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Typically, once executives and managers consider telework for their organization, they begin
to think of questions. Those most often asked are listed below and linked to brief answers.
These topics are all addressed in greater detail other places in the toolkit.
Is telework an employee benefit?
Do we really need to have a telework policy?
Won't all employees want to telework?
Can employees be required to telework?
How do I select employees for telework?
What kinds of jobs are suitable for telework?
Can both hourly and salary employees telework?
Which employee expenses should be reimbursed?
Can managers telework?
Do teleworkers need computer equipment?
Can teleworkers use their own computer?
What if a teleworker is injured when working at home?
How do I know that confidential information is protected?
How do I know if Teleworking is successful?
How do I know employees are really working when they're at home?
How do I ask an employee for something when they aren't here?
Doesn't telework mean more work for those that don't telework?
We work as a team. Won't telework ruin that?
How many days do teleworkers work from home?
How will employees know where other employees are?
How do I know that employees have a suitable workspace at home?
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Is Telework an employee benefit?
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A
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No, but employees may see it that way. Organizations need to make it clear from the start that the opportunity
to telework is a management option. Employees who want to telework (not all do) are given the opportunity
to do so if they have work that can be completed off-site, have work habits and behaviors that lend
themselves to telework, and have a suitable situation at home for telework. Typically, these are the
core requirements outlined in a Telework Policy. An individual organization may have a different set of requirements
for telework. Even when employees meet all of the requirements, the employer may still refuse to grant a
request for telework if there are schedule conflicts or staffing needs that require certain employees, or a
certain number of employees, to be present in the workplace.
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Q
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Do we really need to have a telework policy?
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A
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It is advisable to have a clear policy in place. This removes the perception by employees that decisions
are made arbitrarily or for personal reasons. The program will run much more smoothly when managers and
employees both know what is expected, what is required, and under what circumstances the opportunity to
telework can be offered or withdrawn. After all, one of the reasons for offering telework is improved
employee recruitment, job satisfaction, and employee retention. Goals are more likely achieved, and costs
and benefits measured, when a policy is in place. The Resources page of the toolkit includes a generic
policy that can be modified to create a policy specific to each organization.
There is another type of policy as well: that is the organization's policy about supporting telework.
Some employees that participated in the pilot project said the decision to support telework
needs to come from the top of the organization and not be left up to department heads of mangers. They
say their organization likes to "say" it supports telework, but in fact does nothing to do so. Organization's
should explore telework and then make a decision about the level of support that will be provided. Informing
employees at all levels just where the organization stands on telework will clear up a lot of misunderstandings
and negative feelings.
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Q
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Won't all employees want to telework?
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A
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No. Some employees know that telework isn't right for them. According to 2007 Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) data,
36% of the employees in CTR organizations would like to telework one or more days a week. Most teleworkers
don't want to telework all of the time. In the Pilot Project, where all participants
were teleworkers, 28% said they would like to telework 1 day a week, 28% said 2 days a week, 23% said 3 days,
6% said 4 days, and 15% said 5 days. Management should be aware, however, that the percentage that want to
telework will probably increase over time. Factors involved are increasing transportation costs, longer
commutes, and the increasing availability of technology that makes it easier to work remotely. Also, younger
workers entering the workforce may be more likely to want the telework option.
There will always be employees that prefer to come to the office where they can socialize and work around
others. The upper limit on how many employees work out of the office is really up to the organization.
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Can employees be required to telework?
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That depends. Generally it's considered a counterproductive strategy to force employees to telework.
Some employees are not suited to working on their own and the practice may not be possible for some
public employees or union employees. On the other hand, some employers are now creating positions in
which teleworking, at least part of the time, is a condition of employment. If you want a significant
portion of your workforce to telework, move slowly: begin with employees who want to telework and add
others over time as they are hired or promoted.
One situation where employees may be required to telework is in the case of an emergency or disaster
recovery. Certain key employees may be expected to continue operations from home. However, this is a
role to be assigned and negotiated with individual employees.
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How do I select employees for telework?
