
the application of eligibility requirements among parts of that agency,
given the subjective nature of the approval process. She added that the
proposed revisions to VA's current policy would require supervisors to
give reasons for denial on the application form, which she hoped would
provide needed information to help assess equitable treatment. Because
none of the four agencies have yet taken steps to ascertain whether
teleworkers are being selected on an equitable basis, these agencies
cannot ensure that their eligibility criteria are being applied
equitably.
Establishing Policies or Requirements to Facilitate Communication Among
Teleworkers, Managers, and Coworkers:
Although telework-related sources suggest that establishing policies or
requirements to facilitate communication among teleworkers, managers,
and coworkers is helpful in addressing managerial concerns about
telework, teleworker isolation, and morale issues that may arise with
nonteleworkers, two of the four agencies, Education and OPM, have fully
implemented this practice. Education's telework policy states that
supervisors should ensure that efforts are made to include teleworkers
as part of the team in order to reduce employee isolation and
communication problems, and to facilitate integration of the employee
with those in the office. As a means of accomplishing this, the policy
recommends that teleworkers plan to work from the office at least 1 day
per week in order to be available for meetings or anything that needs
to be handled face-to-face and on days when staff meetings are
scheduled. The policy also suggests that developing fixed times during
the day for supervisor/employee telephone conversations may be helpful
to ensure ongoing communication. OPM's policy also includes language
about the importance of communication and recommends that employees
plan to be in the office at least 1 day per week. In addition, OPM's
policy states that the telework agreement must include means of
communication with the employee when telecommuting (phone, fax, e-mail,
etc.). OPM's alternate worksite agreement includes an area specifically
addressing assignments and communication. It says that the information
provided in the designated space "should include work assignments,
agreements on checking voice mail and email or contacting the
supervisor as well as the requirement for employees to come into the
office as needed." While program officials at GSA and VA acknowledged
that communication was an important issue, the telework policies at
these agencies did not establish means of facilitating communication.
Developing a Telework Agreement for Use between Teleworkers and Their
Managers:
Telework-related literature recommends that agencies develop a telework
agreement to be signed by both teleworkers and their supervisors.
According to ITAC's e-Work Guide, such an agreement should establish
job duties and expectations, performance standards, and measurable
outcomes and deliverables. All four agencies reviewed have developed
telework agreements, but have different requirements for their use. For
example, GSA does not require the use of these agreements for ad hoc
telework arrangements. In contrast, OPM's telework policy states that
"employees must sign a work agreement with their supervisor." Despite
this requirement, an OPM program official told us that this does not
always happen in practice and she does not require them to do so.
However, she does accept e-mail agreements between employees and
supervisors when she receives them.
Developing Guidelines on Workplace Health and Safety Issues to Ensure
That Teleworkers Have Safe and Adequate Places to Work Off-Site:
Telework-related literature describes several means for employers to
ensure that teleworkers have safe and adequate alternate workplaces.
These include specifically addressing health and safety issues related
to telework in policies, including health and safety issues in telework
training, having teleworkers fill out a safety checklist, and
performing on-site inspections with adequate notice to the teleworker.
Three of the four agencies we reviewed, Education, GSA, and OPM, have
developed safety checklists, which are to be completed along with the
telework agreement, to ensure that teleworkers have certified the
safety of their alternate workplaces. However, Education is the only
agency that requires all teleworkers to complete and sign such a
checklist before they begin teleworking. GSA includes a safety
checklist with the telework agreement, but episodic teleworkers are not
required to complete an agreement or, therefore, a checklist. OPM's
telework policy recommends that the telework agreement include a safety
checklist, but such a checklist is not required. According to a program
official from VA, the agency's current policy does not contain health
and safety guidelines, but the revised draft policy, which is currently
going through the agency's approval process, includes a safety
checklist.
Performance Management:
Ensuring That the Same Performance Standards, Derived from a Modern,
Effective, and Credible Performance System, Are Used to Evaluate Both
Teleworkers and Nonteleworkers:
Although none of the agencies have fully implemented the practice of
ensuring that the same performance standards are used to evaluate both
teleworkers and nonteleworkers, Education and OPM have taken some steps
to implement this practice. Education's telework policy states that
employees participating in the telework program shall be treated
equally with other employees in decisions that affect conditions of
employment for awards, promotions, and/or any other condition of
employment. A program official at OPM said that work performed by
teleworkers is supposed to be evaluated using the same performance
standards used for nonteleworkers and that managers are supposed to
communicate this. Although such a statement was not included in OPM's
telework policy, the policy does state that the employees' current
performance standards will be used to govern all telecommuting
assignments as well as those in the telecommuters' current traditional
federal offices. A GSA program official told us that the agency
incorporated this concept into its telework policy and reiterated it in
counseling sessions with managers and staff. We did not find any
support of this in GSA's policy, although it did indicate that "[t]ime
spent and quality of products will be measured by correlation with
previous and similar efforts." VA's current telework policy does not
contain any statements related to using the same performance standards
for both teleworkers and nonteleworkers. In comments on a draft of this
report, VA stated that the department consistently advises supervisors
and managers that performance standards for teleworkers and
nonteleworkers should be the same. However, VA could not provide us
with any information to support this comment. In fact, VA responded
that it provides such advice "on an as-requested basis," which does not
constitute "consistently advising." Therefore, our assessment of VA on
this practice remains unchanged.
Establishing Guidelines to Minimize Adverse Impact on Nonteleworkers
Before Employees Begin to Work at Alternate Worksites:
Telework-related literature suggests that performance and morale issues
can arise if guidelines are not established to address and minimize
adverse impacts of telework on nonteleworkers. The literature describes
several issues that can contribute to such issues among nonteleworkers,
including eligibility criteria that are perceived as unfair and cause
nonteleworkers to feel left out or discriminated against, teleworkers
that allow their in-office responsibilities to fall on the shoulders of
nonteleworkers, and reduced communication between the teleworker and
nonteleworker. To mitigate these situations, care should be taken to
establish fair and equitable eligibility criteria and means of
distributing work.
Three of the four agencies, Education, OPM, and VA, have fully
implemented this practice by including specific guidelines in their
policies. Education's telework policy states that telework should not
affect the performance of other employees and that it shall not put a
burden on staff remaining in the office. It also says that an equitable
distribution of work must be maintained and methods should be
instituted to ensure that employees working in the office do not have
to handle the teleworker's work. OPM's policy says that supervisors
should consider the effect of telework on all employees in the work
unit, especially if it means there are fewer employees in the office to
handle customer requests. At VA, supervisors are charged with ensuring
that participating and nonparticipating employees are treated
equitably. According to a program official at GSA, the agency's policy
sets out guidelines for effective use of telework, including that a
unit should use whatever systems it deems necessary to ensure that
there is a balance of work between those teleworking and those in the
office. However, we did not see any support of this in GSA's policy.
Managerial Support:
Obtaining Support from Top Management for a Telework Program:
Although program officials from all four agencies recognized support
from top management as being critical to the success of a program such
as telework, a program official at OPM was the only one to state,
unequivocally, that telework has the full support of that agency's top
management. She said that the agency's director leads by example, since
she and various members of her staff telework. The director has also
demonstrated support by sending e-mails encouraging telework in
response to certain events, such as Green Day. A GSA program official
believes support for telework from that agency's top management has
varied by administration. However, she said that, although the current
administrator has not made a statement specifically supporting
telework, he has made several overtures in support of the program,
including teleworking occasionally himself, supporting GSA's
promotional free trial offer for use of the telework centers, and
attending meetings related to telework. Officials at the other two
agencies cited lack of support from top management as a challenge in
implementing the telework program. An Education program official also
specifically discussed the difficulties that frequently changing
administrations and leadership can create because of having to
repeatedly work to overcome the barriers that new top managers bring to
the agency.
Addressing Managerial Resistance to Telework:
Our 1997 report identified managerial resistance as the largest barrier
to implementing telework, attributing it to several factors, including
general resistance to change, since telework requires managers to shift
from managing by observation to managing by results.[Footnote 46]
Officials from three of the four agencies that we spoke with--
Education, GSA, and VA--also cited this as a challenge that they face
and identified it as a barrier to telework in their responses to OPM's
November 2002 telework survey. Current and former program officials at
OPM stated that managers at that agency do not exhibit signs of
managerial resistance to telework and thus this practice has been fully
implemented. A former program official directly linked the presence of
top management support for telework at OPM to the prevention of
managerial resistance, because managers were told that they have to
allow telework and that they must give a business case for rejecting an
employee's request to telework.
Program officials at two of the agencies presented some ideas for
addressing managerial resistance. A VA program official would like to
bring in outside consultants to hold an information forum or
educational briefings for supervisors and managers, which would tie
telework to the shift from the industrial age to the information age
and walk managers through the process of approving a telework
arrangement. VA's draft Telework Proposal form, included in its revised
draft telework policy, will help to address managerial resistance, if
it is implemented in its current form, by requiring that supervisors
provide a written reason if a telework application is not approved. In
its response to OPM's 2002 telework survey, VA also said that it is
using initiatives to gain top management support to overcome barriers
that include managerial resistance. According to a program official,
GSA has considered handling the approval process for telework
agreements by committee instead of by individual supervisors as a means
of alleviating managerial resistance, but this has not yet happened
because of managerial resistance to such a change.
Training and Publicizing:
Training All Involved, Including, at a Minimum, Managers and
Teleworkers:
Three of the four agencies that we reviewed provide some telework
training. At Education, training for teleworkers is mandatory before
they can begin to telework. Training is available at monthly training
sessions, by telephone, or by requesting the telework coordinator's
training slides. These training opportunities are also available, but
optional, for managers and nonteleworkers. GSA's telework policy states
that new program participants, including employees and immediate
supervisors, must receive training except for those participating in
episodic arrangements. However, a program official said that while GSA
trained all employees when its telework program was first implemented,
currently the agency only does occasional briefings on the telework
program, usually in town hall meetings or on an as-needed basis with
individuals.
