Federal Workforce: Agencies' Policies and Views on Flexiplace in the
Federal Government (Letter Report, 07/03/97, GAO/GGD-97-116).

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of
flexiplace since the completion of the pilot, focusing on: (1) federal
efforts to promote flexiplace; (2) federal agencies' policies and the
extent to which they permit flexiplace; (3) the extent to which federal
employees have used flexiplace, as well as the characteristics of these
employees and the work they have done under flexiplace; (4) whether
agencies and federal employees' unions have identified any barriers that
inhibit flexiplace implementation; and (5) whether agencies believe that
flexiplace has caused operational difficulties, including abuse of
flexiplace.

GAO noted that: (1) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), General
Services Administration (GSA), and Department of Transportation (DOT)
have assumed lead roles in promoting flexiplace; (2) in addition, DOT
and GSA provide leadership for an interagency working group formed as
part of the National Telecommuting Initiative Action Plan in January
1996; (3) a goal of the plan is to increase the number of federal
flexiplace participants by the end of fiscal year 1998 to 60,000 or
about 3 percent of the federal civilian workforce, a percentage roughly
equivalent to conservative estimates of telecommuting in the private
sector; (4) DOT also promotes flexiplace and distributes flexiplace
literature to the general public as part of its effort to decrease
transportation-associated congestion and pollution; (5) the 21 policies
GAO reviewed varied in their coverage, generally applying to personnel
within individual departmental and independent agencies, one or more
federal regions, or specific Department of Defense locations; (6)
because of limitations within these policies, however, about 28,000 of
the employees covered by flexiplace policies were, in effect, excluded
from flexiplace participation; (7) limitations restricted participation
to the medically disabled or members of a certain occupation; (8) in
contrast, despite the absence of formal policies at five locations GAO
visited, some of the managers there permitted flexiplace; (9) flexiplace
use appears to have increased since OPM's 1993 estimate of 3,000 to
4,000 participants; (10) a survey completed in July 1996 by the
President's Management Council estimated that there were 9,000
telecommuting participants; (11) agency officials told GAO that most
flexiplace participants' occupational categories were professional in
nature, such as engineer, attorney, management and program analyst, and
computer specialist; (12) according to agency officials, writing,
reading, telephoning, and computer work were the most common tasks
performed by flexiplace participants; (13) agency officials and union
representatives identified management resistance as the greatest barrier
to implementing flexiplace programs; (14) they also recognized that some
jobs do not lend themselves to flexiplace arrangements and cited other
barriers, such as a lack of computers at alternative work sites, the
handling of sensitive data, employee reluctance or indifference with re*

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  GGD-97-116
     TITLE:  Federal Workforce: Agencies' Policies and Views on 
             Flexiplace in the Federal Government
      DATE:  07/03/97
   SUBJECT:  Personnel management
             Federal employees
             Telecommuting
             Productivity
             Interagency relations
IDENTIFIER:  National Performance Review
             EPA Climate Change Action Plan
             National Telecommuting Initiative Action Plan
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Report to the Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Civil Service,
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, House of
Representatives

July 1997

FEDERAL WORKFORCE - AGENCIES'
POLICIES AND VIEWS ON FLEXIPLACE
IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

GAO/GGD-97-116

Flexiplace in the Federal Government

(410042)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  DOD - Department of Defense
  DOL - Department of Labor
  DOT - Department of Transportation
  EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
  GSA - General Services Administration
  HUD - Department of Housing and Urban Development
  MOU - memorandum of understanding
  NTEU - National Treasury Employees' Union
  OPM - Office of Personnel Management
  PMC - President's Management Council
  SSA - Social Security Administration
  USDA - Department of Agriculture

Letter
=============================================================== LETTER


B-272880

July 3, 1997

The Honorable Elijah E.  Cummings
Ranking Minority Member
Subcommittee on Civil Service
Committee on Government Reform
 and Oversight
House of Representatives

Dear Mr.  Cummings: 

In January 1993, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the
General Services Administration (GSA) issued a report summarizing the
results of a pilot that began in 1990 and tested the concept of
working at locations other than the traditional government office. 
This concept, then known as flexiplace in the federal government and
telecommuting in the private sector, was tested by over 500 federal
employees from 13 agencies.  The report, which focused on working at
home, concluded that flexiplace provided significant benefits to
participants, worked well with employees who were proven performers,
and was ready for governmentwide implementation. 

This report responds to a request by Representative James P.  Moran,
the former Ranking Minority Member, that we review the implementation
of flexiplace since completion of the pilot.  Specifically, we agreed
to (1) describe federal efforts to promote flexiplace; (2) review
federal agencies' policies and the extent to which they permit
flexiplace; (3) determine the extent to which federal employees have
used flexiplace, as well as the characteristics of these employees
and the work they have done under flexiplace; (4) ascertain whether
agencies and federal employees' unions have identified any barriers
that inhibit flexiplace implementation; and (5) determine whether
agencies believe that flexiplace has caused operational difficulties,
including abuse of flexiplace. 


   SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :1

The term "flexiplace" was initially coined during the pilot as an
abbreviation for "flexible workplace." Since the completion of the
flexiplace pilot, OPM has adopted the term "telecommuting" to define
workplace arrangements that allow an employee to work away from the
traditional work site, either at home or at another approved
alternative location.  Although the terms "flexiplace" and
"telecommuting" are often used interchangeably, for the purposes of
this report, we use the term flexiplace only when describing work
arrangements that are consistent with OPM's definition.  We found
this restrictiveness to be necessary because some federal officials
attach a meaning to the term telecommuting other than that which is
contemplated by OPM's definition.  The other meaning attached to the
term involves traditional management decentralization initiatives,
such as the establishment of local offices that produce benefits
(including improved customer services and satisfaction) without
necessarily being more geographically convenient to the employees
providing the services. 

In developing this report, we obtained general information on
flexiplace policies and views on flexiplace use from officials in the
17 departments and independent federal agencies\1 with the greatest
numbers of employees.  Collectively, these departments and agencies
employ about 95 percent of federal employees.  From these 17
departments and agencies, we then judgmentally selected 5 departments
and 3 independent agencies for a more detailed review, which forms
the basis of this report.  Our intention in selecting this sample was
to include departments and independent agencies that (1) employed a
large number of federal civilian personnel, (2) varied in the nature
and extent of their experience with flexiplace, and (3) permitted
examination of any variances in flexiplace policies and efforts to
promote flexiplace.  We did not attempt to determine, however, the
extent to which flexiplace arrangements could or should have been
undertaken or the effectiveness of existing arrangements.  Because we
did not use a representative sample, the results of this review
cannot be projected to the entire federal workforce. 

We identified and analyzed 21 policy documents from the departments
and agencies selected and visited and interviewed agency officials in
26 locations, mostly in agencies' headquarters and in their field
offices in Denver and San Francisco.  The agency officials we
interviewed were either flexiplace coordinators or other personnel
knowledgeable about flexiplace in their agencies, and they
predominantly worked in human resources departments, although a
lesser number were program or office managers.  During these
interviews, we gathered information on the extent of flexiplace use,
agencies' identification of barriers to implementing flexiplace, and
agency officials' views on operational difficulties attributable to
flexiplace.  We did not seek to question or verify either the
perceptions held by agency officials or the data provided on the use
of flexiplace.  In addition, we interviewed nine union
representatives to solicit their views on flexiplace, and interviewed
OPM, GSA, and DOT officials in Washington, D.C., to identify federal
efforts to promote flexiplace.  We also visited telecenters (which
are facilities for use by the employees of many agencies as
alternative work sites) in Virginia and California.  Appendix I
describes in detail the objectives, scope, and methodology of our
review. 

