You start a new job, report your first day of work, and find out employees from another organization down the hallway are rarely around because they telework.
"Telework?" you ask. "How does that work?"
According to the acting director of the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center at Fort Knox, telework works differently depending on which organization you work for.
"What I may fall under is going to be different than what Garrison falls under, or what [U.S. Army Recruiting Command] or [U.S. Army Human Resources Command] falls under. Each command is responsible for its own policy," said Karen Lennon, also an HR supervisory specialist. "The internal policies will address specific types of positions eligible for telework, or not eligible for telework."
There is Department of Defense policy instruction that governs the general guidelines for implementing and managing telework among organizations-- DoDI 1035.01, dated April 4, 2012. In there, telework is meant to be "actively promoted and implemented throughout DoD in support of the DoD commitment to workforce efficiency, emergency preparedness, and quality of life."
However, the instruction does stress that mission readiness is not to be jeopardized in the process. Lennon said one of the more obvious exceptions to telework approval is customer interaction.
"The DoDI is twenty some-odd pages, but it goes through specific groups of personnel that would not be eligible, like people that require constant face-to-face contact with customers. For instance, a dentist. Inherently their work requires them to see patients face-to-face to perform their duties."
Another exception applies loosely to employees whose family members become sick for long periods.
"Typically, telework should not be used as an alternate to daycare or taking care of elderly parents; telework is not a substituted for that," said Lennon. "If someone has a sick child, and that child requires 24/7 care then it's not feasible that they would be able to telework at that same time."
In those cases, she agreed that sick leave or some other policy would apply. However, the DoDI does encourage employment opportunities for veterans, those "with disabilities, and spouses of service members and employees being relocated."
The DoDI also encourages telework as an effective way to get a job done. With that in mind, Lennon explained there are three types of situations that warrant telework: regular, recurring projects; ad hoc or situational work; and medical issues.
"That would be like a personal medical condition," said Lennon. "However, the medical condition would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis because if I broke both of my hands and I couldn't type, or I couldn't do the functions of my job, then it wouldn't be appropriate for me to telework.
"But in some cases, it might be appropriate; but you have to have the documentation to support it."
The DoDI highlights another situation for telework; getting critical work done when adverse weather conditions or emergencies prevent physical access to the workplace.
There are several general, centralized requirements needed to implement the policy, as expressed in the DoDI. Those requirements include supervisor, employee and service member functions, telework agreements, what constitutes official worksites, security concerns, what office equipment and supplies are needed, which emergency situations apply, establishing work schedules and compensation, time and attendance recording, telework training and travel needed, performance standards, and what constitutes denial and termination of telework.
What the DoDI does not address is the actual implementation of the policy, who specifically qualifies for telework and how specific complaints or issues are addressed. That falls under the purview of the command implementing the policy, according to Lennon.
"Each individual command has the authority to determine which positions would be eligible for telework," said Lennon.
Regulating telework performance is the same as regulating work performance in the office, said Lennon.
"The intent of telework is that it's basically the same as if they're here, but they're really not here today, they're somewhere else, so what sort of work products are they producing?" said Lennon. "If somebody's on telework, do we say, 'Send me an email every 15 minutes so that I know you're at your computer;' no, we don't do that. Managers are expected to treat telework employees just like other employees."
The first step in the process is a telework agreement followed by training. Lennon said the training should continue with each renewal of the telework agreement to ensure both parties are on the same page. Lennon advises going to www.telework.gov (see below) for additional information on training as well guidance and resources.
Anyone interested in telework should also reach out to their organization's human resource office.
"The HR folks are going to know whether or not there's an internal policy," said Lennon. "They should also know if they don't have one locally that they're higher headquarters will have one."
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