A former program official at OPM told us that all managers were
required to attend telework briefings when the program first started in
2001. These sessions addressed performance management, office coverage
and work unit issues, equipment issues, providing business reasons for
denials, and handling Privacy Act implications. Other employees were
offered the opportunity to attend briefings about the roles and
responsibilities of a teleworker, but they were not required to attend.
However, a current OPM program official told us that the agency does
not currently offer telework training, that there has been no
discussion of offering such training, and that she does not see a need
for it at this time.
Although a program official at VA believes training is very important
and is critically needed for supervisors and new employees, she said
that telework training has never been done at the agency. She noted
that VA has considered developing an interactive training program for
supervisors, but it is waiting for the release of an Internet training
package that OPM's office with responsibility for the governmentwide
telework initiative has developed before making any decisions. It is
anticipated that this training for managers and teleworkers will be
available to all federal government employees from OPM during fiscal
year 2003 at no charge on [Hyperlink, www.golearn.gov] www.golearn.gov-
-an OPM-provided on-line learning center. The availability of such
training may help to address any disparity in the provision of telework
training among agencies.
Informing the Workforce about the Telework Program:
Telework-related literature suggests that it is important to inform the
workforce about opportunities to telework. Two of the agencies, GSA and
OPM, have fully implemented this practice for their internal telework
programs, using means such as intranet sites, newsletters, posters, and
brochures to disseminate information about the telework program. At
Education, a program official told us that she stopped actively
marketing the telework program in response to pressure from top
management. However, Education's internal Web site has information on
telework, including forms for participation and e-mail links. Education
also publicizes information about telework training opportunities in
its internal weekly newsletter. A program official from VA indicated
that she would like to do more to market the program, but is limited by
budgetary constraints. Currently the only means of publicizing VA's
telework program is through its intranet site, which includes a copy of
the telework policy, helpful hints for supervisors and employees,
information about telecenters, telework questions and answers, and
guidance about what would make a good teleworker. However, the program
official acknowledged that this form of communication has a drawback in
that only those employees with access to computers can retrieve this
information.
Technology:
Conducting an Assessment of Teleworker and Organization Technology
Needs:
Since teleworkers often require the use of IT equipment to access
files, internal networks, and e-mail, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) suggests that agencies assess both their own and their
employees' technology needs for telework with a mind toward providing
employees with access to equipment similar to what they have in the
office.[Footnote 47] In addition, ITAC's e-Work Guide reports that
research conducted by the American Management Association found that 73
percent of "highly successful" telework programs regarded it as
"critical" to do an analysis and review of the organization's
technology base and its compatibility with teleworker requirements.
According to Booz Allen Hamilton's report on technology barriers to
home-based telework, the technologies acquired in response to such
assessments, including document management systems, collaboration
tools, and performance measurement systems, can result in benefits for
both teleworkers and those in the office environment as well.
Two of the four agencies we reviewed, Education and OPM, have fully
implemented this practice and GSA has partially implemented the
practice. According to an IT official at Education, the department did
an engineering analysis to determine both current and future
infrastructure needs for telework. In addition, a program official from
Education told us that each applicant for telework must complete a
technology assessment worksheet. OPM conducted a technology assessment
as part of its program planning. As part of this effort, OPM's IT staff
chose the technologies to be used for remote access and decided that
government-issued equipment was preferred to personal equipment for
security purposes. OPM's IT department also distributes virus software
to employees who use their personal computers for telework. GSA has not
conducted an agencywide assessment of teleworker and organization
technology needs. According to a GSA program official, this is done on
a case-by-case basis at the organization level because each
organization is responsible for its own budget and for providing its
workers with the appropriate tools for doing the job. According to
another GSA official, GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy is
conducting a pilot with laptops and docking stations to minimize the
agency's costs of maintaining two workstations for teleworkers.
According to an IT official, VA has not conducted an assessment of
technology needs with respect to teleworkers. As it currently stands,
the process at VA is handled individually between the supervisor and
employees.
Developing Guidelines about Whether the Organization or Employee Will
Provide Necessary Technology, Equipment, and Supplies for Telework:
Guidelines issued by GSA for the governmentwide telework initiative
indicate that, while agencies are permitted, but not required, to
provide teleworkers with equipment for use at alternate worksites, each
agency must establish its own policies on the provision and
installation of equipment for telework. All of the agencies we reviewed
have established policies in this regard, stating that the agency will
make decisions about providing equipment for telework on a case-by-case
basis in light of funding and other considerations, such as the work to
be performed at the alternate site, the type of equipment and software
that is needed, and the availability of equipment. For those agencies
that allow employees to use personal equipment for telework, one
program official acknowledged that such a policy can result in a
"digital divide" between those employees who have the option of using
or acquiring personal equipment for telework when the agency is not
able to provide them with equipment and those who do not have such
equipment available to them.
Providing Technical Support for Teleworkers:
According to the Interagency Telework Issues Working Group report,
establishing technical support for both government-owned and personal
equipment used to perform official duties for remote users, especially
for teleworkers, is a relatively new issue for agencies. Some concerns
associated with this issue focus on the availability and consistency of
such support for teleworkers. To address these concerns, the report
recommends that GSA establish a policy requiring that telework
arrangements are covered in each agency's IT technical support policies
and that agencies refer to relevant sources of information on technical
support in their telework policies.
All four of the agencies reviewed have fully implemented this practice.
According to an IT official at Education, the same technical assistance
is available to all Education employees, whether they are in the office
or teleworking. There is no special technical support for teleworkers.
A program official from Education also said that customer service
center staff can provide technical support for nongovernment-owned
equipment, but this support is limited to whatever help can be provided
over the telephone. An IT official at GSA said that the agency has two
levels of technical support for users. The first level of technical
support for all users, regardless of where they are working, is from
their own unit's support staff. The second level of support for remote
access users, including teleworkers, is the Remote Access Team in the
Chief Information Officer's office. This level of support is called
upon when the first level cannot resolve the problem. According to an
IT official at OPM, the agency has a telework group that manages the
servers, the virtual private network, and communication software. There
is a separate phone number for people to call with computer problems
associated with personal or agency-provided computers encountered while
teleworking. At VA, teleworkers have remote access to the same
technical support as office-based workers.
Addressing Access and Security Issues Related to Telework:
The Interagency Telework Issues Working Group report states that remote
access is a key component of telework programs, because "low-tech"
solutions, such as floppy disks, are inadequate for most situations. It
goes on to say that remote access solutions, especially the speed of
the connection, are necessary to maintain productivity in a telework
arrangement. However, both the Interagency report and Booz Allen
Hamilton's report on technology barriers to home-based telework
identified concerns among managers about security and the protection of
agency information when systems are accessed remotely. Although the
Booz Allen Hamilton report stated that the need to provide information
security was not seen by any of the organizations they analyzed as a
reason to inhibit home-based telework, OPM's January 2003 report to
Congress on the status of telework in the federal government identified
data security as the most frequently cited barrier to telework. All
four of the agencies we reviewed said they had addressed access and
security issues related to telework by using remote access systems with
adequate safeguards.
Establishing Standards for Equipment in the Telework Environment:
Booz Allen Hamilton's report on technology barriers to home-based
telework recommends that federal organizations specifically define
technical requirements, or standards, for the home environment to
ensure that sufficient systems and support services are available to
teleworkers. According to the report, such requirements should also be
included in the longer-term IT and capital planning processes at each
agency. Three of the four agencies we reviewed, Education, GSA, and VA,
have fully implemented this practice and OPM has taken some steps to
implement this practice.
According to IT officials at both Education and GSA, these agencies use
the same standards for equipment in both the home and office
environments. Neither agency has established separate standards for
equipment in the telework environment. If an employee wants to use his
own equipment at home, the equipment would have to meet the network
standards. According to a program official at Education, the
department's Web site identifies the minimum technology requirements
and is regularly updated with the latest information on viruses,
security issues, and other information. According to an IT official at
VA, the department has established a standard for its IT equipment,
whether at a VA locale or not. This official reported that all IT
investments and procurements are required to undergo review and
concurrence from VA's Enterprise Architecture Service. In addition, the
draft policy includes a security checklist, including security
requirements for equipment, which must be completed, reviewed, and
certified by the Information Security Officer before a telework
arrangement can begin.
OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice. In comments on a
draft of this report, OPM stated that it has a standard platform for
connectivity and has established a protocol for requesting necessary
equipment and connectivity. However, an IT official from OPM reported
that, while OPM has a target standard machine, this standard has not
been fully applied. In addition, this IT official also told us that OPM
does not really have a standard for employee-provided equipment and
that employees are only made aware of the need to upgrade to the
standard when they raise an issue about their current equipment.
Program Evaluation:
Establishing Processes, Procedures, and/or a Tracking System to Collect
Data to Evaluate the Telework Program:
Even though the four agencies we studied have processes and procedures
to collect data on their telework programs, none of them currently does
a survey specifically related to telework or has a tracking system that
provides accurate participation rates and other information about
teleworkers and the program. Such lack of information not only impedes
the agencies in identifying problems or issues related to their
telework programs, it also prevents these agencies from providing OPM,
and subsequently Congress, with complete and accurate data.
Education's process to collect data provides some useful information,
but it is not complete. To compile information on telework at
Education, a database was developed, which uses information from
telework agreements and the department's payroll system. Using this
database, Education can produce reports on a number of topics,
including the number of teleworkers, whether they telework on a
regularly scheduled or ad hoc basis, what regions or offices they work
for, who their supervisors are, and their grade levels. However, an
Education program official acknowledged that although this system is
designed to track telework agreements, some agreements are not
accounted for, such as informal agreements that are unbeknownst to her
or agreements that have not gone through the whole process.