Our review was conducted from June 1996 to May 1997 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.  We provided a
draft of this report to the heads of the departments and agencies
discussed in this report for their review and comments.  Their
comments are summarized at the end of this report. 


--------------------
\1 For the purpose of this report, the term "department" refers to
cabinet level organizations within the executive branch, such as the
Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Labor (DOL). 
"Agency" refers to either the next organizational subdivision within
these departments, such as the Federal Highway Administration within
DOT, or an independent agency within the executive branch, such as
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 


   RESULTS IN BRIEF
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :2

OPM, GSA, and DOT have assumed lead roles in promoting flexiplace. 
OPM promotes awareness of flexiplace, provides guidance on its
implementation, and distributes the results of its research on
flexiplace.  GSA manages and markets federal telecenters.  In
addition, DOT and GSA provide leadership for an interagency working
group formed as part of the National Telecommuting Initiative Action
Plan in January 1996.  A goal of the plan is to increase the number
of federal flexiplace participants by the end of fiscal year 1998 to
60,000, or about 3 percent of the federal civilian workforce, a
percentage roughly equivalent to conservative estimates of
telecommuting in the private sector.  DOT also promotes flexiplace
and distributes flexiplace literature to the general public as part
of its effort to decrease transportation-associated congestion and
pollution. 

The 21 policies we reviewed varied in their coverage, generally
applying to personnel within individual departmental and independent
agencies, one or more federal regions, or specific Department of
Defense (DOD) locations.  Although none of the five departments we
contacted had blanket written policies that covered all employees in
all geographic locations, five agencies within three departments and
two independent agencies we contacted had such agencywide policies. 

About half of the nearly 99,100 employees at the locations we visited
were covered by formal flexiplace policies.  Because of limitations
within these policies, however, about 28,000 of the employees covered
by flexiplace policies were, in effect, excluded from flexiplace
participation.  Limitations restricted participation to the medically
disabled or members of a certain occupation.  In contrast, despite
the absence of formal policies at five locations we visited, some of
the managers there permitted flexiplace.  This resulted in the
majority of the employees at these locations who were not covered by
a policy, in effect, having the potential to participate in
flexiplace. 

Flexiplace use appears to have increased since OPM's 1993 estimate of
3,000 to 4,000 participants.  A survey completed in July 1996 by the
President's Management Council (PMC)\2 estimated that there were
9,000 telecommuting participants.  This number included participants
who would fit within a broader definition of telecommuting, but on
the other hand, it did not include all participants that would meet
OPM's definition.  Aside from the PMC estimates, at the 26 locations
we visited, agencies estimated that about 4,700, or nearly 5 percent
of their employees, participated in flexiplace.  We did not determine
whether the flexiplace arrangements we observed represented the
universe of available opportunities or whether they were effective. 

Agency officials told us that most flexiplace participants'
occupational categories were professional in nature, such as
engineer, attorney, management and program analyst, and computer
specialist.  Officials reported the use of both regularly scheduled
and episodic flexiplace--the latter for completing short-term
project-based work.  According to agency officials, writing, reading,
telephoning, and computer work were the most common tasks performed
by flexiplace participants. 

Agency officials and union representatives identified management
resistance as the greatest barrier to implementing flexiplace
programs.  They reported that many managers had to see their
employees to believe they were working, as opposed to managing by
results.  They also recognized that some jobs do not lend themselves
to flexiplace arrangements and cited other barriers, such as a lack
of computers at alternative work sites, the handling of sensitive
data, employee reluctance or indifference with regard to
participation, and the lack of a formal flexiplace policy. 

Agency officials believed that few operational difficulties arose
from flexiplace.  They cited only a few isolated instances of abuse
of the program.  One official said that the use of flexiplace caused
a drop in productivity, while several others believed productivity
increased as a result of flexiplace.  Similarly, agency officials
cited few problems with contacting flexiplace participants at
alternative work sites or coordinating their schedules, and these
problems were subsequently solved. 


--------------------
\2 The PMC was established in 1993 to advise and assist the President
and Vice President in ensuring that the reforms adopted as a result
of the National Performance Review (a study that recommended ways to
eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and improve customer service to
taxpayers) are implemented throughout the executive branch.  This
council is chaired by the Deputy Director for Management of the
Office of Management and Budget, and members include the chief
operating officers of 18 executive branch agencies, the Director of
OPM, the Administrator of GSA, the Secretary of the Cabinet, and
other officials as designated by the President. 


   BACKGROUND
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :3

No specific statute exists that explicitly authorizes or forbids
flexiplace.  OPM has administratively determined that agencies can
develop and implement flexiplace programs.  President Clinton has
also encouraged agencies to develop family-friendly programs,
including flexiplace, through memorandums addressed to the heads of
executive agencies in 1994 and 1996. 

OPM and GSA established instructional guidelines in 1990 to assist
agencies in implementing flexiplace programs.  These guidelines
recommended that an agency should first identify reasons for
establishing a program, and that program benefits should accrue to
both the employer and the employee.  According to OPM and GSA,
reasons for agencies to establish flexiplace programs include
improved recruiting and retention of employees, increased
productivity, and a reduced need for office space.  Reasons for
employees to participate in flexiplace include the opportunity to
reduce commuting time; lowered personal costs in areas such as
transportation, parking, food, and wardrobe; improvement in the
quality of worklife and morale accruing from the opportunity to
balance work and family demands; and removal of barriers for those
with disabilities who want to be part of the workforce.  OPM and GSA
guidelines stressed the fact that flexiplace is not a substitute for
child care because young children can frequently produce distractions
that prevent the successful completion of work at home. 

OPM updated the 1990 guidelines in 1993.  In this update, OPM
asserted that flexiplace is a management option rather than an
employee benefit, and that flexiplace should be voluntary and should
not change the terms and conditions of employment.  OPM recommended
that agencies develop written policies and procedures, appoint a
flexiplace coordinator, conduct training sessions for flexiplace
employees and their supervisors, and establish written work
agreements that schedule flexiplace episodes.  Although flexiplace is
a management option, OPM recognized that under 5 U.S.C.  Chapter 71,
labor unions representing employees have the right to negotiate on
the manner in which flexiplace programs are implemented and on the
impact of programs on employees. 

OPM cautioned agencies that the nature of the work, together with the
characteristics of both the employee and supervisor, must be suitable
for flexiplace.  OPM defined suitable work as tasks that can be
conducted independently of the work location for at least part of the
week.  Work that requires extensive face-to-face contact, according
to OPM, is generally unsuited for flexiplace.  OPM also said that
employees who participate in flexiplace programs should be well
organized, highly disciplined self-starters who require little
supervision and who have received at least fully successful ratings. 
OPM recommended that supervisors should be comfortable with managing
by results rather than by observation. 


   FEDERAL EFFORTS TO PROMOTE
   FLEXIPLACE
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :4

Since its January 1993 report on the results of the flexiplace pilot,
OPM has continued to promote flexiplace to other federal departments
and agencies.  OPM maintains a Work and Family Program Center to
promote flexiplace awareness by publishing leaflets on flexiplace
resources, writing about flexiplace in newsletters, operating a
computer bulletin board to disseminate and exchange flexiplace
information, and offering workshops on flexiplace.  OPM has also
published descriptive brochures on flexiplace, continues to make
available to federal agencies the results of the flexiplace pilot,
and has recognized other agencies with awards for promoting work and
family programs, including flexiplace.  In addition, OPM has
disseminated information through direct mailings to personnel
directors and heads of executive departments and agencies. 

