More Federal Workers are Telecommuting

An anonymous reader writes "Boosting the ranks of federal employees who telework is a slow, sometimes painful process, despite numerous incentives and legislative edicts lobbed at U.S. agencies over the years. Take the situation at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which last month was ordered by a federal arbitration panel to allow its legal instrument examiners to telework on a pilot basis. ATF was against letting these specialists telework because it says the material they need to remove from agency offices in order to telework posed a security risk. The Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) became involved at the request of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which successfully argued its case for allowing the examiners to telework on a pilot basis."

Discourage those staying behind?

As this sbc article [smallbusin...puting.com] details, those left behind find it "less personally fulfilling to do their work".
So how exactly is this a good thing, unless you plan on having no office at all - which is not quite feasible.

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Seeing some of the people walking out of Gov offices, I think working at home might save the ones that can do it! Remote access has made me happy, not to work from home, but to be able to catch up on e-mail and stuff on something besides the blackberry...

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I once worked in a department that allowed telecommuting - my boss made everyone in our workgroup sign up for it - not so we could work from home as opposed to from the office, but so we could work from the office and work from home. My team lead was work

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My team lead was working a full day at the office and dealing with the builds at night from home. Whatever they were paying him, it wasn't enough to put up with that nonsense. So the abuse can go both ways.

That's the way my last boss treated telec

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Call him. Every single time something goes wrong, anywhere, for any member of the team, they call him. If something looks unusual, call him. If something looks perfectly normal, call him and let him know things are "back on track." He wants his shop ru

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The pointy headed boss called me one time when I was in the middle of taking a massive dump.

Why, oh why, in the world did you ANSWER THE PHONE?

A Good Compromise

A good compromise might be to allow workers to telecommute 20% of the time (1 day per week). Give everyone that freedom, and nobody can complain. Plus, you'd still have plenty of "face time" with your co-workers.

Um...

The Federal Service Impasses Panel?

Am I the only one here who thinks the existence of that agency is the real story?

Re:Um...

They've [flra.gov] been around since the 1970s, and appear to be a "disinterested 3rd party" that mediates disputes between federal agencies and the unions which have reached an impasse.

They're part of the FLRA, which is the larger body that is an umbrella organization for dealing with labor issues within the federal government.

It's not particularly surprising that such a body exists. I'd be more surprised if it didn't.

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It only seems weird because it has an official name. It's the people in the government who negotiate with union employees. Everyone who employs union employees has people who deal with conflicts, just without a fancy name.

If I worked for the government...

If I worked for the government I would too I mean all the easier to spend tax payers' money on improving my house :P

I telecommute almost every week

As an employee of the USCG, I am allowed to telecommute one day a week, every week on any regular 5-day work week. Any Ensign (O-series) and higher, 3rd class Petty Officer (E-series) and higher and all GS-7's and higher can do telecommuting, pending supervisory (permission is granted from supervisory GS-12's or GS-13's) and network security approval. Non-rates and the majority of contractors don't get assigned a security token, and therefore don't get the privilege. Now I can't speak for other Federal agencies of course...

Re:I telecommute almost every week

Now I can't speak for other Federal agencies of course...

It varies not just by Agency, but by division, line office, supervisor all the way down. Where I work in NOAA is even more flexible for many, especially scientific personnel (2 or even 3 days/week is not uncommon), with plenty of resources to make it work. Been doing this for a couple years, though recent across-the-board laptop security issues (changes driven from the top after some of the well-publicized losses in other agencies) has made it harder.

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I hope by O's/Petty Officers you don't let the pilots and rescue swimmers telecommute - I like them to be there when they are picking me out of the ocean :)

Misread that title

Of course feral workers telecommute, they make a mess in the corner!

Over at CTU Los Angeles...

[Erin Driscoll] "Jack, start prepping a team for an assault on the east wing. Edgar- where's Chloe? Find her and tell her to open a new socket in the server room as a new priority."
[Edgar Stiles] "Chloe's.. erm.. working from home today, Miss Driscoll..."

This is definitely an improvement

They are helping the environment by being unproductive at home, rather than going into the office to be unproductive.

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If I worked at the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, I would definitely take my work home with me...

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Contrary to popular belief (including the person who commented above), some Federal employees/contractors are very productive when telecommuting from home. I telecommuted twice in my service as a contractor to two different Federal agencies -- at the firs

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You must work for the DMV.

Not surprising

I don't see a problem with federal workers telecommuting,... especially considering that the big boss [wikipedia.org] technically "telecommutes". Of course, if my employer would give me a house [whitehouse.gov], I'd probably work from home, too,... Then again, on the negative side, he's a

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Then again, on the negative side, he's arguably one of the least productive federal workers, so he's probably screwing up the whole telecommuting thing for everyone else!

are you insane? do you realize how much brush he has cleared from Texas during his t

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Plus he decimated a country in the middle east, and destroyed major parts of the constitution as well.

Decimated a country in the middle east?! Heck! He practically decimated his own country's economy! That's it! I now declare that telecommuters are de

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I know you're trying to make a funny, but it's more accurate to say that the President lives in a house with an attached office building than to say he works from home. As for Crawford, the government spends millions not only making it usable as a "Western

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> especially considering that the big boss technically "telecommutes"

No, that's called "phoning it in".

Telecommuting should be the norm...