Furthermore, because it tracks agreements and not actual usage, the
system cannot measure telework utilization. VA currently does not have
a database for telework and uses decentralized data collection methods,
but a program official indicated that the agency plans to implement
telework tracking via the time and attendance system. Although this
official said that she hopes this new tracking system will address data
inconsistency issues within the agency, she could not provide a time
frame for its implementation.
OPM tracks its teleworkers by counting telework agreements and recently
developed a database to keep track of these agreements, although a
program official acknowledged that informal e-mailed telework
agreements that are sometimes used at OPM might not all be included in
the database because she did not receive them. As stated above, systems
that rely on agreements to track telework participation do not actually
provide information about utilization rates. At OPM this weakness is
compounded by the fact that the agency does not ensure that telework
agreements are used in all cases. GSA does not have an agencywide
tracking system. Coordinators for individual units at GSA calculate
telework data from telework agreements once a year in order to provide
the information GSA submits for OPM's annual governmentwide telework
survey. However, no documentation is required for intermittent telework
arrangements at GSA, and, as a result, a program official acknowledged
that the number of these types of arrangements reported to OPM for its
2002 telework survey was a rough estimate. She also said that the
survey instruments and reporting mechanisms used by OPM's
governmentwide telework initiative for its annual report on telework in
the federal government were a challenge in this area because of changes
in the data requested from year to year, which made it difficult to
determine the kind of system an agency needed to develop to best track
the requested data.
Identifying Problems and/or Issues with the Telework Program and Making
Appropriate Adjustments:
ITAC's e-Work Guide recommends that organizations choose an evaluation
design that 1) allows the clearest judgment of the program's
effectiveness and 2) uses the evaluation results to develop an action
plan to guide any necessary changes for telework or for the
organization. It states that organizations should use reliable and
valid measures of all outcomes and processes, including benchmarking
and follow-up assessment questionnaires, interviews, behavioral
observations and ratings, or organizational data, because the quality
of measurement is extremely important to enabling one to draw the
proper conclusions regarding the effectiveness of telework and whether
or not it has met the original objectives.
Despite the importance of using data to evaluate and improve telework
programs, none of the four agencies we reviewed had fully implemented
this practice. A program official at Education told us she had
collected data on the telework program and used these data to identify
some potential problem areas. For example, she identified offices that
had low telework program participation rates and an office that had
teleworkers working only on an as-needed schedule and no one working on
a fixed schedule. She used this information to target marketing efforts
until she was told to stop actively marketing the program. In addition,
a private contractor conducted a survey about Education's telework
program in 1999. Although the survey's response rate was very low due,
in part, to technology incompatibilities across the department and a
lack of support by union officials, the survey yielded four
recommendations, none of which have been fully implemented. According
to a GSA program official, GSA does not collect data to identify
problems or make adjustments to its telework program.
An OPM program official stated that she does not use the telework data
she collects to identify issues with the program. Rather, she relies on
employees to bring problems to her attention and responds accordingly.
At VA, a program official identified an issue with the data collected
for OPM's 2003 report to Congress on the status of telework. She
believed the data collected within VA was inconsistent and needed to be
reexamined. For example, 102,000 positions were identified as being
eligible for telework for the January 2003 report, as opposed to 80,000
that had been identified for the January 2002 report. Since the program
official thinks VA's true eligible population is between 55,000 and
75,000 employees, she asked the local human resources representatives
to reexamine the numbers they reported.
[End of section]
Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Education:
The Director of Human Resources Services from the Department of
Education provided comments on a draft of this report via e-mail. In
these comments, Education generally agreed with the contents of the
draft report and stated that the department was pleased that we
recognized its efforts to advance telework. Additionally, the comments
stated that the department's "most significant comment" was, as our
draft noted, the need for a clear, unambiguous, and universally
accepted definition for what it means to allow employees the
opportunity to telework.
[End of section]
Appendix IV: Comments from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS:
WASHINGTON June 20, 2003:
Mr. J. Christopher Mihm Director, Strategic Issues U. S. General
Accounting Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Mihm:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reviewed your draft report,
HUMAN CAPITAL: Further Guidance, Assistance, and Coordination Can
Improve Federal Telework Efforts (GAO-03-679). VA is pleased to see
that telework has been recognized as a human capital flexibility.
VA agrees with the General Accounting Office's (GAO) conclusion that
there is a need for further guidance and assistance from the two lead
agencies, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM).
Section 359 of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act for 2001 (P. L. 106-346) requires each Federal
agency to establish a policy under which eligible employees may
participate in telework. However, the definition for eligibility
criteria is not clear. Although OPM issued a revised definition for
opportunity to participate, the revision does not address the larger
issue of participant eligibility. In VA's opinion, the decision to
participate should be predicated on position suitability with specific
focus on tasks and responsibilities, followed by employee suitability.
For example, if the employee is an outstanding candidate but the
position and responsibilities do not lend themselves to a telework
agreement, the request to participate in telework would not be
approved. VA strongly believes that OPM needs to redefine participant
eligibility criteria.
The report states that VA was included in the review because it had the
distinction of being the second largest Chief Financial Officers (CFO)
Act agency combined with its having the lowest reported telework
utilization rate among the CFO Act agencies. However, the report does
not recognize that the Department's limited participation rate is due
in large part to VA's mission. A significant number of VA employees are
engaged in direct patient care and benefit service delivery to
veterans, which precludes large-scale participation in telework.
Therefore, using VA's total employee population for reporting purposes,
rather than the number of positions that may be suitable for telework,
does not adequately describe VA's participation rate.
GAO asserts that telework ". . also allows management and employees to
cope with the uncertainties of potential disruptions in the workplace,
including terrorist attacks." VA agrees and believes OPM and GSA should
provide guidance delineating
respective responsibilities among Federal, State, and local governments
on how to effectively use telework in emergency situations.
On page 17, there are several factual errors regarding the extent to
which VA has implemented the 25 key telework practices.
* Program Planning - VA has conducted pilot programs, e.g., the Veterans
Benefits Administration (VBA) and the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
During the course of the audit, VA forwarded a copy of VBA's pilot to
GAO.
* Program Planning - VA has also established measurable telework program
goals and an implementation plan.
* Telework Policy - VA has included in its revised policy a "Self-
Certification Safety Checklist.":
VA has also developed a Telework Proposal form designed to facilitate
communication among supervisors, employees, and managers. The Telework
Proposal form allows VA to track and evaluate the effectiveness of its
program as well as VA's success in achieving targeted participation
goals. The Department consistently advises supervisors and managers
that performance standards for teleworkers and non-teleworkers should
be the same, which is consistent with the criteria under "Performance
Management." Under "Technology," VA's ability to conduct an assessment
is compromised by the lack of clear guidance regarding which positions
are suitable to telework.
The Department of Veterans Affairs appreciates the opportunity to
comment on your draft report.
Sincerely yours,
Anthony J. Principi:
Signed by Anthony J. Principi:
GAO Responses to Comments from VA:
1. VA agreed with our conclusion that there is a need for further
guidance and assistance from GSA and OPM regarding federal telework
implementation and suggested two areas where such guidance would be
helpful. Specifically, VA indicated that OPM needs to redefine
participant eligibility criteria and that OPM and GSA should provide
guidance on how to effectively use telework in emergency situations.
2. VA expressed concern that the draft report, which stated that we
used participation rate as one of the criteria used in our selection of
agencies, did not recognize what VA considers to be a significant
factor accounting for its limited telework participation rate. In this
regard, VA stated that a "significant number of VA employees are
engaged in direct patient care and benefit service delivery to
veterans, which precludes large-scale participation in telework." As
our draft noted, agencies were selected to provide illustrative
examples of the extent to which individual agencies with varied sizes,
reported utilization rates, and missions had implemented the key
practices identified in our literature review. Nonetheless, we have
added additional language to our scope and methodology section
regarding the service delivery focus of VA's mission.
3. VA also had several comments on our findings related to the status
of VA's implementation of the telework practices that we identified.
The specific issues that VA raised and our response to each are
summarized as follows:
* In its comments, VA noted that it had conducted two pilot programs.
When we requested additional information from VA to support its
comment, VA provided us with information about two pilot programs that
did not relate to their current telework program. VA also stated that
it did not conduct a pilot program for its current telework policy.
Because VA could not provide information about a pilot program for its
current telework policy, we did not change our assessment that VA has
not taken any steps to implement this practice.
* VA said it had established measurable telework program goals and an
the course of our work that VA did not have any measurable telework
goals or an implementation plan. Therefore, we have not changed our
assessment that VA has not taken any steps to implement these
practices.
* VA commented, as our draft report had noted, that its revised
telework policy has a "Self-Certification Safety Checklist." However,
as we also noted in our draft report, this policy is still in draft
form and was not in use during our review. Because VA's current
telework policy does not contain a safety checklist and the draft
checklist is not in use, we have not changed our assessment that VA has
not taken any steps to ensure that teleworkers have safe and adequate
places to work off-site.
* VA indicated that it had developed a Telework Proposal form that was
designed to facilitate communication among supervisors, employees, and
managers. However, that form is part of VA's revised telework policy,
which, as noted in our draft report, has not yet been approved for use
at VA and, therefore, was not considered in our evaluation. Moreover,
this form, once approved, will not serve to establish policies or
requirements to facilitate communication between managers and
teleworkers, such as detailing the methods of communication that should
be used or the frequency with which communication should occur while
teleworking. More importantly, VA's existing telework policy does not
establish such policies or requirements to facilitate communication.
Given these considerations, our assessment that VA has not taken any
steps to implement this practice remains unchanged.