Also since 1993, GSA has promoted flexiplace through the
establishment, management, and marketing of facilities that provide
alternative office settings for federal employees who would otherwise
travel longer distances to work.  These facilities, known as
telecenters, are equipped with modern workstations, telephones,
computers, modems, and facsimile machines, and are generally shared
by employees of multiple agencies.  Initially established in Maryland
and Virginia by fiscal year 1993 appropriations, federal telecenters
were also established in Oklahoma City; Seattle; Chicago; Atlanta;
Charles Town, West Virginia; and a number of northern and southern
California communities.  GSA has also established partnerships with
local and municipal governments to arrange for the use of their
telecenters by federal employees.  A more detailed discussion of
federal telecenters appears in appendix II of this report. 

Flexiplace gained additional promotional emphasis in 1993 as a result
of a National Performance Review recommendation that the President
issue a directive requiring agencies to implement flexiplace
policies.  The President's July 1994 memorandum to the heads of
executive departments and agencies had a family-friendly focus and
encouraged these departments and agencies to develop flexible work
arrangements, including flexiplace, and to adopt appropriate
policies.  Through a similar memorandum in 1997, Vice President Gore
also encouraged agencies to increase opportunities to telecommute. 

Federal efforts to promote flexiplace were also linked to the Climate
Change Action Plan issued by the President and Vice President in
October 1993.  The plan was, in part, a response to the threat of
global warming and outlined directives aimed at decreasing U.S. 
greenhouse gas emissions, including transportation-associated
pollution.  One of these directives instructed DOT to implement a
federal flexiplace pilot project with the goal of inducing 1 to 2
percent of federal employees to work at home at least 1 day per week. 
Since the plan's inception, DOT has promoted flexiplace by publishing
and distributing information to the public on flexiplace and by
assisting GSA and the PMC in their efforts to promote flexiplace. 

In response to the Climate Change Action Plan, the PMC developed the
National Telecommuting Initiative Action Plan in January 1996.  The
plan, developed by an Interagency Telecommuting Working Group
cochaired by DOT and GSA, calls for increasing the number of federal
telecommuters to 60,000 by the end of fiscal year 1998.  This goal
represents about 3 percent of the federal civilian workforce, a
percentage roughly equivalent to conservative estimates of
participation in the private sector.  The plan is a multiphased
project that calls for estimating current telecommuting
participation, assessing logistics, promoting telecommuting, and
implementing programs and pilots.  Other members of the Working Group
are the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Defense, Education,
Energy, Health and Human Services, the Interior, State, and Veterans
Affairs; and EPA, Small Business Administration, Social Security
Administration (SSA), and OPM. 

In June 1996, President Clinton issued a memorandum to heads of
executive departments and agencies reaffirming his commitment to
federal telecommuting usage.  He also adopted the PMC's national goal
of achieving 60,000 federal telecommuters by the end of fiscal year
1998 and directed executive departments and agencies to review,
develop, utilize, and expand opportunities for telecommuting so that
the PMC's goal would be attained. 


   FLEXIPLACE COVERAGE VARIED BY
   ORGANIZATION
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :5

The 21 flexiplace policies we reviewed generally applied to employees
in individual departmental or independent agencies, or in specific
federal regions or locations, rather than to all employees in a
department.  About one-half of the employees at the 26 locations we
visited were covered by flexiplace policies, but the majority of
covered employees were in effect excluded from participating by some
type of limitation in the policies.  Some policies limited
participation to employees who were medically disabled or in a
specific occupation.  In addition, policies generally prescribed the
type of work to be done as tasks which could be performed away from
the office and which were quantifiable or measurable. 


      MOST POLICIES COVERED
      OFFICES IN SPECIFIC FEDERAL
      REGIONS OR LOCATIONS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.1

Most of the policies we reviewed varied in their coverage.  Of the 21
policies we reviewed, 14 applied to personnel either within (1)
headquarters, (2) a specific federal region, (3) more than one
federal region, or (4) specific DOD locations.  In headquarters, for
example, DOL's policy covered only selected Local Union 12 bargaining
unit employees, within a flexiplace pilot, who worked in the
Washington, D.C., area.  Also, only EPA employees working in offices
within federal regions 8 and 9 were covered by the EPA's federal
region 8 and 9 policies, respectively.  In contrast to EPA's regional
policies, the DOT Office of Motor Carriers' policy covered employees
in offices within all federal regions.  In addition, the Naval Air
Weapons Center's policy that we reviewed applied only to employees
working at the Point Mugu, California, location.  These 14 policies
are described in tables III.2, III.3, III.4, and III.5. 

Although none of the policies were departmentwide in coverage, five
agencies within three departments and two independent agencies had
agencywide policies that covered all their employees in all
geographic locations.  These agencies were the Federal Aviation,
Federal Highway, and Federal Railroad Administrations within DOT; the
Natural Resources Conservation Service within USDA; the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service within DOD; GSA; and SSA.  These seven
policies are described in table III.1. 


      POLICY LIMITATIONS AFFECTED
      FLEXIPLACE PARTICIPATION
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.2

Although about 47,000 (47 percent) of the nearly 99,100 employees at
the 26 locations we visited were covered by formal flexiplace
policies, about 28,000 of these employees were in effect excluded
from participation because of limitations within policies.  For
example, two of the policies we reviewed limited flexiplace
participants mainly to medically disabled employees, which in effect
excluded most employees covered by the policy from actually
participating at any given point in time.  To illustrate, of the
estimated 4,000 employees in Denver who were covered by the Defense
Finance and Accounting Service's policy, 3 individuals who were
disabled were allowed to temporarily work at home for periods during
1994 to 1996.  Similarly, according to agency records, fewer than 25
of the 13,305 SSA headquarters employees participated under the
flexiplace policy that limited participation to those with certain
medical conditions. 

In addition, one policy that we reviewed limited participation to
employees in a specific occupation.  The memorandum of understanding
between the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and SSA
management limited participation to attorney advisors in SSA's Office
of Hearings and Appeals. 

In the five locations we visited that had no formal flexiplace
policies, the majority of the employees nevertheless had the
potential ability to participate in flexiplace arrangements.  For
example, approximately 6,000 EPA headquarters employees were not
covered by a formal policy because their unions had not yet approved
management's draft policy.  Agency officials told us, however, that
they generally allowed flexiplace participation and that about 50
headquarters employees occasionally worked at home under guidelines
from a previous pilot.  In contrast, about 4,662 employees in three
of the five locations that were not covered by flexiplace policies
worked in offices where agency officials said they generally did not
permit employees to participate in flexiplace. 


      FLEXIPLACE POLICIES
      GENERALLY PRESCRIBED TYPES
      OF WORK AND WORK
      ARRANGEMENTS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :5.3

In addition to containing restrictions that excluded employees from
participating in flexiplace, most agency policies specified the type
of work employees could perform while on flexiplace and the types of
work arrangements that were permissible.  Ten of the policies we
reviewed specified the type of work that could be done while on
flexiplace as tasks that could be accomplished away from the
traditional office.  In addition, 6 of these 10 also specified that
work had to be quantifiable or measurable. 

Nineteen of the 21 policies we reviewed also specified the nature of
flexiplace arrangements permitted.  GSA and EPA recognized two basic
types of arrangements:  regular flexiplace, in which employees are to
work a certain number of regularly scheduled days each week at an
alternative workplace, and episodic flexiplace, in which employees
are to work away from the office on a temporary basis for short
periods of time to complete discrete projects.  Twelve of the
policies we reviewed permitted only regular flexiplace, while two
policies allowed only episodic flexiplace, and five policies
permitted both regular and episodic flexiplace.  About an equal
number of agencies reported that their personnel participated in
episodic arrangements as opposed to regular arrangements, despite
fewer policies permitting episodic flexiplace. 