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A
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The Telework Toolkit includes an employee self-assessment form that employees should complete before
they request telework. Management may want to modify this form to better fit the organization. In most
organizations the decision to allow telework is made by the supervisor after interviewing the employee
and determining their suitability. Employees who are good candidates for telework are self-motivated and
self-disciplined, able to set goals and achieve them, are good at keeping the lines of communication open
with their manager and team members, and can work from home while still contributing to the organization
beyond the work on specific tasks. Having a clearly defined process for selecting teleworkers minimizes
the perception of favoritism in selecting employees for telework. The box to the right includes links
to other places in the toolkit where this issue is discussed in more detail.
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What kinds of jobs are suitable for telework?
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A
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Instead of thinking of jobs, think of the collection of tasks that make up a job. Some tasks need
to be done at the worksite, such as face to face meetings, those requiring specialized equipment, or
those that involve material too confidential to move off site. Other tasks can be done just as well
from home, such as reading, writing, data entry, making phone calls, design work, etc. Some employees
report that tasks requiring a lot of concentration, like writing, are better done at home where there are fewer
distractions. The amount of time an employee can telework is largely determined by how many of their
tasks can be done from home. Don't base eligibility for telework on job titles alone.
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Can both hourly and salary employees telework?
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While both hourly and salary employees can telework, there are some additional issues to consider for
hourly workers. In order to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must
accurately track all regular and overtime hours to ensure proper compensation. Generally, if an hourly
employee teleworks from home over 50% of the time, home is considered their primary office location.
As such, they must be paid for the time it takes them to travel from home to their employer's location.
Consult your HR/Personnel department for specifics pertaining to your part-time employees.
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Which employee expenses should be reimbursed?
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A
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This is a policy decision for your organization. Some employers reimburse employees for telephone costs
related to work, but not for utility costs. Some organizations will find it easier to purchase cell phones or phone
cards for teleworkers or provide VoIP phone service. Employees that use a printer from home may incur substantial
costs for printer ink or cartridges. Generally, employees are willing to absorb some costs themselves, but only
so much. Many feel that if they telework more than half of the time, or if equipment is used mostly for work,
employers should be picking up more of the cost. Employees are more comfortable with the situation when there
is a clear reimbursement policy stated in the Telework Policy.
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Q
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Can managers telework?
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A
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Managers should be able to be considered for telework just like any other employee. Whether or not they
should be selected depends on their tasks and abilities, and on how they will communicate and solve problems
when away from the office. To be considered, managers should provide a plan for doing this.
Managing remotely may be more successful for those managers who use electronic communications with all
employees, whether they are teleworkers or not. By doing this, it doesn't much matter if employees are present
at the worksite or at home, and similarly, it doesn't matter if the manager is on site or at home. Managers
who try telework will soon discover which tasks require their presence on site.
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Do teleworkers need computer equipment?
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A
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Not necessarily. Some employees can accumulate enough tasks that do not require a computer to be able
to work at home occasionally or once a week without a computer. It really depends on the tasks of the
individual employee. Realistically though, most employees today need a computer for most of their work.
In the Telework Pilot Project, only 7% of the employees said they frequently work without a computer.
In fact, some experts recommend that employees have the same equipment at home that they have at work.
(See next question)
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Can teleworkers use their own computer?
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A
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An organization has little control over what an employee does with their home computer. Organizations
that don't want to provide employees with a computer must accept some level of risk. On the other hand,
if a computer is provided, it can be preloaded with the appropriate properly licensed software, and
use can be restricted to office work only. Organizations need to weigh the risks versus costs for
providing computers to teleworkers.
If the organization is going to allow employees to use their own equipment, the employee should be provided
with current antivirus and firewall protection and carefully instructed on recommended data safety
procedures. If a lot of teleworkers are working on their own equipment, this can create problems for
the organization's IT department if they are expected to provide tech support. Support is much
simpler when everyone uses similar equipment.
This issue is discussed in more detail in the Technology section of the toolkit.
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What if a teleworker is injured when working at home?
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In most cases, an employee injured while performing official work duties during agreed upon work hours
is covered under the Washington State Worker's Compensation Law regardless of their location. Non-work
related injuries, however, are not covered even if they take place during official work hours. Consult
your HR/Personnel Department for specifics pertaining to the Washington
State Department of Labor & Industries or any other state's rules and regulations.
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How do I know that confidential information is protected?