* VA stated that the Telework Proposal form, which, as we noted, is
still a draft, allows it to track and evaluate the effectiveness of its
program as well as VA's success in achieving targeted participation
goals. This form simply allows VA to count how many employees have
applied for telework and how many have been approved for such an
arrangement. Such information will be important and valuable. However,
the form would not fully enable VA to evaluate the effectiveness of its
program or its success in achieving participation goals in terms of the
number of employees actually teleworking and, equally important, the
extent to which telework is being used. As we had noted in our draft
report, a VA program official had indicated to us that the agency plans
to implement telework tracking via the time and attendance system,
which she hopes will address data inconsistency issues within the
agency. Such a tracking mechanism, if implemented, could be helpful in
tracking telework participation. Based on these considerations, our
assessment that VA has taken some steps to implement this practice
remains unchanged.
* VA also stated that the department consistently advises supervisors
and managers that performance standards for teleworkers and
nonteleworkers should be the same and said that this was consistent
with the criteria under our category of "Performance Management."
However, VA could not provide us with any information to support this
comment. In fact, VA responded that it provides such advice "on an as-
requested basis," which does not constitute "consistently advising."
Furthermore, VA's current telework policy does not contain any
statements related to using the same performance standards for both
teleworkers and nonteleworkers. Given these considerations, we have not
changed our assessment that VA has not taken any steps to ensure that
the same performance standards are used to evaluate both teleworkers
and nonteleworkers.
* In addition, VA noted that its ability to conduct a technology
assessment for telework is compromised by the lack of clear guidance
regarding which positions are suitable to telework. This further
illustrates our finding, as stated in our draft report, that agencies
may need additional guidance, guidelines, and/or individualized
technical support to fully implement the practices we have identified.
However, VA's comment does not affect our assessment that VA has not
taken any steps to implement this practice.
[End of section]
Appendix V: Comments from the General Services Administration and the
Office of Personnel Management:
UNITED STATES OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT:
UNITED STATES GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION:
WASHINGTON, DC:
JUN 26 2003:
GSA
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR:
The Honorable David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States
The U.S. General Accounting Office 441 G Street NW, 7TH Floor
Washington, DC 20548:
Dear Mr. Walker:
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the General Accounting
Office's (GAO) recent report regarding the progress of Federal agencies
in utilizing telework. The General Services Administration (GSA) and
the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) believe that this is a
sufficiently important issue as to merit a joint response.
In the June 2003 draft report, Further Guidance, Assistance, and
Coordination Can Improve Telework Efforts, the General Accounting
Office (GAO) offered several recommendations concerning the need for
further guidance and assistance from OPM and GSA, if we are to continue
making progress on this important government-wide initiative. We have
commented on each of the specific suggestions below. The response to
GAO's evaluation of the OPM and GSA internal implementation of the
telework program is provided at Appendices A and B.
The draft GAO report notes confusion at the implementation level
regarding the policy guidance we have put forth to date. We were
particularly taken aback by this finding, given the efforts we have
made in promoting telework. For example, other GAO reports highlight
positive results with regard to OPM's stewardship of Federal work-life
programs, including telework. The 9-May-03 report, Human Capital. OPM
Can Better Assist Agencies in Using Personnel Flexibilities (GAO-03-
428) states: "According to the agency officials and union
representatives we interviewed, existing flexibilities that are most
effective in managing the workforce are work-life policies and
programs, such as alternative and flexible work schedules, transit
subsidies, and child-care assistance." Issued just a month ago, the
report goes onto note that OPM "held one-on-one meetings with more than
30 agencies to discuss telework, learn about agency initiatives in this
area, and find out how OPM can assist agencies in expanding telework
opportunities."
Moreover, we have found that utilization of GSA's metropolitan
Washington, D.C., telework centers has increased by more than 60
percent. The joint GSA/OPM web site (www.telework.gov) has achieved
great success since going live in August 2001. To date, more than 3,000
customers have signed up for GSA's telework list serve as a result of
these efforts. In the June report, GAO found a lack of clarity in OPM's
telework guidelines regarding the legal definition of "opportunity to
telework," and that the lack of clarity resulted in inconsistent agency
reporting to OPM and Congress. As a result, OPM has issued immediate
clarification in Telework: A Management Priority -A Guide for Managers,
Supervisors, and Telework
Coordinators, on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the telework
web site, and in the upcoming 2003 telework survey. OPM did this to
ensure that the agencies clearly understand the definition, and as the
report acknowledges, the clarified definition should now be properly
applied by agencies in reporting data to OPM.
The GAO report also asserts that although both GSA and OPM have policy
responsibility for telework, they have not fully coordinated efforts in
the past. We strongly disagree with this statement. OPM and GSA work
together as a team while recognizing our respective areas of
responsibility. However, with the February 20, 2003, passage of Section
623, Division B, Title V of Public Law 108-7, we revisited those areas
of responsibility and concluded that they needed to be clarified to
reflect new statutory direction. We had already begun that process and
recognized the need to better outline separate and shared
responsibilities. Among the options we are currently considering is a
Memorandum of Understanding to clearly designate each agency's roles
and responsibilities.
In addition, we have found a number of inaccuracies in the June report
that were cited as indicators of a lack of coordination between our two
agencies. For example, GAO asserts that when OPM asked GSA to review
the OPM draft telework guide for managers, OPM revised the document
without sharing the final draft with GSA before its release. Since OPM
incorporated GSA's comments into the final guide, it was unnecessary to
re-coordinate the document prior to release.
The report also states that there are unresolved disagreements between
OPM and GSA on telework policy issues concerning dependent care and
emergency closing of government offices. There are no such
disagreements; rather, OPM and GSA have addressed different facets of
these specific situations. While the responses were not in conflict,
they have been clarified to avoid any confusion.
Similarly, the GAO report noted that GSA had expressed concerns about
OPM's changes to the joint OPM/GSA web site. According to GSA's senior
program executive for telework, that finding is simply inaccurate; both
agencies continue to actively and successfully collaborate on www
.telework.gov:
Finally, the report asserts that OPM refused to post the Interagency
Telework Issues Working Group (ITIWG) Report on www.telework.gov
because it raised unresolved issues relating to the program. This is
factually incorrect. GSA and OPM jointly determined that it would be
inappropriate to post a pre-decisional report of a working group on
www.telework.gov until the two agencies with primary responsibility for
the activity had an opportunity to analyze its findings, address issues
contained therein, and fully consider all recommendations. We have
begun that process. However, OPM and GSA continue to believe that
posting of the ITIWG report on www.telework.gov before we have
concluded that process is premature.
One recommendation of the ITIWG report was that OPM require all Federal
agencies to establish a common system for collecting the data used in
the annual report to Congress on the
status of telework in the Federal Government. OPM has concluded from
research that the best telework data is collected through time and
attendance tracking systems. OPM will be issuing guidance to agencies
later this year on the use of this data source for its next survey.
Based upon OPM's government-wide leadership role in telework, and as
GAO points out, OPM received an FY 2003 appropriation to fund training
for those agencies with less than two percent telework participation.
Implementation plans are well underway. During FY 2003, OPM will launch
a free e-training telework module for Federal managers and employees
available on www. olg earn.gov. This summer, OPM will be conducting
focus groups for managers in four locations across the country. The
focus groups will be designed to identify reasons why some managers
resist permitting telework. OPM will use the focus group data to tailor
agency telework training. OPM plans to train the agencies' Human
Resources Directors and telework coordinators and provide them
promotional telework materials.
Although the "Key Telework Practices for Implementation of Successful
Telework Programs" that GAO cites in the report are generally known
(for example many have been included in previous OPM and GSA
issuances), we will include GAO's list with those already incorporated
into the training. We will also provide the GAO checklist to agencies
and recommend that they self-assess their telework programs using the
GAO analytical framework. Both GSA and OPM will offer to help agencies
to improve in the identified areas of deficiency.
GAO recommends the GSA Administrator work with Congress to determine
what was meant by the phrase "GSA telecommunications center" in Section
314, Division F, title III of Pub.L.No.108-7 and whether there is a
conflict with the provision contained in 40 U.S.C.587(d)(2) and issue
guidance to relevant agencies once determinations are made. GSA will
coordinate internally and with the appropriate congressional committees
to resolve the conflicting language in the aforementioned statutes and
then provide clarification to our customer agencies.
To that end, OPM and GSA's joint support of the telework program will
continue to increase awareness and usage of this important resource. It
is clear we all agree on the importance of telework and encouraging its
usage in the Federal Government. We assure you we will continue to
champion telework a key human capital flexibility and do everything
possible to facilitate its acceptance and use.
Sincerely,
Kay Coles James,
Director
Stephen A. Perry,
Administrator:
Signed by Kay Coles James and Stephen A. Perry:
Appendices:
Appendix A:
Comments on GAO Draft Report re OPM's Internal Telework Program:
This purpose of this document is to respond to GAO's Draft Report Human
Capital: Further Guidance, Assistance, and Coordination Can Improve
Federal Telework Efforts. GAO identified 25 key practices in telework-
related literature and other sources as those that Federal agencies
should implement in developing their individual telework programs. GAO
indicated that 12 of those key practices still need to be implemented
in OPM. Comments that reflect our view of these assessments are
provided below for each of those practices.
The categories are UNDERLINED, the practices are in italic text, and
comments are in normal text. Each comment listed was conveyed to GAO
during the interview process.
CATEGORIES AND PRACTICES:
PROGRAM PLANNING:
Establish measurable telework program goals.
GAO indicated that OPM has not taken any steps to implement this
practice. This is inaccurate. OPM has met the requirements of section
359 of Public Law 106-346 stating that the section's requirements are
to be applied to 25% of the federal workforce by April 2001 and to an
additional 25% of the workforce each year thereafter. In effect, the
legislation has provided the program goals for Federal agencies through
2004. For 2001 and 2002, OPM has exceeded these program goals, and we
fully expect to meet or exceed these goals in 2003 and 2004. Therefore,
measurable telework program goals have been established for OPM.