   EXTENT OF FLEXIPLACE USAGE
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :6

The PMC estimated that about 9,000 federal employees out of
approximately 2 million executive branch employees, or less than 0.5
percent, telecommuted in 1996.  Although this estimate may not
directly correlate with the 1993 estimated flexiplace participants,
flexiplace participation does appear to have increased from the 3,000
to 4,000 estimated by OPM in 1993. 

Unrelated to the PMC's estimate, agency estimates showed that nearly
5 percent of employees participated in flexiplace at agency locations
we visited.  Participation at these locations may have been higher
than in the federal government in general because we purposely
selected some locations that had active flexiplace programs. 

Agency officials reported that employees used flexiplace primarily
for personal benefits but also to avoid office interruptions.  These
employees, according to agency officials, were in professional
occupations, and they carried out such tasks as writing, reading,
telephoning, and working on the computer while on flexiplace. 


      FLEXIPLACE USE APPEARS TO
      HAVE INCREASED
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :6.1

A survey completed in July 1996 by the PMC's Interagency
Telecommuting Working Group indicated that telecommuting had
increased since the completion of the flexiplace pilot in 1993.  This
survey requested members of the PMC and a number of smaller agencies
to estimate the number of their telecommuting participants.  From
estimates supplied by 33 agencies, the PMC estimated that,
governmentwide, 9,000 federal employees were telecommuting. 

The PMC estimate included participants who would fit within a broader
definition of telecommuters but did not include all flexiplace
participants.  For example, SSA used PMC's definition, which in some
respects was broader than OPM's.  Under that definition, SSA reported
a total of 1,939 telecommuters, including 800 personnel working at
contact stations, which are small temporary SSA offices designed to
directly serve the public, and 1,000 administrative law judges who
traveled to various hearing offices.  An SSA official said SSA
counted administrative law judges and personnel working at contact
stations as telecommuters because it considered these employees to be
included in the mobile/virtual office category of the PMC's
telecommuting definition.  This category consists of the activities
of field representatives, mobile managers, inspectors, and traveling
technical support employees--those who may work in multiple locations
or environments, including customer sites, hotels, cars, or at home. 
According to an SSA official, these employees contribute to
decreasing air pollution and traffic congestion and to increasing
customer service, all of which are among the goals of PMC's National
Telecommuting Initiative. 

Conversely, DOL did not include all flexiplace participants in the
estimate it supplied to the PMC.  DOL's estimate, which was used in
the PMC estimate of 9,000 telecommuters, consisted entirely of 581
formal participants in 2 ongoing flexiplace pilots.  Realizing that
this estimate did not include a large number of field safety
inspectors who were informally participating, DOL subsequently
resurveyed the number of participants and determined that the total
number of participants was actually 3,426. 

We also asked officials at the 26 locations we visited to estimate
the number of their flexiplace participants, using OPM's definition. 
According to the information they provided, nearly 5 percent of the
approximately 99,100 employees at the 26 agency locations we visited
participated in flexiplace.  This information is summarized in figure
1 and presented for each of the 26 locations in appendix IV. 

   Figure 1:  Flexiplace
   Participation at Locations
   Visited

   (See figure in printed
   edition.)

\a Participants include both those covered and those not covered by
formal policies. 

Source:  GAO analysis. 


      FLEXIPLACE REPORTEDLY
      ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS
      BENEFITS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :6.2

Agency officials told us that employees' use of flexiplace
arrangements had various benefits.  They said that employees reported
benefiting by an increase in their productivity and morale, and a
decrease in their commuting time, interruptions, sick leave use, and
personal costs.  Some agency officials said that flexiplace resulted
in a decreased need for office space, an increased ability to recruit
and retain employees, lessened environmental impacts, and greater
opportunities for disabled employees. 

Often cited by agency officials as one of the main reasons for using
flexiplace, productivity gains of professional staff are reportedly
difficult to define, much less measure.  Yet some organizations and
some agencies we visited were able to measure productivity gains
among some of their staff who used flexiplace.  For data entry
clerks, computer programmers, and word processors who produce
measurable outputs, productivity gains in the neighborhood of 20 to
25 percent are attributed to telecommuting in the literature. 
Similarly, within SSA's Office of Hearings and Appeals in Salt Lake
City, a manager documented a 25-percent increase in the number of
cases prepared by hearing assistants who worked under flexiplace
arrangements.  During OPM's pilot, supervisors reported that 39
percent of their staff on flexiplace showed improved work output, and
that 10 percent or fewer showed a decrease in output.  Similarly, the
combined results of DOL's 2 pilots showed that 32 percent of the 238
supervisors believed that staff increased their quantity of work as a
result of flexiplace, as opposed to about 14 percent who believed
quantity dropped.  Seventy-three percent of the 426 employees in
these pilots believed their quantity of work increased under
flexiplace. 

Agency officials we spoke with also reported reasons cited by
employees for not using flexiplace.  The most common reason cited was
a feeling of isolation while working at home.  Other reasons agency
officials reported were the perception by employees that flexiplace
could be career limiting, the presence of family members at home who
would interrupt their work, the lack of adequate work space at home,
and a lack of self-discipline.  They told us that the best flexiplace
participants are disciplined self-starters who need little
supervision. 


      FLEXIPLACE WAS REPORTEDLY
      USED PRIMARILY BY
      PROFESSIONALS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :6.3

Agency officials said that most employees using flexiplace were in
professional occupations.  They told us that the staff members most
frequently using flexiplace were employed as engineers and
engineering technicians, attorneys and paralegals, program and
management analysts, computer personnel, investigators, and
inspectors.  Agency officials also said that flexiplace was used by
personnel specialists, scientists, administrative personnel,
technical information specialists, contract personnel, budget and
financial analysts, accountants, architects, and employee development
specialists. 

According to agency officials, employees reported that writing,
reading, telephoning, and computer work were the most common tasks
accomplished while on flexiplace.  Other tasks that agency officials
reported participants doing on flexiplace included analysis,
reviewing and evaluating, preparing legal briefs and decisions,
planning, and researching. 


   MANAGEMENT RESISTANCE WAS CITED
   AS THE LARGEST BARRIER TO
   IMPLEMENTING FLEXIPLACE
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :7

Agency officials and union representatives told us that management
resistance was the largest barrier to implementing flexiplace
programs.  They explained that some managers and supervisors resisted
allowing staff to participate in flexiplace because they did not
believe that employees were working unless they could see them. 
Almost half of the agency officials and union representatives that we
interviewed cited lack of adequate equipment, such as computers and
dedicated phone lines in the home, as a barrier.  Fewer of them
identified the nature of the job and handling of sensitive data as
barriers.  We did not attempt to determine the accuracy or
appropriateness of these views. 


      MANAGEMENT RESISTANCE CITED
      MOST FREQUENTLY AS BARRIER
      TO FLEXIPLACE
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :7.1

Management resistance has been frequently cited as an obstacle in the
literature on telecommuting in the private sector, and it was
recognized as a major impediment in the 1993 report on the flexiplace
pilot.  In their training guide for managing telecommuters, GSA and
DOT pointed out that the role of management has changed from managing
by observation to managing by results and that managers who resisted
this change faced a major challenge in embracing flexiplace. 

Agency officials and union representatives we interviewed cited
management resistance as the largest barrier to implementing
flexiplace programs.  Management resistance was cited as the largest
barrier by 16 of the 28 agency officials and 7 of the 9 union
representatives we interviewed.  All but nine of the agency officials
and all but two of the union representatives we interviewed said that
management resistance was a problem in implementing flexiplace
programs. 

