How much work would a teleworker work if a worker could work via telework?
Plenty.
Telework is an important part of a sustainable workplace, reducing carbon emissions from vehicles and—as anyone who commutes via I95 or I270 can tell you—improving employee morale.
Late last year and early in 2020, the U.S. Social Security Administration, a federal agency, cut back on staff participation in the federal telework program in some of its offices. It also reduced the number of days certain staff who serve the public directly are eligible to telework. Other federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department, have also reduced telework participation by their staff in recent years.
The Torch turned to Tim Holloman, the Telework Coordinator for the Smithsonian’s Office of Human Resources, to ask a few questions about the present and future state of the Smithsonian’s telework program.
Is the Smithsonian planning any changes to telework participation by its staff?
No. I haven’t heard anybody at any level talk about reducing it. In fact, when I first began administering the Smithsonian’s telework program 10 years ago, things were just the opposite. There was initially a lot of pushback from unit directors, who said, ‘We don’t do telework in my unit,’ and ’I don’t support telework.’
After President Obama signed the Telework Enhancement Act in 2010, telework started becoming more and more common at the Smithsonian. One unit started doing it, then another, and it quickly became acceptable.
Now it is being used as a recruiting tool by the Smithsonian and other federal agencies. When we post a new position on USAjobs.gov, the ability to telework is a strong incentive for qualified employees to apply. So, the acceptability of telework has gone way up in the last 10 years.
When I began keeping track of Smithsonian teleworkers, we started with about 200. Now there are more than 1,000. On any given week, some 200 to 300 Smithsonian staff telework. Telework is available for both federal and trust employees.
Are there different categories of telework?
Yes. One is regular or recurring telework, where a staff member has a regular telework day, say the first Monday of each pay period or Tuesday and Thursday of every week. It follows a predictable and recurring schedule.
The other is ad hoc or unscheduled telework. It is not scheduled, it is not recurring, it is not predictable. For example, let’s say once a quarter you have a huge report to complete for your office and it requires three or four days to complete. With uninterrupted time at home, however, you’ve found you can finish it in two days. So, you telework those days each quarter. This telework schedule is ad hoc, and does not occur on regular, recurring days.
About one-third of the Smithsonian’s telework agreements are the regular or recurring and two-thirds are ad hoc.
If I want to telework, do I need to get approval through you?
No, I am not part of the approval process. Approval for telework is between you and your supervisor. You need to download, fill out and sign a Telework Application and Agreement Form—available on the Office of Human Resources Prism Website—and have it approved and signed by your first and second line supervisor. Your supervisor should keep a copy, as well as you, the employee. I also need a copy so I can make sure it is filled out correctly, signed by two supervisory levels and I have it on file.
Keep in mind that telework is not an employee right. There is no guarantee your request for telework will be approved. Directors are ultimately responsible for determining each employee’s eligibility. Staff whose work require their physical presence—animal keepers, security guards, customer service, building maintenance staff—are not generally eligible for telework.
Staff whose conduct has resulted in disciplinary action in the last year and staff with less than satisfactory performance ratings are also ineligible. And of course, many eligible staff simply choose not to telework.
Telework requests also may be denied and telework agreements may be ended at any time by supervisors.
My part in the Smithsonian’s Telework Program is in writing and maintaining the Smithsonian’s Telework Policy (SDs 212/213, Ch.620), keeping track of telework agreements and statistics on staff telework time. Although I get a copy of each employee telework agreement for monitoring purposes, you never need talk to me or interact with me during the telework approval process.
Of the 36 % of Federal employees who teleworked to some degree in 2017, 77% reported they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied.” From the 2018 Report to Congress from telework.gov
How do you keep track of who is teleworking at SI?
At the end of a pay period during which an employee has teleworked, they should enter one of the four telework codes available on the Smithsonian Time & Attendance System for the hours they teleworked. [The four different codes are 01-Telework Ad Hoc (non- weather); 01 Telework Home <= 2d; 01 Telework Home > 2d; and Telework Home-Weather/Emergency] This is the only way OHR can keep accurate data on Smithsonian telework hours of its staff.
To me the most important aspect of telework for a unit, section and division is in answering the question: Is the work being done and is it contributing to work life balance for staff? If those questions can be answered in the affirmative, then the intent of the Smithsonian’s telework program has been achieved.
Does a long commute make you a candidate for telework?
Where you live has nothing to do with whether you are a candidate for telework. Ninety-five to 99 percent of teleworkers are just people who live in the local area and work one or two days a pay period at home.
To find out more about the Smithsonian’s Telework Program see the Smithsonian directive that covers telework and the procedures manual that details the supervisor’s responsibility, the employee’s responsibility and unit director’s responsibility among other things.
What other responsibilities do you have at the Smithsonian?
I am manager of the Employee Assistance Program of the Office of Human Resources. Telework Coordinator is simply an additional duty.
The Employee Assistance Program is a confidential counseling resource available to employees to help with whatever might be going on. We’re therapists and social workers. You could be suffering from a personal problem that is contributing to a drop off in your productivity at work. Or, it could just be a personal issue. People come here for anxiety, depression, family issues, marital issues, legal trouble, financial trouble, whatever it may be. EAP staff helps them with that. Our goal is to make sure that person remains a productive Smithsonian employee.
We provide therapy on a short-term basis, yet if it is something serious that appears will be ongoing, I might encourage an employee to seek counseling, medical help or whatever, on their own.
While the Telecommuting Program is not really a function of the Employee Assistance Program, Human Resources needed to give it to somebody, and it was awarded to us.
How does the work of the Employee Assistance Program differ from that of the Smithsonian Ombudsman?
Ombudsman Dania Palosky’s job is resolving work-related problems, such as an employee having an issue on the job with a supervisor or with the system, something they can’t resolve.
The Employee Assistance Program handles issues more from of a counseling perspective. In fact, the problems staff bring to us are usually personal issues. But a lot of time that personal problem may be affecting your productivity at work; you are coming to work and worrying about it and are not working at 100 percent.
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Posted: 20 February 2020
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