Develop a business case for implementing a telework program.
OPM's Governmentwide guidance states that it is a business imperative
that Telework be adopted to achieve mission goals. During training
sessions for our managers, OPM stated that business needs are the
driver for Telework implementation. Specifically we highlighted
Telework's benefits towards reducing sick leave, improving morale and
productivity, and aiding in retaining and recruiting high quality
employees. In addition, we refer our managers to the OPM/GSA Telework
website where the guidance on a business case for Telework is
available. Therefore, the business case for implementing Telework has
been developed.
Provide funding to meet the needs of the telework program.
GAO indicated that OPM has taken "some" steps to implement this
practice. This is inaccurate. OPM earmarks specific funding each year
to support telecenter usage ($50,000 in FY 2003). In addition, OPM has
identified resources that have allowed us to accommodate every employee
(who is otherwise eligible and wants to telecommute) with appropriate
computer equipment, technology support, and remote connections. In
addition, the agency funds staff time to provide oversight
and evaluation for the telework program, as well as outreach and
program promotion. In our estimation, we provide full funding to
support our telecommuting program.
Establish a pilot program.
We question the validity of assessing us against this "practice." The
founding legislation contained specific timelines for implementing
telecommuting programs and did not include a requirement for
establishing pilot programs. Although a pilot program may provide
valuable information to be used in determining whether and how to
implement a telecommuting program in the first place, OPM did not need
such information to make a decision to implement a program. This point
is strengthened by the fact that OPM had already implemented a Telework
program within the agency and had learned valuable lessons from its use
years before the enactment of the legislation. Thus, while our use of
Telework was not labeled a "pilot," in effect, we learned from our
years of experience. That experience was used to establish and redefine
our Telework policies and procedures when the law was enacted.
The fact of the matter is that OPM carefully planned and coordinated a
comprehensive rollout of its internal telecommuting program and
executed the implementation of our program promptly after the
legislation was issued. As a result of the success of these efforts, we
boast significant numbers of telecommuters within our agency and are
confident that a pilot program would not have added significant value
to our program.
TELEWORK POLICY:
Establish eligibility criteria to ensure that teleworkers are selected
on an equitable basis using criteria such as suitability of tasks and
employee performance.
GAO indicated that OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice.
We believe this is inaccurate, as we have fully implemented this
practice. Our internal policy chapter (OPM Human Resources Handbook
Chapter 368, Subchapter 2-3 (b)), provides objective eligibility
criteria to help ensure that teleworkers are selected on an equitable
basis. Our policy states that employees must be performing at least at
the Fully Successful level to participate in the Telework program. In
addition, we adhere to the Governmentwide guidance that it is
inappropriate to look at positions in determining whether they are
suitable for Telework; rather, positions must be broken down into tasks
so that a determination can be made as to which aspects of the position
are suitable for Telework. This method allows for an increase in
participation. Managers were informed of this during the training
sessions, and we refer managers to the OPM/ GSA website where this is
noted. Therefore, it would have been inappropriate and limiting to
include specific positions by title in our Telework policy. Rather, we
state that positions must be looked at on a case-by-case basis to
determine what aspects of the job may be suitable for Telework. Where
disputes have arisen, we have been able to refer to our policy
guidelines to substantiate the
objectivity and consistency of teleworker approval decisions.
Therefore, we believe this assessment should be changed to reflect that
OPM has fully implemented this practice.
Establish policies or requirements to facilitate communication among
teleworkers, managers, and co-workers.
GAO indicated that OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice.
This is inaccurate. OPM's telecommuting policy contains specific forms
that serve as the basis for communication and document that roles and
responsibilities are communicated and understood. Our policy and
associated forms go as far as to require specific documentation of the
types of work assignments to be accomplished and means of communication
to be used with the employee when telecommuting (phone numbers, fax
numbers, e-mail, etc.). In addition, our policy specifically calls for
supervisors to consider the impact of telecommuting on those who report
to the office and to incorporate those considerations into the
decision-making process (e.g., not allowing everyone to telecommute on
Fridays; or balancing telecommuting days with other types of leave
requests). In addition to the requirements in our Telework policy,
managers are required to communicate with their employees during
performance meetings, mid-year evaluations, and performance appraisals
sessions. The importance of communication was also addressed during our
training sessions for managers and employees. Therefore, this should be
changed to reflect that OPM has fully implemented this practice.
Develop guidelines on workplace health and safety issues to ensure that
teleworkers have safe and adequate places to work off-site.
GAO indicated that OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice.
This is inaccurate. Our Telework policy provides full and specific
guidelines on workplace health and safety issues [Subchapter 2-3(g) of
Chapter 368 states, "Employees approved to telework must have a work
space that is free from personal distractions and safety hazards (See
Appendix B)."] Furthermore, Appendix B provides a Safety Checklist,
which is used to assist in the assessment of the overall safety and
adequacy of alternate worksites. The importance of workplace health and
safety was also addressed during our training sessions for managers.
Therefore, the assessment should be changed to reflect that OPM fully
implemented this practice.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT:
Ensure that the same performance standards, derived from a modern,
effective, credible, and validated performance system, are used to
evaluate both teleworkers and non-teleworkers.
GAO indicated that OPM has not taken any steps to implement this
practice. This is inaccurate. Each employee has performance standards
by which they are evaluated annually. The performance standards are
based on the duties and
responsibilities of the employee's position and are not based on
whether the employee is a teleworker or non-teleworker-the performance
standards are the same regardless of where the work is performed. GAO's
assessment would imply that we use different performance standards to
evaluate teleworkers and non-teleworkers, and this is simply not the
case. Furthermore, this would be contrary to OPM Telework and
Performance Management guidance which states that employees should be
appraised based on the results of their work whether they work in a
traditional office setting or at an alternate worksite. In addition, in
our supervisory training, we covered the issue of performance
management and the need to be attentive to avoiding any adverse impact
that might be associated with not working in the traditional worksite.
We have also provided managers with the OPM handbook on measuring
employee performance, which specifically states that managers should
focus on outcomes and results in appraising their employees whether
they work traditionally in an office or at a remote location.
Therefore, this should be changed to reflect that OPM has fully
implemented this practice.
TRAINING AND PUBLICIZING:
Train all involved, including, at a minimum, managers and teleworkers.
GAO indicated that OPM has not taken any steps to implement this
practice. This is inaccurate. OPM has provided extensive training to
both managers and employees-including a mandatory training session for
all OPM managers and supervisors. We also held other training seminars
and briefings for employees and provided full briefings to the key
representatives in our major program offices. In addition, our Telework
Coordinator provides ongoing individual assistance and consultation to
employees and managers. We also have plans for continued outreach and
training now that our agency restructuring has been put into place. The
positive outcome of these efforts is supported by the fact that our
employees' response to the 2002 Federal Human Capital Survey indicate
their satisfaction with telecommuting was significantly higher-by more
than 14%--than the Governmentwide average. In addition, OPM sponsored a
satellite broadcast for managers and employees hosted in the OPM
Auditorium, which a number of OPM employees and managers attended. OPM
also sponsored other Telework conferences/sessions in the OPM
Auditorium attended by OPM managers and employees. Therefore, this
assessment should be changed to reflect that OPM has fully implemented
this practice.
TECHNOLOGY:
Establish standards for equipment in the telework environment.
GAO indicated that OPM has not taken any steps to implement this
practice. This is inaccurate. OPM has a standard platform for
connectivity and has established a protocol for requesting necessary
equipment and connectivity. Given the agency's continuous process of
upgrading computer equipment, we have been able to identify an adequate
supply of recently-surplused equipment that is in an appropriate
condition to be re-issued to meet teleworker needs. Furthermore,
some offices have opted to purchase laptop computers and docking
stations for their employees. Accordingly, this assessment should
reflect that OPM has taken steps to fully implement this practice.
PROGRAM EVALUATION:
Establish processes, procedures, and/or tracking system to collect data
to evaluate the telework program.
GAO indicated that OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice.
This is inaccurate. We collect and track a variety of data that is used
to evaluate and report on our telework program. For example, the
biennial customer service survey conducted by the Human Capital
Management Services (HCMS) Group provides data that allows us to assess
satisfaction with our telework program. In addition, we track
participation rates and require each office to submit annually specific
information about their teleworkers for tracking by our Telework
Coordinator. We also collect data about barriers to telecommuting. We
use all these data to evaluate our program and inform enhancements.
The statement on this subject made on page 39 of the draft report is
inaccurate. Section 3-1 (a) of our policy states, "Completed work
agreements must be forwarded to the organizational telecommuting
contact for recordkeeping purposes." Telework agreements are required
to be in place for all teleworkers and copies of those agreements are
maintained in a central file; reminders are sent quarterly to
administrative contacts to provide copies of these agreements.
Therefore, this should be changed to state that OPM has fully
implemented this practice.
Identify problems and/or issues with the telework program and make
appropriate adjustments.
GAO indicated that OPM has not taken any steps to implement this
practice. This is inaccurate; the various surveys and data we collect
are used not only to report on the number of employees teleworking in
the agency, but also to help inform enhancements to our program. For
example, data from our HCMS biennial survey solicits information about
satisfaction with our program-both from employee and management
perspectives. In addition, the Federal Human Capital Survey provides an
indication of the success of our program. We also systematically
solicit our supervisors' views to identify barriers to teleworking.
Further, our Telework Coordinator receives daily comments and
suggestions from managers and employees. All of these data sources are
used to help shape enhancements to our telework program. Therefore,
this should be changed to reflect that OPM has fully implemented this
practice.