Because OPM recommended that flexiplace participants be self-starters
who need little supervision, several agency officials questioned why
managers were resistant.  They said that the behavior and work ethic
of employees did not change when they worked at home, so managers
should not worry about their ability to supervise these employees
while they were on flexiplace.  In the surveys of supervisors
participating in DOL's 2 flexiplace pilots, 77 percent of the 237
respondents reported that supervising an employee on flexiplace was
about the same as, or compared favorably with, supervising the same
employee prior to flexiplace. 

Several agency officials told us they had had success in overcoming
management resistance by training supervisors or by exposing them to
flexiplace arrangements.  Supervisors in the DOL pilots mentioned
earlier were both trained and exposed firsthand to flexiplace, and 73
percent of them said that they would want their staff to continue
working under a flexiplace arrangement if given the opportunity. 


      OTHER BARRIERS TO
      IMPLEMENTING FLEXIPLACE ALSO
      CITED BY AGENCY OFFICIALS
---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :7.2

Although never cited as the largest barrier to implementing
flexiplace, a lack of adequate equipment was identified as a barrier
by 12 of the 28 agency officials and 4 of the 9 union representatives
we interviewed.  Agency officials said that budgetary constraints
prevented them from buying computers and modems for flexiplace
participants and from installing secondary phone lines in their homes
for accessing the agency's local area network.  Some agencies solved
this problem in part by lending participants surplus computers and
laptops. 

Five of the 28 agency officials and 1 of the 9 union representatives
believed that the nature of the job was a barrier to implementing
flexiplace.  They explained that some jobs, like receptionist and
some clerical positions, required extensive face-to-face interaction
with the public and with other employees and therefore were not
amenable to flexiplace.  Other jobs, such as air traffic controller
and janitor, were site-dependent and could not be performed at
alternative work sites.  However, they said that most jobs had some
tasks that could be performed away from the traditional office, and
some managers suggested grouping these tasks into a single day to
allow for a flexiplace arrangement. 

Five of the agency officials and one of the union representatives we
interviewed said that the handling of sensitive data was a barrier. 
SSA officials said that claims representatives in the Office of
Operations worked daily with databases containing financial
information on applicants and that they believed the public would
feel uncomfortable knowing that employees were using these data at
home.  These officials said that the databases could be accessed
securely from employees' homes, but that security measures would be
expensive to install. 

Barriers less commonly cited by agency officials and union
representatives included lack of a flexiplace policy, burdensome
paperwork, and employee reluctance or indifference.  Lack of a
flexiplace policy was also cited as a barrier for some of the
agencies that had no policy but nevertheless had a few flexiplace
participants.  Burdensome paperwork, according to agency officials,
was associated with participants completing flexiplace work
agreements.  Employee reluctance reportedly arose from employees
fearing that flexiplace participants were at a disadvantage for
promotions because they were seen less in the office.  Agency
officials suggested these barriers could be overcome by establishing
flexiplace policies, keeping associated paperwork to a minimum, and
managing by results rather than by observation. 


   FEW OPERATIONAL DIFFICULTIES
   WERE ATTRIBUTED TO FLEXIPLACE
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :8

Agency officials reported few operational difficulties as a result of
flexiplace arrangements.  Although agency officials told us that some
managers initially feared participants would abuse flexiplace
arrangements, these officials reported few instances of abuse.  Of
the approximately 4,700 personnel who were participating in
flexiplace at the office locations we reviewed, agency officials
mentioned only 6 definitive instances of abuse.  Similarly, few
problems with contacting employees, securing their attendance for
important meetings, or coordinating employee coverage of the office
at critical times were reported.  Only one agency official said that
productivity decreased as a result of flexiplace, whereas, as
discussed previously, several officials believed that productivity
increased. 

The majority of these agency officials were flexiplace coordinators
within human resource departments and office or program managers. 
Due to time constraints, we did not contact individual supervisors
who would have had more direct experience with supervising employees
participating in flexiplace arrangements. 


   AGENCY COMMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------ Letter :9

The Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), Labor, and Transportation, as well as EPA, GSA,
OPM, and SSA, provided oral comments on a draft of this report.  The
agencies generally agreed with the report's contents.  GSA and SSA
suggested that we point out that the PMC and OPM define telecommuting
somewhat differently.  We made revisions to various sections of the
report to account for the different definitions.  Some agencies
provided comments of a technical nature, or to clarify points, which
we have incorporated where appropriate. 


---------------------------------------------------------- Letter :9.1

We are sending copies of this report to Representative James P. 
Moran, the original requestor; the Chairman of the Subcommittee on
Civil Service, House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight;
other interested congressional committees and members; the
Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Housing and
Urban Development, Labor, and Transportation; the Administrator of
the General Services Administration; the Directors of the Office of
Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management; the
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; and other
interested parties.  We will also make copies available to others
upon request. 

Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix V.  If you
have any questions about this report, please contact me on (202)
512-8676. 

Sincerely yours,

L.  Nye Stevens
Director
Federal Management and
 Workforce Issues


OBJECTIVES, SCOPE, AND METHODOLOGY
=========================================================== Appendix I

This report responds to a request by Representative James P.  Moran,
the former Ranking Minority Member of the Subcommitte on Civil
Service, House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, that we
review the implementation of flexiplace since completion of the 1990
to 1993 flexiplace pilot.  Specifically, we agreed to (1) describe
federal efforts to promote flexiplace; (2) review federal agencies'
policies and the extent to which they permit flexiplace; (3)
determine the extent to which federal employees have used flexiplace,
as well as the characteristics of these employees and the work they
have done under flexiplace; (4) ascertain whether agencies and
federal employees' unions have identified any barriers that inhibit
flexiplace implementation; and (5) determine whether agencies believe
that flexiplace has caused any operational difficulties, including
abuse of flexiplace. 

The term "flexiplace" was first coined during the pilot as an
abbreviation for "flexible workplace." Since the completion of the
flexiplace pilot, OPM has adopted the term "telecommuting" to define
workplace arrangements that allow an employee to work away from the
traditional work site, either at home or at another approved
alternative location.  Although the terms "flexiplace" and
"telecommuting" are often used interchangeably, for the purposes of
this report, we use the term flexiplace only when describing work
arrangements that are consistent with OPM's definition.  We found
this restrictiveness to be necessary because some federal officials
attach a meaning to the term telecommuting other than that which is
contemplated by OPM's definition.  The other meaning attached to the
term involves traditional management decentralization initiatives,
such as the establishment of local offices that produce benefits
(including improved customer services and satisfaction) without
necessarily being more geographically convenient to the employees
providing the services. 

To obtain general information on federal flexiplace programs within
the executive branch, we contacted all cabinet-level departments and
independent agencies with more than 10,000 employees as of June 1995. 
These 17 departments and independent agencies employed over 95
percent of the federal civilian workforce.  From these departments
and agencies, we obtained basic information on flexiplace policies
and the extent to which their personnel used flexiplace.  We also
obtained estimates of flexiplace participation that were collected by
the PMC from its members and from a number of smaller agencies. 

To describe federal efforts to promote flexiplace, we contacted and
interviewed knowledgeable officials in the three agencies that we
identified as having taken the lead in promoting flexiplace.  We
interviewed OPM, GSA, and DOT officials in Washington, D.C.; reviewed
documents they provided; and scanned pertinent electronic bulletin
boards and the Internet.  We also visited GSA-sponsored telecenters
in Virginia and California. 