...not the exception, at least for certain positions and personality types.

Telecommuters drive less, so there's less pollution and traffic. With the right people, telecommuting can enhance productivity and job satisfaction.

I feel strongly about this, havi

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Whenever I do have to go into the office, I'm surrounded by distractions

I appreciate that you've already stated there are people who do better in an office setting, but I still find it interesting that so many of comments I've read on Slashdot are strong

I already...

I already do Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms at home, often all at once. They could just hire me and boost their numbers accordingly.

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My application was rejected: until you're also competent with explosives they won't be interested.

Commuting

Government workers are already very good at commuting: no matter what the order their numbers always multiply. So telecommuting shouldn't be that hard for them.

Security please!

I can only hope (because I doubt that I can expect) that these telecommuting workers use encrypted datafiles, well-secured "work-only" home-office PCs, multi-factor authentication, non-wireless internet connections, etc. I'm sure any number of people would love to gain access to government data or databases.

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I'm sure any number of people would love to gain access to government data or databases.

My agency was and is quite proactive at promoting telecommuting, trip reduction, alternate transport (good thing too... NOAA is somewhat concerned with climate issues...) but admittedly lagged behind in security. But this is also mindset: we are all aca

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Well, I can tell you that my agency uses fully-encrypted hard drives on laptops. If you have a "work-only" home-office PC, it has to be fully encrypted as well and has to meet the same standards that the laptops would. All connections to the office are v

Caveat

You can get a thumb drive, but it has to be fully encrypted as well, and you have to have supervisory approval to even request one.

Which means, at my level, they're completely disallowed. But then, I don't have any access to sensitive information anyway

No ubiquitous encryption?

What agency do you work for? Whoever they are, they're over a year late instituting the White House directive that mandates whole disk encryption on any computer that leaves the office.

Serously, what agency do you work for?

I really hope...

I really hope this means they have more personal details about us on laptops! That would be fun

I'm so torn

I'm pro-telecommuting but not if it makes the government more efficient. The ATF especially.

Federal Telecommuting Made Easy

I can do it, too. Just pick up any phone, anywhere, and say the following words in any particular order: "terrorist Iraq Al Qaeda" and you'll instantly be connected to your neighborhood friendly NSA agent, ready and willing to connect you to your party!

The neighbors are against it...

From TFA:

ATF was against letting these specialists telework because it says the material they need to remove from agency offices in order to telework posed a security risk.

I can see why. I mean, the poor guys need to bring work home, obviously. In cas

Telecommuting sucks

I am an IT professional. I have had to work in telecommuting heavy environments. While a small dash might allow you to get work done when you would otherwise have to take vacation (such as blizzard-like conditions), overall I have yet to meet an effective

ATF should be abolished

Alcohol and tobacco should be regulated by the FDA, and firearms and explosives by the FBI.

Every federal agency should have to periodically justify its existence and some should be abolished. An agency can be outdated or it's functions better done by another agency or the states. Unfortunately the federal government has become a jobs program.

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You know how much fun it is to reorganize a business with department heads fighting for turf? The government is so much worse, that by the time you're done you wish you never started. After a while, they learn.

You're right, but...

There's a problem with trying to abolish the BATFE. Some years ago, ATF abuses got so severe toward firearms license holders and other gun owners that Congressional hearing were held. Congress was leaning toward exactly the sort of breakup you describe.

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Every federal agency should have to periodically justify its existence and some should be abolished. An agency can be outdated or it's functions better done by another agency or the states. Unfortunately the federal government has become a jobs program.

I'v

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Every federal agency should have to periodically justify its existence and some should be abolished. An agency can be outdated or it's functions better done by another agency or the states. Unfortunately the federal government has become a jobs program.

Nice idea

I think having the freedom to work at home, at least for part of the time, is a huge benefit. Having this option is one of the reasons I haven't gone for a higher-paying job -- it's a perk I'm willing to "pay for."

Cutting out the miserable commutes that ma

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The major "class disparity" that will be present between office workers and service workers could be reduced by the change of the technology of things, which must be serviced.

For example, the car service could be partly done by telecommuting, if the car

"Telecommute" is the problem, not the solution

"Telecommute" is a stupid word - the literal meaning of the word is completely at odds with the meaning of the word as it is used. Telecommute means to travel a long distance. Tele means far, commute means to travel, particularly to work. Hence telecommute means to travel a long distance to work. The roots are similar to television (literally far seeing) and telephone (lterally far hearing).

However, telecommuting - as the word is used - is the problem, not the solution. The problem is having to commute a long way to work. The solution is using technology to allow you to work from home, which is not what telecommute means at all. Obviously whoever coined the word thought "tele" sounded suitably technological, so decided to use that. A far better word for the solution would be "e-commuting" or something similar, even if it does involve the much overused "e-" prefix. At least that would make sense.

Stupid English language...

Dilbert rides again...

Wasn't there a Dilbert comic a few years back, where Dogbert described his dream job to the boss...

Pointy-Haired Boss: "So, you'd stay at home and we'd send you checks?"

Dogbert: "Actually, I was hoping for direct deposit."

US government to be outsourced?

Isn't telecommuting the first step toward being outsourced? I mean if you can do it from home, you can do it from India, or China...where-ever. How long before government functions are outsourced to lower-paid workers in other countries? Or are governme