Appendix B:
Comments on GAO Draft Report re GSA's Internal Telework Program:
The following comments pertain to the GAO assessment of GSA telework
practices in its' internal program. We believe that certain findings
should be revised as follows:
Program Planning Practices:
-Develop an implementation plan for the telework program. "Since the
GSA program has been in place for more than 10 years, we do not have or
need a current "implementation plan". Instead, we have a successfully
operating ongoing plan. The original implementation plan was utilized
ten years ago and was not kept in the files because it is no longer in
use."
-Provide funding to meet the needs of the telework program. "We do not
have a central telework fund at GSA, however, individual organizations
provide their own funding, such as is evident in the Office of
Governmentwide Policy. Also, we have set aside the required central
funding for telecenter utilization."
-Establish a pilot program. "As mentioned above, many years ago, we
completed an initial pilot program. Telework, at GSA, is now an
operational program and, consequently, there is no further need for
piloting."
Telework Policv Practices:
Establish eligibility criteria. "GSA has specifically kept the
eligibility criteria very broad, which we recognize lowers our
percentage rate of participants, in order to ensure that the widest
possible population within the agency is allowed to consider
telework."
-Establish policies or requirements to facilitate communication among
teleworkers, managers, and co-workers. "Although we do not have formal
policies and requirements, we have a strong network of telework
coordinators throughout our regions and central office organizations. We
also continuously provide information to our workforce on-line and
through e-mail distribution of the GSA Update publication. We place a
strong emphasis on communication among teleworkers, managers, and co-
workers."
Performance Management Practices:
-"GSA consistently emphasizes the importance of fairness toward
teleworkers and others."
GAO Responses to Comments from GSA and OPM:
1. In their combined comments, GSA and OPM agreed that telework is an
important tool for federal agencies and stated that they would
encourage and champion telework as a key human capital flexibility and
do everything possible to facilitate its acceptance and use. The
agencies also agreed to implement our recommendation that they use
their lead roles in the federal telework initiative to assist agencies
in implementing the key telework practices we identified. In this
regard, GSA and OPM stated that they will provide agencies with a
checklist of the practices we identified and recommend that agencies do
a self-assessment of their telework programs using our analytical
framework. Both GSA and OPM will then offer to help agencies to improve
in the identified areas of deficiency. OPM will also include the key
telework practices that we identified in telework training, which, as
we had noted in the draft report, is being developed for launch on its
Web-based training site during fiscal year 2003.
2. In addition, GSA agreed with our recommendation that it work with
Congress to determine what was meant by the phrase "GSA
telecommunication center" in Section 314, Division F, title III of Pub.
L. No. 108-7 and whether this provision is in conflict with the
provision contained in 40 U.S.C. 587(d)(2). GSA stated that it will
coordinate internally and with the appropriate congressional committees
to resolve the conflicting language in the statutes and then provide
clarification to its customer agencies.
3. GSA and OPM disagreed with several of our findings relating to their
lead roles in the governmentwide telework initiative. Below are
summaries of GSA's and OPM's comments and our responses:
* These agencies stated that, given the efforts they have made in
promoting telework, they were "taken aback" by language in the draft
that noted confusion at the "implementation level" throughout the
federal government regarding the policy guidance that they had put
forth to date. However, as detailed in our draft report, our finding
was actually that conflicting messages from GSA and OPM on certain
telework-related matters had created confusion. Apart from this
finding, we recognize GSA's and OPM's efforts to promote telework and
had included in our draft report many of the examples of those efforts
that GSA and OPM cited in their response, such as jointly running the
telework Web site to provide information and guidance, OPM's rapid
issuance of guidance in response to our finding related to the lack of
a definition for providing employees with the opportunity to telework,
and GSA's management and promotion of the telework centers. Also, our
draft report discussed OPM's outreach effort to meet face to face with
agencies' telework coordinators and, as GSA's and OPM's comments noted,
this effort was also described in our May 2003 report entitled Human
Capital: OPM Can Better Assist Agencies in Using Personnel
Flexibilities.[Footnote 48] However, while such promotional efforts can
be constructive, they do not address the confusion we identified as a
result of GSA's and OPM's conflicting messages.
* GSA and OPM strongly disagreed with our finding that they have not
fully coordinated their governmentwide telework efforts in the past. In
one instance, they said that the draft report stated there were
unresolved disagreements between GSA and OPM on telework policy issues
concerning dependent care and emergency closing of government offices,
and that they believed there were no such disagreements. However, GSA
and OPM also stated that, while they believed that their responses to
the dependent care and emergency closing issues were not in conflict,
they clarified them to avoid any confusion. We believe this is a
noteworthy development because, as stated in our draft report, agencies
had expressed concern about conflicting messages they had received from
GSA and OPM on several topics, including dependent care and emergency
closings. More generally, we also indicated in our draft report that,
because GSA and OPM have not developed a Memorandum of Understanding or
other formal agreement regarding their responsibilities for the
governmentwide telework initiative, they should work together to reach
a formal agreement establishing a delineation of these
responsibilities. In their comments, the agencies said that they have
recognized the need to better outline separate and shared
responsibilities and that a Memorandum of Understanding was among the
options they were considering to clearly designate each agency's
responsibilities. We have added language to reflect GSA's and OPM's
commitment to address these areas.
* In addition, GSA's and OPM's comments said that it was unnecessary
for OPM to re-coordinate with GSA on the final version of the telework
guide for managers, supervisors, and telework coordinators because
GSA's comments had already been incorporated into the guide. Although
we found that OPM had made substantive changes to the guide subsequent
to GSA's review, we now believe that, given the concerns expressed by
agencies, and underscored by Education's and VA's comments on our draft
report, it was sufficiently important to issue the guide in a timely
fashion, without a final review by GSA. Relevant changes have been made
to our report.
* According to GSA's and OPM's comments, GSA's senior program executive
for telework disputed our finding that GSA had expressed concerns about
OPM's changes to the joint OPM/GSA telework Web site
(www.telework.gov). However, this statement varies from information
provided to us both by GSA and OPM officials during the course of our
review and by the senior OPM official for the governmentwide telework
initiative at our exit conference with OPM. For example, during our
exit conference, the senior OPM official for the governmentwide
telework initiative acknowledged changing the telework Web site without
GSA being informed or OPM getting input from GSA. She said that GSA was
not very happy with the new look, adding that GSA felt the changes were
imposed on it by OPM without any consultation. Nonetheless, we have
adjusted the report to reflect the view of the GSA senior program
executive.
* In their comments, GSA and OPM also said that the two agencies had
jointly determined it would be inappropriate to post the "pre-
decisional" Interagency Telework Issues Working Group report on the
federal telework information Web site (www.telework.gov) until they had
had the opportunity to analyze its findings, address issues contained
therein, and fully consider all recommendations. However, GSA has
already independently posted this report on its own Web site with a
disclaimer, stating: "OPM and GSA co-led the Interagency Telework
Issues Working Group by offering technical guidance, support, and
resources. The findings and recommendations made in this final report
reflect the opinions of the Working Group members. This final report
does not in any way, specific or implied, represent the official views,
positions, or policies of the U.S. Government, OPM, GSA, nor any of the
agencies participating on the Working Group. This report is currently
under review by both OPM and GSA." Given that GSA and OPM co-led this
group with participation from 15 federal agencies to identify policy
actions needed to facilitate agency use and expansion of telework and
then make recommendations, we believe that the report should be posted
on [Hyperlink, www.telework.gov] www.telework.gov, with the same or a
similar disclaimer, in the interests of transparency.
4. OPM also raised issues with our analysis of its internal telework
program. OPM stated that our draft report indicated that 12 of our 25
identified key practices still needed to be implemented at OPM. While
our draft report showed that OPM had "fully implemented" 13 of the
practices, it went on to say that OPM had "taken some steps to
implement" 5 of the remaining practices and had "not taken any steps to
implement" the other 7 practices. OPM's comments related to its
internal telework program maintained that it has fully implemented 24
of the 25 practices, stating that the 25TH practice should not apply to
it. As we clarified in this report, some of the practices, such as
developing an implementation plan and establishing a pilot program, are
historical in nature and cannot be implemented at this time by agencies
with existing telework programs. However, as we also clarified in the
report, agencies with existing programs that did not initially
implement some of the more developmental practices can still be
successful with sustained attention to the other practices we
identified.
In its comments, OPM stated that "[E]ach comment listed was conveyed to
GAO during the interview process." On the contrary, OPM's comments, for
the most part, contain new information and/or information that does not
correspond with what was conveyed to us during our meetings with OPM
officials. Summaries of OPM's comments, and our responses, are
discussed below:
* OPM disputed our finding that the agency had not established
measurable telework program goals, saying that it had done so by
meeting, even exceeding, the requirements of Section 359 of Pub. L. No.
106-346. OPM said that, "[i]n effect, the legislation has provided the
program goals for Federal agencies through 2004." However, in its May
2003 telework guide for managers, supervisors, and telework
coordinators,[Footnote 49] OPM discusses the importance of establishing
program goals and objectives for telework because they will be helpful
in conducting program evaluations of a telework program. OPM's guide
notes that "[k]ey issues for evaluation for most agencies include the
effect of telework on productivity, operating costs, employee morale,
recruitment, and retention" and that the evaluation plan "should be
based on quantifiable program goals and objectives to allow for ease of
measurement." Section 359 of Pub. L. No. 106-346 refers broadly to the
federal workforce and OPM has not provided any documentation
illustrating how it has converted the law's requirements into program
goals to measure the effect of telework on productivity, operating
costs, employee morale, recruitment, retention, or any other such
desirable outcome. Moreover, OPM's telework coordinator told us during
the course of our review that goals have not been set for OPM's
internal program. Given these considerations, our assessment of OPM for
this practice remains unchanged.