We then judgmentally selected five departments and three independent
agencies for a more detailed review.  Because we did not use a
representative sample, the results of this review cannot be projected
to the entire federal workforce.  The intent of our selection
strategy was to obtain a mix of departments and agencies that varied
in the nature and extent of their experience with flexiplace,
encompassed a large number of federal civilian personnel, and
permitted examination of any regional variations in flexiplace
policies and efforts.  We chose the Washington-Baltimore area because
the headquarters of the departments and agencies we reviewed are
located there and because we were told by GSA that about one-third of
all flexiplace participants worked in this area.  We selected San
Francisco because it is the seat of federal region 9 and because of
traffic and congestion problems in the city.  We chose Denver because
it is the seat of federal region 8 and is located in the interior of
the country.  The eight departments and independent agencies we
selected had one or more components or offices in each of these three
locations.  In total, we visited 26 locations. 

We chose DOD because it has the largest number of civilian personnel. 
We chose GSA because of its lead role in promoting flexiplace through
establishing telecenters, and we selected DOT because it promoted
flexiplace to reduce transportation-associated pollution.  We
selected DOL based on the recommendation to review its program by
knowledgeable officials in GSA.  We chose EPA because the agency
reported having varying local policies.  We also selected several
agencies based on their estimates of telecommuters supplied to the
PMC.  We chose SSA because it reported having the largest number of
telecommuters, and we selected USDA and HUD because they reported
having few or no telecommuters. 

To review federal policies and the extent to which they permitted
flexiplace, we collected and examined written policies and guidelines
from department and agency officials in headquarters and in field
locations we visited.  We did not examine any policies that were in
draft form awaiting approval by agency officials.  We reviewed
flexiplace policies to determine the extent to which they addressed
the types of employees allowed to participate, the types of work
permitted, and the types of flexiplace arrangements allowed.  When
necessary, we contacted officials to clarify policy information. 
Because DOT and USDA delegated policy formulation to their component
agencies, we requested that they each provide policies from their two
largest civilian components, which excluded DOT's Coast Guard, and
from one agency recommended by department officials.  In response,
within DOT, we obtained policies from the Federal Aviation
Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Federal
Railroad Administration.  Likewise, within USDA, we obtained policies
from the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation
Service.  Because the Navy, one of DOD's largest employers of
civilian personnel, was recommended by DOD officials for our review,
we asked agency officials also to submit policies from the two other
largest departments employing civilian personnel:  the Army and the
Air Force.  Neither the Army nor the Air Force had a final
departmentwide policy in effect at the time of our review.  The Navy
supplied policies covering the employees at two California locations
that they suggested we visit. 

To further describe the extent to which federal employees used
flexiplace, to ascertain whether agencies identified any barriers to
implementing flexiplace programs, and to determine whether agency
officials believed flexiplace caused operational difficulties, we
interviewed department and agency officials responsible for
flexiplace oversight for each of the eight departments and
independent agencies in the Washington-Baltimore area, Denver, and
San Francisco.  Most of these officials were flexiplace coordinators
within human resource departments, but a smaller number were office
or program managers.  Due to time constraints, we did not survey or
interview individual supervisors who may have had more direct
experience with supervising employees participating in flexiplace
arrangements.  Also, we did not attempt to determine the extent to
which flexiplace arrangements could or should have been undertaken or
the effectiveness of existing arrangements.  Further, we did not seek
to question or verify perceptions held by agency officials or data
provided on the use of flexiplace. 

Within the Washington-Baltimore area, we interviewed department and
agency officials with Navy, Forest Service, EPA, GSA, DOL, HUD, SSA,
and DOT.  In Denver and San Francisco, we interviewed or contacted
agency officials in SSA's Office of Hearings and Appeals and its
Office of Operations, and regional offices of HUD, GSA, EPA, the
Forest Service, and the Federal Highway Administration.  Because DOL
had separate guidelines for flexiplace pilots in the field and in
headquarters, we also interviewed the DOL flexiplace coordinator in
Denver.  Because the Navy had no large facilities in Denver, we
contacted the flexiplace coordinator with the Defense Finance and
Accounting Service Center, the largest DOD facility in Denver.  We
identified large DOD facilities in the San Francisco area as possible
candidates for a site visit.  However, it appeared that the nature of
the work done at these sites would not be conducive to flexiplace
arrangements.  Therefore, at the recommendation of the Navy, we
visited the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Port Hueneme, California,
and the Naval Air Weapons Center in Point Mugu, California. 

To obtain additional information on barriers and operational
difficulties, we conducted two additional interviews with
knowledgeable departmental officials at DOD and USDA in Washington,
D.C.  We also interviewed nine union representatives with the
American Federation of Government Employees and the National
Federation of Federal Employees to solicit their views. 

At each of the eight departments and agencies that were included in
our review, we interviewed agency officials knowledgeable about the
telecommuting participation estimates provided to the PMC, to
determine how they were calculated.  At the 26 locations we visited,
we obtained the agencies' current estimates of flexiplace
participation but did not verify their accuracy. 

We provided a draft of this report to the Departments of Agriculture,
Defense, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Transportation, as
well as to EPA, GSA, OPM, and SSA.  Their comments are discussed in
the body of this report. 

We did our work between June 1996 and May 1997 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards. 


TELECENTERS
========================================================== Appendix II


   HISTORY
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:1

The U.S.  private sector and other countries began experimenting with
telecenters several years before the first federal experiments.  The
first neighborhood telecenter opened in France in 1981, and others
opened shortly thereafter in Sweden, Switzerland, Jamaica, Japan, and
the United Kingdom.  These early telecenters were established to slow
the pace of rural-to-urban employee migration, to foster economic
development, to capitalize on lower wages and operating costs in
outlying areas, and to promote a less stressful environment.  In
1985, Pacific Bell established the first telecenter in the United
States. 

Federal telecenters were first established through appropriations for
fiscal year 1993 when Congress designated $5 million to fund
telecenters in Maryland and Virginia.  Telecenter sites were selected
based on GSA's observation that 16,000 federal employees commuted at
least 75 miles each way on congested roads in the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area.  In the spring of 1993, GSA began working in
partnership with state and local governments in the Washington area,
and by December 1994, the Washington area had four telecenters--one
each in Hagerstown, Maryland; Charles County, Maryland; Winchester,
Virginia; and Fredericksburg, Virginia.  These telecenters had a
total of 80 workstations, 143 participants, and a 55 percent
utilization rate.  Twenty organizations in 10 executive branch
departments and agencies used these 4 centers. 

Congress continued to fund telecenters through fiscal year 1996,
establishing additional telecenters in the Washington area.  As of
February 1, 1997, there were nine GSA-funded and leased telecenters
in the greater Washington, D.C., area.  According to GSA, at least
eight other centers are expected to be operating in the Washington
area by the end of 1997. 

Telecenters in the Washington, D.C., pilot provide state-of-the art
equipment that may be better than equipment provided by employers for
use at the office or at home.  Equipment can include cubicles, open
work areas, some private offices, facsimile and copy machines, high
speed personal computers and modems, printers, separate voice and
data lines, local area networks, various software packages, and voice
mail.  Centers often have a site manager to offer technical help to
users, and some centers offer video conferencing capabilities. 

Although none of the Washington area telecenters were affiliated with
day care centers, eight of the nine telecenters were in close
proximity to day care facilities.  At least three of these
telecenters were located within walking distance of day care centers. 
Other day care centers were within a 5- to 15-minute drive from the
eight telecenters. 


   COSTS OF WASHINGTON, D.C., AREA
   CENTERS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:2

According to a GSA official, GSA charged agencies participating in
the Washington pilot a low of $25 per month for use of a single
workstation 1 day per week, to $100 per month for use of a single
workstation 5 days per week.  He said that the fee covered all
operating expenses except for long distance telephone charges.  He
also said that memorandums of understanding (MOU) were signed by
participating agencies and GSA's Office of Workplace Initiatives, and
that these MOUs were administered by telecenter managers.  These
agreements described the number and type of workstations needed by
agencies, the cost and billing procedure, the hours of operation, and
the equipment to be provided at the telecenter.  Employee supervision
was the responsibility of the employee's immediate supervisor. 

