OPM Outlines the Future of Remote, Telework for Federal Agencies
In a report released on November 12, 2021, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) urged agencies to ensure telework is a permanent component of workforce policies, aligning with telework expansion support from the Biden Administration.
In addition to providing agencies with operational flexibility, OPM promotes the benefits of telework by establishing procedures that are designed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of telework - promoting balance between work and personal commitments, improving employee satisfaction, and attracting future employees.
To integrate telework and remote working, the guidance suggests agencies review operations systems prior to the pandemic and use lessons learned to standardize remote work.
OPM recommends agencies address the following when developing new remote and telework policies:
re the employee's required resources available to them?
Is it necessary for anyone else to know where or when the employee works to do their job properly?
Is the remote work agreement reviewed and evaluated by the agency on a regular basis? How frequently?
Does the agency have policies and procedures for reporting to the agency worksite?
The updated federal guidance reflects the notion that agencies should examine what aspects of telework improved productivity and employee engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic spurred a nationwide focus on teleworking to provide essential services through urgent and long-term emergency situations, as well as increased interest in remote and telework. The report notes that potential procedures should be based on experience gained during the pandemic, which showed employees could continue working in temporary emergencies.
OPM encouraged agencies to reevaluate telework eligibility for positions that have historically not been telework eligible, and to make them eligible at least for periodic telework. They also recommended agencies ease telework restrictions for employees whose child or dependent lives at home. Likewise, OPM recommends offering maxi-flex schedules to qualified employees – which consist of 10 hours of work within business hours while still requiring the standard 40 hours each week – enabling employees to balance care-giving responsibilities and work obligations.
Further, the guidance outlines how agencies should handle locality-pay issues that might arise from employees working remotely or via telework. A teleworking employee should be paid locality pay based on the employee’s traditional worksite where the employee commutes at least twice a week; however, remote workers who don’t travel to federal facilities regularly should receive locality pay determined by where they live or work.
“Remote work arrangements can help organizations recruit new employees with hard-to-find skillsets or help agencies retain current employees who move due to spouse relocation, dependent care, upcoming retirement, or other life events,” the guidance states, “However, these types of flexible work arrangements require a little more intentionality, thought, and planning because they raise various logistical and policy issues, including reassignment of official worksite, pay, and reimbursement for travel, etc., which to date have created certain disincentives for agencies to approve them in all but limited or very rare instances.”
Per the guidance, teleworking employees must meet the same performance standards as their non-teleworking counterparts, though how this will be implemented is unclear. The ability to verify remote worksite security, reliability, and safety is also a concern.
Announced alongside the guidance, OPM launched Future of Work – a page to house resources, guidance, technical support, and training, for federal employees.
“The new Future of Work webpage will be regularly updated to provide agencies with new guidance, tools and resources to support them now and in the future as we reimagine how we work,” OPM’s Chief Human Capital Officers Council (CHCOC) Executive Director Margot Conrad wrote in an email to FEDmanager.