* OPM disagreed with our finding that it had not established a business
case for implementing a telework program, stating that the business
case for telework has been developed through various means, including
statements made in its governmentwide guidance, information provided in
training sessions for its managers, and by referring its managers to
the OPM/GSA telework Web site. As described in a source from which we
drew our key practices, a comprehensive business case for a telework
program entails identifying full costs and benefits to the extent
practicable, prior to implementation of the program, that are specific
to the organization, including IT components, facilities, recruiting,
retention, contingency support, and security and risk
assessments.[Footnote 50] The business case that OPM refers to in its
comments does not fully meet these criteria. Furthermore, this comment
does not correspond with what was conveyed to us during our meetings
with OPM officials. Instead, OPM's telework coordinator at the time its
current program was developed in 2001 told us that a business case for
telework had not been developed prior to implementing the telework
program. Given these considerations, our assessment of OPM for this
practice remains unchanged.
* OPM disputed our finding that it has only taken some steps to provide
funding to meet the needs of the telework program. The agency said that
it has provided "full funding" for its telework program and that it has
identified resources that have allowed it to accommodate "every
employee (who is otherwise eligible and wants to telecommute) with
appropriate computer equipment, technology support, and remote
connections." OPM did not provide documentation of this funding. As our
draft report indicated, OPM has taken important steps to implement this
practice, by paying the salary for a telework coordinator and setting
aside $50,000 in fiscal year 2002 for telework center use, as required
by law. However, an IT official at OPM said that there were times that
the agency has experienced shortages of the older computers it loans to
teleworkers. He said that the people who absolutely need to telework
get computers immediately, if they require one, but that people who
would like to telework, but do not have a "need" to do so, have had to
wait to begin teleworking until computers become available. According
to this IT official, managers usually make the decision about whether
telework is a "need," although employees will sometimes decide for
themselves that it is not necessary for them to telework. Given these
considerations, we did not change our assessment that OPM had taken
some steps to implement this practice.
* OPM questioned the validity of our having assessed its telework
program against the practice of establishing a pilot program because
"the founding legislation" did not include a requirement for
establishing pilot programs and because OPM is confident that a pilot
would not have added significant value to its program. As noted in our
draft, we used a variety of sources, including GSA's and OPM's telework
guidance, to identify key practices. Successful telework experiences
and related telework literature suggest that pilot programs can be
valuable at the outset of telework initiatives by providing a means to
test the concept and its integration within a particular organization's
environment. However, as we recognize in this report, agencies with
existing telework programs that did not implement this practice when
the program was initially developed can still have successful telework
programs with sustained attention to the other practices. Because OPM
did not establish a pilot program at the outset of its telework
program, our assessment of OPM for this practice remains unchanged.
* OPM disagreed with our finding that it had taken some steps to
establish eligibility criteria to ensure that teleworkers are selected
on an equitable basis using criteria such as suitability of tasks and
employee performance, stating that it had fully implemented this
practice by providing objective eligibility criteria in its telework
policy. Our draft report noted the progress OPM had made in this area
and that guidance was in place on eligibility criteria. However, OPM's
telework coordinator also told us that the eligibility criteria varied
by OPM unit and may not be consistently applied. Therefore, while the
OPM guidance is an important step, its consistent application is not
being ensured. Thus, we continue to believe that OPM has taken some
steps to implement this practice.
* OPM disagreed with our finding that it had taken some steps to
establish policies or requirements to facilitate communication among
teleworkers, managers, and coworkers, stating that its policy and
associated forms serve to facilitate communication. Based on further
analysis of the policy and its associated forms, we have changed the
report to reflect that OPM has fully implemented this practice.
* OPM disagreed with our finding that it has taken some steps to
develop guidelines on workplace health and safety issues to ensure that
teleworkers have safe and adequate places to work off-site, because one
of the appendixes included with OPM's telework policy is a safety
checklist for the alternate worksite. As we noted in our draft report,
OPM's telework policy states that the telework agreement should include
a safety checklist. Importantly, however, the suggested checklist,
included as an appendix to OPM's policy, states that the employee "may
use" it to "assist them in a survey of the overall safety and adequacy
of their alternate worksite." It goes on to say "the following are only
recommendations and do not encompass every situation that may be
encountered." Moreover, the checklist does not have a signature line or
any way for it to be certified by the employee. Because this checklist
is only recommended, not required, and does not need to be certified by
the employee, it is not sufficient to ensure that teleworkers have a
safe and adequate place to work off-site. Therefore, we continue to
believe that OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice.
* OPM disagreed with our finding that it has not taken any steps to
ensure that the same performance standards, derived from a modern,
effective, credible, and validated performance system, are used to
evaluate both teleworkers and nonteleworkers, saying that the
performance standards that employees are evaluated against annually are
based on the duties and responsibilities of the employee's position and
not on whether the employee is a teleworker or nonteleworker. OPM
further stated that the performance standards are the same, regardless
of where the work is performed. As we stated in the draft report,
although OPM's policy does state that the employees' current
performance standards will be used to govern all telecommuting
assignments, as well as those in the telecommuters' current traditional
federal offices. However, it does not include a statement requiring
that the same performance standards be used for teleworkers and
nonteleworkers. Without such a statement, at a minimum, OPM cannot
fully ensure that the same performance standards are used to evaluate
both teleworkers and nonteleworkers. Nonetheless, we have revised the
report to acknowledge that OPM has taken some steps to implement this
practice. While these steps are important, there are steps that OPM can
take to more fully ensure that the criteria have been consistently
applied, such as periodically checking the performance appraisals for
consistency.
* OPM disagreed with our finding that it had not taken any steps to
train all involved in its telework program, including, at a minimum,
managers and teleworkers, saying that it has provided extensive
training to both managers and employees. However, this comment does not
correspond with what was conveyed to us during our meetings with OPM
officials. According to both the current and past OPM telework
coordinators, OPM had provided mandatory training to managers and
optional training to employees when the telework program began, more
than 2 years ago. In addition, they told us that OPM has not provided
any training since then. Even the initial training would not have been
sufficient to train "all involved" in the telework program, because
employees were not required to attend. In response to OPM's comments,
we have revised our report to reflect OPM's initial training efforts by
indicating that OPM has taken some steps to implement this practice. We
are also pleased that OPM indicated in its comments that, now that its
agency restructuring has been completed, it plans to provide continued
outreach and training on telework. However, OPM cannot be considered to
have fully implemented the practice of training all involved in its
telework program until this training is actively provided to and
required of all relevant parties.
* OPM disputed our finding that it had not taken any steps to establish
standards for equipment in the telework environment, saying that OPM
has a standard platform for connectivity and has established a protocol
for requesting necessary equipment and connectivity. During our review,
an IT official from OPM told us that the equipment standards had not
yet been fully applied to agency-owned equipment, but he expected this
to be done between July and October 2003. Based on OPM's more recent
comments, we have revised our report to reflect that OPM has taken some
steps to implement this practice. However, the IT official also told us
that OPM does not have a standard for employee-provided equipment.
Until OPM establishes and applies its standards to employee-provided
equipment, it will not have fully implemented this practice.
* OPM disputed our finding that it had taken some steps to establish
processes, procedures, and/or a tracking system to collect data to
evaluate the telework program, stating that it collects and tracks a
variety of data that is used to evaluate and report on its telework
program. According to OPM, because its policy states "[c]ompleted work
agreements must be forwarded to the organizational telecommuting
contact for record keeping purposes," the agency has fully implemented
this practice. In our draft report, we recognize OPM's policy that
employees sign a work agreement with their supervisor. However, OPM's
telework coordinator told us that work agreements, whether in hard copy
or e-mail form, are not always completed and forwarded to her.
Additionally, while OPM endeavors to track participation rates through
these work agreements, the agreements only provide information on how
many employees have been approved to telework, not how many are
actually participating. Without a tracking and evaluation system that
accurately measures program participation, OPM cannot be considered to
have taken more than some steps to implement this practice. One such
system was suggested by OPM itself in the section of GSA's and OPM's
comments on our draft report that is related to those agencies'
governmentwide leadership roles. These comments said, "OPM has
concluded from research that the best telework data is collected
through time and attendance tracking systems. OPM will be issuing
guidance to agencies later this year on the use of this data source for
its next survey." Such guidance will be an important step toward
helping all agencies to more accurately track and report such data and
so that they can use the data for evaluation and program improvement
purposes.
* OPM disputed our finding that it had not taken any steps to identify
problems and/or issues with the telework program and make appropriate
adjustments, indicating that the various surveys and data it collects
are used, not only to report on the number of employees teleworking in
the agency, but also to help inform enhancements to its program.
However, OPM's telework coordinator indicated that she does not
actively seek to identify issues using any evaluation tools. Instead,
as OPM pointed out in its comments, she relies on employees to bring
issues to her attention. While employees can be an important source of
information, such data sources are complements to, and not substitutes
for, formal feedback mechanisms and well-designed evaluations, as
described in OPM's recently released telework guide to managers,
supervisors, and telework coordinators.[Footnote 51] Nonetheless,
given these considerations, we have revised our assessment of OPM for
this practice to reflect that it has taken some steps to implement this
practice.
5. GSA did not disagree with our findings pertaining to its internal
telework program. However, the agency did note several areas where it
would like us to revise statements relative to its implementation of
the key practices we identified. Below is a summary of GSA's comments
and our responses:
* GSA said that, since its program has been in place for more than 10
years, it does not have or need a current implementation plan.
Furthermore, GSA indicated that it had an implementation plan that was
utilized 10 years ago, when the program was first developed. However,
GSA stated that this plan was not kept in the files, because it is no
longer in use. We agree that GSA should not develop an implementation
plan for a program that is already in place. Our analysis was focused
on whether an agency had developed an implementation plan to shape the
design and implementation of its program to ensure future success. In
this regard, GSA's telework coordinator had told us that there was not
a written implementation plan for the telework program when it was
first started. Nevertheless, we have revised our report to indicate
that we were unable to assess GSA on this practice.
