Congress targets telework slackers

Congress finally is fed up with the federal government's dismal telework performance.

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved a spending bill that withholds $5 million from the budgets of the departments of Commerce, Justice and State until they prove they let their eligible employees telework.

If passed, the FY 2005 Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Appropriations bill also would withhold funds from the federal judiciary, the Small Business Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission if they can't prove eligible employees are teleworking. The bill also requires agencies to designate a telework coordinator and provide quarterly progress reports to the Appropriations Committee.

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Congress finally is fed up with the federal government's dismal telework performance.

The House Appropriations Committee recently approved a spending bill that withholds $5 million from the budgets of the departments of Commerce, Justice and State until they prove they let their eligible employees telework.

If passed, the FY 2005 Commerce-Justice-State (CJS) Appropriations bill also would withhold funds from the federal judiciary, the Small Business Administration and the Securities and Exchange Commission if they can't prove eligible employees are teleworking. The bill also requires agencies to designate a telework coordinator and provide quarterly progress reports to the Appropriations Committee.

"I am hoping this will serve as an incentive to allow more federal workers to telework," said Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chairman of the CJS Appropriations subcommittee in a statement. "With all the advances in technology today, there is just no reason to strap yourself in a metal box every morning only to drive to an office where you sit in front of a computer all day. The federal government needs to set the standard for the nation."

The FY 2000 appropriations bill required 74 federal agencies to let 100% of eligible employees telework from home or a telework center at least one day per week by 2005. But today, only 6% of the 1.7 million federal employees covered by the mandate telework, according to the report from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), released in March.

In the report, OPM Director Kay Cole James said telework is a critical component of agencies' continuity of operations programs and essential for "volatile situations" such as mass demonstrations and that "telework allows the federal government to remain responsive to the nation at all times."

A second lawmaker has grown frustrated with agencies' failure to meet telework goals. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), the House Government Reform Committee chairman, has scheduled a hearing for July 8 on the issue.

Davis is expected to ask a mix of federal agencies and private sector companies to testify. Sources say the list includes OPM and the General Services Administration - both charged with telework outreach and training. Companies with stellar telework programs such as Sun, AT&T, Cisco and Nortel also could be called.

The day after the Appropriations Committee's spending bill was approved, OPM hosted a telework training session for the 16 federal agencies reporting less than 2% compliance with the law. The session included a roundtable discussion of the latest telework trends and inhibitors.

"The only way to increase telework utilization is to continue educating employees and managers about telework's benefits," OPM's James said in a statement. "As a federal team, we must continue to create a culture that embraces the idea of telework."

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