A GSA official anticipated that appropriations earmarked for the
Washington area telecenters will be depleted by the end of fiscal
year 1999, at which time it is planned that these telecenters will be
self-supporting.  He said that, in the interim, the cost to
participating federal agencies will rise over a 3-year period until
agencies incur 100 percent of the operating costs, which are
approximately $500 per workstation per month.  He said the future
cost to participating federal agencies will be determined by each
individual telecenter, but that this cost will be less than that for
private sector participants.  This official further said that, when
this cost increase occurs, participating agencies will need to at
least offset the increased charges by reconfiguring central office
space and reducing facilities costs. 

Plans also call for the centers to be opened to the general public. 
In 1996, Congress enacted legislation allowing for the opening of
telecenters to nonfederal employees if the centers are not fully
utilized by federal employees.  User fees comparable to commercial
rates are to be charged. 


   BENEFITS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:3

Telecenters can be utilized by either single employers or by many
employers.  The single employer telecenter is used by employees of
only one firm, organization, or government entity.  Single employer
telecenters are typically used by large organizations that wish to
assume a more decentralized structure and who already have multiple
facilities in which excess space is available for use as telecenters. 
Multiemployer telecenters are typically used by more than one
organization and can provide the opportunity for smaller
organizations to participate in telecommuting without assuming the
financial burden of establishing their own centers. 

According to a 1994 report by the Institute of Transportation
Studies, University of California, Davis,\1 in comparison to working
at home, telecenters can provide greater security for confidential
information and greater assurance to supervisors that employees are
being productive.  A telecenter coordinator said that managers who
may not be enthusiastic about home-based flexiplace may be more
supportive of employees working at telecenters because the setting is
similar to an office environment.  The report further said employers'
liability for personal injury may be better controlled at a
telecenter than at home.  A GSA official said telecenters have
safeguards to ensure a safe work environment. 

A GSA interim report on federal interagency telecommuting centers\2
said that telecenters can provide employees an alternative office
setting that is nearer their home, thereby decreasing their commuting
distance.  Federal employees we interviewed who favor working at
telecenters over working at home cited several advantages of
telecenters.  These included a better separation of home and work,
the ability to socially and professionally interact with other
people, access to high quality telecenter equipment, and the
opportunity to work in a professional atmosphere. 

The University of California report said that telecenters can have
community and environmental benefits as well.  It said that, while
home-based flexiplace requires no commuting time at all, commuting
time to telecenters is less than to a central office, which reduces
traffic congestion, air pollution, road repairs, and fuel
consumption.  The report also suggests that telecenter users can
increase their support of the local economy and have more time for
community involvement as a result of working in the local community. 


--------------------
\1 Telecommuting Centers and Related Concepts:  A Review of Practice. 
Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis
(Davis, California:  March 1994). 

\2 GSA, Office of Workplace Initiatives, Interim Report:  Federal
Interagency Telecommuting Centers, March 1995. 


   USE
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:4

According to GSA, as of November 1996, of the 9,000 federal employees
who were telecommuting, about 500 of these employees used telecenters
nationwide.  Of these participants, approximately 355 were in the
Washington, D.C., area.  Federal agencies in the Denver area reported
an absence of federal telecenters in Denver because their use would
result in no appreciable reduction in commuting time; Denver's
traffic is not as heavy as that in other major metropolitan areas,
such as Washington and Los Angeles.  A GSA official in San Francisco
said that a shortage of federal funding has limited the establishment
of telecenters in that region.  A DOT official said that, in addition
to this reason, interest in San Francisco telecenters has declined as
the interest in home-based telecommuting has increased. 

The University of California, Davis, report suggests that one reason
for this minimal use of telecenters nationwide is that management
does not want to pay rent for telecenter space and also maintain
central office space for telecommuters.  The report further suggests
that this barrier could be partially overcome by eliminating
permanent personal work space for groups of telecenter users and
instead renting work space at a telecenter for their use on a
reservation basis.  A regional GSA official told us that agencies are
reluctant to reduce central office space without the assurance that
telecenters will survive when federal appropriations are
discontinued.  Another GSA official said that federal agencies may
not see any cost savings until they eliminate at least 10 to 20
workstations in their central offices.  He added that decreasing
agencies' central office space will ensure the continuation of
telecenters.  He observed that this pattern of decreasing office
space has existed in the private sector and has led to significant
telecommuting in some major corporations.  He pointed out that the
latest national figures show 9 million telecommuters. 

As with other flexiplace arrangements, management resistance was
cited by agency officials, as well as by the University of
California, Davis, report, as a common barrier to both single and
multiemployer telecenters.  They indicated that, because managers
believed they could not effectively supervise remote employees,
telecommuting opportunities were often restricted to those workers
with independent and professional jobs.  Some agency officials also
suggested that ensuring the security of proprietary information was a
barrier in considering the use of telecenters.  However, the
University of California, Davis, report suggests that this barrier
may be overcome with advanced technology and the use of private
offices or secured file cabinets. 


   OTHER FEDERAL TELECENTER
   INITIATIVES
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix II:5

In 1994, GSA established three emergency telecenters in Los Angeles
after the Northridge earthquake, using emergency federal building
funds.  Three telecenters in the north and west ends of the city
provided 98 workstations so that federal workers could avoid
commuting on badly damaged roads into Los Angeles.  According to
GSA's interim report on federal telecommuting centers, two of these
centers closed at the end of 1994 due to high rental costs and low
utilization. 

In March 1995, PMC's National Telecommuting Initiative identified 30
additional cities for telecommuting projects based on such factors as
air pollution, the potential for improved customer service, the size
of the local federal community, and geography.  As of February 1,
1997, 20 GSA-funded telecenters existed nationwide in cities such as
Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco. 

GSA also developed telecenter partnerships with state agencies such
as the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to relieve
traffic congestion, conserve energy, and improve air quality in the
state of California.  Partners in this effort included regional
transportation management authorities, local economic development
offices and redevelopment agencies, state and county fairs, community
colleges, and public school systems.  The regional GSA office also
established telecenters in vacant federal office space in the San
Francisco area. 


AGENCIES' POLICIES REVIEWED
========================================================= Appendix III



                                   Table III.1
                     
                         Flexiplace Policies Implemented
                                    Agencywide

                                Types of
                                employees                       Types of
Department or   Types of        allowed to      Types of work   arrangements
agency          policy          participate     permitted       permitted
--------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  ----------------
Natural         Written policy  Managers,       Tasks that can  On recurring
Resources                       supervisors,    be performed    assignments or
Conservation                    and employees   away from the   on special
Service (USDA)                                  traditional     occasions
                                                office; work
                                                assignments
                                                should be
                                                specific and
                                                measurable

Defense         Written policy  Permanently or  Work that       Portion of work
Finance and                     temporarily     requires        week must be
Accounting                      disabled        thinking,       spent in regular
Service                         employees with  writing, data   office
(DOD)                           acceptable      analysis, and
                                medical         little face-
                                documentation   to-face
                                                contact

Federal         Handbook        Does not        Portable work   Predetermined
Aviation        containing      specify         activities      schedule
Administration  flexiplace                      that can be     identifying
(DOT)           guidance                        performed       specific days
                applicable                      effectively     and times;
                agencywide,                     outside the of  recommended to
                supplemented                    office; tasks   be limited to no
                with                            that are        more than 2 days
                additional                      easily          per week
                guidance                        quantifiable
                applicable to                   or primarily
                regional                        project-
                offices                         oriented

