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More Federal Workers are Telecommuting

Posted by samzenpus on from the I'm-staying-home-today dept.

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."

6 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Um... by Angst+Badger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Federal Service Impasses Panel?

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

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
    1. Re:Um... by moosesocks · · Score: 4, Informative

      They've 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.

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
  2. I telecommute almost every week by LinDVD · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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...

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    Just because you get modded "insightful" on Slashdot doesn't mean you actually are in real life.
    1. Re:I telecommute almost every week by squidfood · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

  3. I already... by Urger · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    --
    Ubiquitously - A Ubiquity Developer Community
  4. ATF should be abolished by schwit1 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    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.