FederalDaily.com > Lawmakers Introduce Telework Bill

FederalDaily - April 4, 2007

Lawmakers Introduce Telework Bill

Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Mary Landrieu, D-La., last week introduced a bill that would expand the availability of telework options to most federal employees. The legislation, the Telework Enhancement Act, would make every federal worker eligible to work from home on a full-time or part-time basis unless their employer shows their job is ineligible. The senators said the bill would improve the cost-efficiency of the federal government, save energy now spent on transportation, and provide employees with more family time. The measure would reverse the current general policy that holds that all jobs are assumed ineligible unless deemed otherwise by the employer. The legislation would require each agency to designate a “telework managing officer” to implement the policy and provide program oversight. The legislation also would require telework training for new employees and managers, and would incorporate a discussion of telework feasibility intp employee reviews. For more, go to: http://stevens.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=9a6b4a84-802a-23ad-4f57-3e1b66525136&Region_id=&Issue_id=65897e8b-e592-b74d-4578-004a12eb0768

OPM Survey Shows Dependents Weigh on Most Feds

The results of a survey recently issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) show fully 54 percent of federal employees reported having either children or adults in their lives with dependent care needs. The purpose of the survey was to assess “to what extent federal employees were using or could use federal programs and benefits,” such as subsidies and flexible work time, “designed to help meet these needs,” Eileen Regan Larance, an OPM director wrote in a letter. The survey produced some disappointing findings, including that, for various reasons, a quarter of employees were not using their “preferred childcare arrangement.” Of this quarter, between 45 and 71 percent (depending on the age of their children) said they were unable to do so because of problems of “availability and cost” of such arrangements. More striking, 98 percent of eligible executive branch employees reported not setting up a dependent care flexible spending account (DCFSA), a program similar to healthcare savings accounts which permit employees to set aside pre-tax money to care for dependents. Why did so few take advantage of the privilege? According to OPM, some employees said they did not pay for dependent care at all—but others reported they simply “did not know” that the DCFSA benefit was available to them. The OPM survey was conducted from April 6 to June 1, 2006. For more, go to: www.gao.gov/new.items/d07437r.pdf

State Dept. Employees Work OT to Meet Passport Demand

The State Department last week issued 412,000 passports, breaking the previous week’s record of 379,000, according to a department statement. The department’s Passport Agency employees continue to work overtime at the nation’s 17 Passport Agency offices in order to satisfy unprecedented demand caused by a spike in spring travel plans and new rules requiring all U.S. travelers to any foreign country to carry passports. Previously, U.S. citizens and certain other travelers to Canada, Mexico and Caribbean countries were not required to carry them. Since 2005, the agency’s corps of passport specialists has increased by 250 employees, the statement said, but additional employees have volunteered and have processed approximately 10,000 travel documents in recent weeks to help meet the surge in demand. In addition, the Passport Agency’s National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is maintaining an expanded call center for passport information and in-person appointments so travelers scheduled to leave the country within one week may obtain passports on an emergency basis. NPIC now is open 6 a.m. to midnight, EDT, Monday through Friday, with some weekend hours. For more information, go to http://travel.state.gov.