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A
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Information may have different levels of sensitivity requiring different levels of protection. Some
information may be so sensitive that it is unsuitable for telework. In other cases it may be OK for
teleworkers to work with the sensitive information provided there are security precautions in place,
such as dedicated computers and secure network connections. The organization's IT Director should
be involved in creating and implementing a security policy. Organizations that already have a security
policy should make sure it addresses telework situations. Part of good security is training. Employees
need to be aware of the responsibility they have when taking information off site or accessing information
from a remote location.
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How do I know if Teleworking is successful?
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A
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Does the work get done? What is the quality of work like? Are problems occurring because workers aren't
in the office? What are managers saying? If managers are complaining, is it because the work isn't
getting done or are they feeling insecure about managing remotely? If there are problems, are they
because of the employee or because the employee doesn't have the equipment or support needed to do the
job right?
Have an open and enquiring mind and monitor the program closely. Ask questions and communicate frequently
with employees and managers.
Some employers use task forms on which teleworkers list the tasks they will be working on at home. They
can also use the form to record how much they accomplished. While having a form may be helpful, how well
it works may depend on the type of work employees perform. And, unless employees who don't telework
complete the same forms, there will be no way to determine if teleworkers are performing better or worse.
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Q
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How do I know employees are really working when they're at home?
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The simple answer is to trust your employees to do the work. Some employees will respond very well to
this trust and will work hard to deserve it. Others won't, at least not at first, and it will be
necessary to use worker logs or other devices, as well as occasional check-ins, to monitor their progress.
Of course, trust is earned, and the real measure of whether or not employees are working is the
quantity and quality of work they produce. It is more important to see the work than to see the worker.
Some managers establish expectations by discussing and agreeing with the employee on home assignments.
The value of such agreements depends on the individual employee, the amount of time they work at home,
and the manager's own comfort level with the employee.
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Q
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My management style is pretty spontaneous. When I need something from an employee I just ask them.
How do I do that when they aren't here?
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You can still "just ask them", but use the phone, email or Instant Messaging. Managers sometimes hand out
assignments to any employee that happens to be convenient. If this occurs, be sure to include the telework
employees. If they miss out on their share of ad hoc assignments it will create resentment by other
employees.
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Won't having workers away from the office mean more work for those that stay?
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A
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How do you assign work? If you just hand it to the most convenient person, then yes, those in the
office may get more than their fair share. Be equitable in how the workload is distributed. It's
also possible that if teleworkers need access to files in the office they will call colleagues at
work to have files emailed. If this happens very often, it can become a burden on those back
in the office. The use of technology, or just better discipline on the part of the employee, can
solve that problem.
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We work as a team. Won't telework ruin that?
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A
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This is a concern of many managers and some employees. Most employees quickly adapt to IM/Chat, or other
communication and collaboration technologies. For the great majority of work that needs to be done, this
kind of communication works fine. However, there is no doubt that a real synergy can develop in a meeting
of the right individuals brainstorming together. But how often does this need to happen? If it's an
everyday thing, then these employees may not be suitable for telework. If such meetings can be scheduled,
then employees can telework other times.
In an office where employees work at home a lot, some may seldom
see each other. Some managers schedule days when everyone will be present or social events that everyone
attends, to help preserve the sense of camaraderie. You may want to add a little social time to team
meetings.
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How many days do teleworkers work from home?
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Unless the telework policy limits the number of days, that decision is up to individual managers. It is usually decided
on a case-by-case basis and depends on how ready the employee is, how much work they have that is suitable to be done
from home, and how frequently they are needed at the office. Managers might want to start with only one day a week and
increase the limit if the quality and quantity of work is acceptable.
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It seems chaotic. How will employees know where other employees are?
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Teleworkers need to post their schedules so that everyone knows when they are working from home and when
they will be in the office. This can be as simple as emailing their schedule to coworkers. If calls
aren't being forwarded to the employee, all coworkers should have the employee's home phone number. In
an office with a lot of teleworkers that work from home on varying days, it may be necessary to have
an interactive calendar that all employees can access to post their schedule and and updates to their schedule.
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How do I know that employees have a suitable and safe place at home to work?
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This is the employee's responsibility. The toolkit includes guidelines for setting up a home office.
In addition, the organization's telework policy may have minimum requirements that the employee must meet.
Failure to do so could mean disqualification for telework. Some employers inspect the home office to
be sure it meets safety and functional requirements. Employers who have the IT department install
equipment may also have the installer make a home office inspection. Some employers ask teleworkers to
provide photos of the home office.
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