* GSA indicated that it does not have a central telework fund and that
individual organizations within GSA provide their own funding. We had
considered this information in our analysis of the level of GSA's
implementation of this practice. However, we have added GSA's statement
to our report to provide additional context. Also, as already noted in
our draft report, GSA said that it had set aside the required central
funding for telecenter utilization.
* GSA noted that it has an operational telework program and,
consequently, there is no further need for piloting. We agree with GSA
that there is no further need for piloting. Our analysis in this regard
assessed whether or not an agency had established a pilot at the
beginning of its individual telework program. GSA did not establish a
pilot program prior to implementation of its telework program.
Therefore, our assessment of GSA for this practice remains unchanged.
* In addition, GSA provided comments related to several other areas,
including: 1) its position on establishing telework eligibility
criteria, 2) its emphasis on fairness toward teleworkers and others,
and 3) its existing lines of communication regarding telework,
including its network of telework coordinators in regions and
organizations throughout the agency, its provision of e-mail and on-
line information on telework, and its "strong emphasis on
communication." While these comments were helpful in setting the
context for GSA's internal telework program, they were not relevant to
our analysis and, therefore, are not reflected in the body of our
report.
(450126):
FOOTNOTES
[1] Throughout this report, the terms telework, telecommuting, and
flexiplace are used interchangeably.
[2] For more information on telework in the federal government, see
U.S. General Accounting Office, Federal Workforce: Agencies' Policies
and Views on Flexiplace in the Federal Government, GAO/GGD-97-116
(Washington, D.C.: July 3, 1997) and Telecommuting: Overview of
Challenges Facing Federal Agencies, GAO-01-1116T (Washington, D.C.:
Sept. 6, 2001).
[3] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Report to the Congress: The
Status of Telework in the Federal Government (Washington, D.C.: Jan.
2003).
[4] Size and level of telework participation were determined from
survey data collected by OPM for its January 2002 report to Congress,
entitled The Status of Telework in the Federal Government.
[5] Section 359 of Pub. L. No. 106-346, October 23, 2000. Hereafter,
this section of the law will be referred to as Pub. L. No. 106-346.
[6] The Federal Emergency Management Agency has recently become part of
the new Department of Homeland Security under the department's
Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate.
[7] U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Issues of Merit (Washington,
D.C.: Dec. 2000), 4.
[8] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, What do Federal Employees Say:
Results from the 2002 Federal Human Capital Survey (Washington, D.C.:
Mar. 2003).
[9] See Pub. L. No. 102-393, October 6, 1992, and Sections 5 and 6 of
title V of Pub. L. No. 104-52, November 19, 1995. According to House
Report No. 102-618, June 25, 1992, that accompanied Pub. L. No. 102-
393, telework centers make alternative office-like environments
available to federal employees to perform their office functions at a
site closer to their homes. These centers are intended to address
traffic congestion issues, as well as to confer other benefits,
including reduced government real estate costs and a better work/life
balance for federal employees.
[10] Interagency Telework Issues Working Group, Interagency
Governmentwide Policy Review on Telework and Telework-Related Issues
(Washington, D.C.: Aug. 2002).
[11] Episodic telework refers to a situation in which a teleworker does
not telework on a regularly scheduled basis. This type of arrangement
is also referred to by a variety of names, including "ad hoc,"
"intermittent," "occasional," and "as needed."
[12] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Report to the Congress: The
Status of Telework in the Federal Government (Jan. 2003).
[13] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Work at Home
in 2001, USDL 02-107 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 1, 2002), http://
www.bls.gov/news.release/homey.nr0.htm (downloaded July 1, 2003). Half
of those who usually worked at home were wage and salary workers who
took work home on an unpaid basis. Another 30 percent of those who
worked at home were self-employed.
[14] Congressional committees have also held hearings on telework. The
House Education and the Workforce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations, held a series of hearings in 1999 and 2000 to
examine barriers to telework implementation in federal agencies. In
2001, the House Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Technology
and Procurement Policy, held two hearings to examine the efforts of
federal government agencies in creating and promoting telework
programs. GAO testified at one of these hearings in September 2001.
(See GAO-01-1116T.)
[15] Section 359 of Pub. L. No. 106-346, October 23, 2000.
[16] Section 359 of H.R. Report No. 106-940, October 5, 2000.
[17] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Telework: A Management
Priority--A Guide for Managers, Supervisors, and Telework Coordinators
(Washington, D.C.: May 2003), 2, 25.
[18] 40 U.S.C. 587(c)(2).
[19] Section 623, Division B, title VI of Pub. L. No. 108-7, February
20, 2003.
[20] 40 U.S.C. 587(d)(2).
[21] See Section 323 of Pub. L. No. 106-291, October 11, 2000; Section
319 of Pub. L. No. 107-63, November 5, 2001; and Section 314, Division
F, title III of Pub. L. No. 108-7, February 20, 2003. A similar
provision was also included in Section 324 of title III of the Appendix
to Pub. L. No. 106-113, November 29, 1999.
[22] Section 620 of Pub. L. No. 104-52, November 19, 1995, 31 U.S.C.
1348 note.
[23] Pub. L. No. 102-393, October 6, 1992.
[24] See, for example, Pub. L. No. 103-123, October 26, 1993; Sections
5 and 6 of title V of Pub. L. No. 104-52, November 19, 1995; Section
407 of Pub. L. No. 104-208, September 30, 1996; and Section 411 of Pub.
L. No. 105-277, October 21, 1998.
[25] H.R. Report No. 108-10, February 13, 2003, p. 1352.
[26] Pub. L. No. 102-393, October 6, 1992; 40 U.S.C. 587(b)(1) and
(c)(3).
[27] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Telework: A Management
Priority--A Guide for Managers, Supervisors, and Telework Coordinators
(Washington, D.C.: May 2003).
[28] www.eiro.gsa.gov.
[29] GSA's Federal Supply Schedules are contracts that allow federal
customers to acquire services and products directly from commercial
suppliers.
[30] The 25 key practices identified for telework programs are also
closely aligned with 6 key practices we have identified in our earlier
work for effectively using human capital flexibilities. See U.S.
General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Effective Use of
Flexibilities Can Assist Agencies in Managing Their Workforces, GAO-03-
2 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 6, 2002) and Managing for Results: Building
on the Momentum for Strategic Human Capital Reform, GAO-02-528T
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 18, 2002).
[31] U.S. General Accounting Office, Results-Oriented Cultures:
Creating a Clear Linkage between Individual Performance and
Organizational Success, GAO-03-488 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 14, 2003).
[32] See, for example, the following GAO products: Human Capital:
Effective Use of Flexibilities Can Assist Agencies in Managing Their
Workforces, GAO-03-2 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 6, 2002); A Model of
Strategic Human Capital Management--Exposure Draft, GAO-02-373SP
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 15, 2002); Managing for Results: Next Steps To
Improve the Federal Government's Management and Performance, GAO-O2-
439T (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 15, 2002); and Human Capital: Practices
That Empowered and Involved Employees, GAO-01-1070 (Washington, D.C.:
Sept. 14, 2001). Also see Booz Allen Hamilton, Analysis of Home-Based
Telework Technology Barriers: Final Report on Technology Barriers to
Home-Based Telework (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 5, 2002) and U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Telecommuting/Telework Programs:
Implementing Commuter Benefits under the Commuter Choice Leadership
Initiative (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2001).
[33] GAO/GGD-97-116.
[34] U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: OPM Can Better
Assist Agencies in Using Personnel Flexibilities, GAO-03-428
(Washington, D.C.: May 9, 2003).
[35] Size and level of telework participation were determined from
survey data collected by OPM for its January 2002 Report to Congress,
entitled The Status of Telework in the Federal Government.
[36] In its comments, VA noted that a "significant number of VA
employees are engaged in direct patient care and benefit service
delivery to veterans, which precludes large-scale participation in
telework," which it considers to be a significant factor accounting for
its limited telework participation rate.
[37] In the fiscal year 2003 appropriations for the Departments of
Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and the Small Business
Administration, these departments and agencies are required, amongst
other things, to designate a telework coordinator to oversee the
implementation of their telecommuting programs. See Section 623,
Division B, title VI of Pub. L. No. 108-7, February 20, 2003.
[38] GAO-03-2, 32.
[39] International Telework Association and Council, e-Work Guide: How
to Make Telework Work for Your Organization (Washington, D.C.: 2000),
3.
[40] International Telework Association and Council, e-Work Guide, 22.
[41] International Telework Association and Council, e-Work Guide, 15.
[42] Booz Allen Hamilton, ES-8 and V-2.
[43] Section 623, Division B, title VI of Pub. L. No. 108-7 also
provides $100,000 to the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State,
the Judiciary, and the Small Business Administration for the
implementation of telecommuting programs.
[44] Expenditures for fiscal year 2002 telework center use at the four
agencies were included in OPM's January 2003 report to Congress,
entitled The Status of Telework in the Federal Government. OPM used
data gathered by GSA for reporting these expenditures.
[45] Commuter Connections, A Practical Approach to Implementing
Telework Programs (Washington, D.C.: 2002), 81.
[46] GAO/GGD-97-116, 14.
[47] Environmental Protection Agency, Telecommuting/Telework Programs:
Implementing Commuter Benefits Under the Commuter Choice Leadership
Initiative (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2001), 8.
[48] U.S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: OPM Can Better
Assist Agencies in Using Personnel Flexibilities, GAO-03-428
(Washington, D.C.: May 9, 2003).
[49] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Telework: A Management
Priority--A Guide for Managers, Supervisors, and Telework Coordinators
(Washington, D.C.: May 2003).
[50] Booz Allen Hamilton, V-2.
[51] U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Telework: A Management
Priority--A Guide for Managers, Supervisors, and Telework Coordinators
(Washington, D.C.: May 2003).
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