Federal         Agency cover    Does not        Work that does  Up to the lesser
Highway         letter          specify         not require     of 5 days or 45
Administration  attached to                     participants    hours for task-
(DOT)           departmental                    to be in their  based
                personnel                       assigned duty   participants
                letter,                         locations at
                updated by                      all times;
                memorandum and                  task-based
                supplemented                    work, certain
                with                            compliance
                additional                      work
                guidance

Federal         Written policy  All             Specific and    Does not specify
Railroad        supplemented    supervisors,    measurable
Administration  with local      managers, and   tasks that can
(DOT)           guidance        employees at    be performed
                                all grade       away from the
                                levels          traditional
                                                office

GSA             Written GSA     Does not        When            Infrequent
                order dated 9/  attempt to      telecommuting   periods of time,
                26/96           limit types of  is done for     such as for 1
                                employees, but  infrequent      day, scheduled
                                includes        periods of      periods for up
                                employees       time, projects  to 6 months; and
                                affected by     and             regularly
                                short-term      assignments     scheduled
                                injury or       should have     periods for over
                                illness,        short           6 months that
                                pregnancy and   turnaround      may be extended
                                paternal        times or        annually
                                reasons, and    require
                                an unusable     intense
                                office;         concentration;
                                implementation  type of work
                                for union       not specified
                                members is      when
                                contingent      telecommuting
                                upon            is done for
                                completion of   longer periods
                                labor           of time
                                obligations

SSA             Written policy  Severely        Does not        Predetermined
                                handicapped     specify         schedule
                                employees who
                                have a severe
                                medical
                                illness or
                                injury
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  GAO analysis of agencies' policies. 



                                   Table III.2
                     
                         Flexiplace Policy Implemented in
                                   Headquarters

                             Types of
                             employees                         Types of
                             allowed to       Types of work    arrangements
Department  Types of policy  participate      permitted        permitted
----------  ---------------  ---------------  ---------------  -----------------
DOL         Written          Selected Local   Portable work    Established work
            guidelines for   12 bargaining    that can be      schedules
            pilot            unit employees   performed        identifying days
                             in the           effectively      and times
                             Washington,      outside of the   employees work on
                             D.C.,            office; tasks    flexiplace;
                             metropolitan     that are easily  agreements must
                             area             quantifiable or  provide for at
                                              primarily        least 1 day per
                                              project-         week in the
                                              oriented, such   office
                                              as reading
                                              proposals and
                                              reviews,
                                              analysis and
                                              research,
                                              writing, and
                                              computer
                                              programming
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  GAO analysis of agencies' policies. 



                                   Table III.3
                     
                      Flexiplace Policies Implemented Within
                             Multiple Federal Regions

                                Types of
                                employees                       Types of
Department or   Types of        allowed to      Types of work   arrangements
agency          policy          participate     permitted       permitted
--------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  ----------------
DOL             Written         Selected field  Not specified   Established work
                guidelines for  positions                       schedule that
                a pilot         throughout DOL                  provides for a
                                in selected                     minimum time in
                                regions                         the office, such
                                                                as 2 or 3 days
                                                                per week

SSA             Written         All NTEU        Work that can   In accordance
                memorandum of   bargaining      be performed    with a work plan
                understanding   unit employees  at an           that specifies
                between SSA     with at least   alternative     days the
                and NTEU        1 year          site without    employee will be
                multiregional   experience in   impairment to   in and out of
                employees       their           the mission of  the office
                                occupation      the agency

SSA             Written         Attorney        Does not        One day per week
                memorandum of   advisors in     specify         for full-time
                understanding   the Office of                   employees
                between SSA     Hearings and
                and NTEU        Appeals with
                Chapter 224     at least 2
                employees       years
                                experience who
                                work at least
                                4 days per
                                week

Office of       Written policy  Office of       Does not        Field workers
Motor Carriers                  Motor Carriers  specify         eligible on a
within the                      field                           permanent basis,
Federal                         operations                      but office
Highway                         employees                       workers not
Administration                                                  eligible on a
(DOT)                                                           permanent basis;
                                                                minimum duration
                                                                of 6 months
                                                                unless
                                                                unforeseeable
                                                                circumstances
                                                                require
                                                                cancellation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  GAO analysis of agencies' policies. 



                                   Table III.4
                     
                     Flexiplace Policies Implemented Within a
                              Single Federal Region

                                Types of
                                employees                       Types of
Department or   Types of        allowed to      Types of work   arrangements
agency          policy          participate     permitted       permitted
--------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  ----------------
Forest          Written policy  Employees of    Does not        Does not specify
Service,                        Rocky Mountain  specify
Region 2,                       Forest and
Rocky Mountain                  Range
Forest and                      Experimental
Range                           Station with
Experimental                    medical
Station, Fort                   disability or
Collins, CO                     disruption of
                                normal work
                                environment

Forest          Written policy  Employees in    Does not        For periods of
Service,                        Region 5        specify         30 days or less
Region 5

EPA             Policy written  All permanent   Portable work   One or 2
Region 8        in 1995 for     full-and part-  that can be     nonconsecutive,
                the first year  time employees  performed       regularly
                of a            except those    effectively     scheduled days
                telecommuting   on              outside of the  per week; on a
                program         Intergovernmen  office; easily  project-basis
                intended to be  tal Personnel   quantifiable    for short
                implemented     Agreement       and project-    duration (with a
                over            assignments;    oriented        minimum number
                3 years         SES employees   tasks; tasks    of days in the
                                only available  that can be     office each
                                for episodic    grouped into    week), or on a
                                and medical     single blocks   full-or part-
                                telecommuting;  of time         time basis for
                                employees must                  medical reasons
                                have 1 year
                                experience

EPA             Written policy  All Region 9    Portable work   Up to 2
Region 9                        employees       that can be     regularly
                                except those    performed       scheduled days
                                on              effectively     per week, for
                                Intergovernmen  outside of the  short periods of
                                tal Personnel   office; tasks   time on a
                                Agreement       that are        project basis,
                                Assignments,    easily          or on a full-or
                                Senior          quantifiable    part-time basis
                                Environmental   or primarily    for medical
                                Employment      project-        reasons
                                Program staff,  oriented;
                                and contract    reading and
                                employees;      writing
                                employees must  proposals and
                                have 1 year     reviews
                                experience

HUD, Colorado   Written         All full-time   Does not        Work at home for
State           guidelines      employees,      specify         no more than 3
Office          for             including                       days per week
                pilot           managers and                    with a minimum
                                supervisors in                  of 2 days in the
                                the Offices of                  office
                                Counsel, Fair
                                Housing and
                                Equal
                                Opportunity
                                Enforcement
                                Center, and
                                Public Housing

GSA             Written policy  Does not        Work that       Predetermined
Region 8        exempt from     specify         requires        schedule with
                headquarters                    thinking and    part of the work
                policy because                  writing, such   week spent in
                Region 8 is a                   as data         the office
                reinvention                     analysis,
                laboratory                      reviewing
                                                grants or
                                                cases, and
                                                writing
                                                decisions and
                                                reports; for
                                                telephone-
                                                intensive
                                                tasks, such as
                                                setting up
                                                conferences,
                                                obtaining
                                                information,
                                                following up
                                                on
                                                participants
                                                in a study;
                                                and for
                                                computer-
                                                oriented
                                                tasks, such as
                                                programming,
                                                data entry,
                                                and word
                                                processing

Federal         Written policy  Region 9        Does not        One day per week
Highway                         Federal         specify         on a long-term
Administration                  Highway                         basis
(DOT)                           Administration
Region 9                        employees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  GAO analysis of agencies' policies. 



                                   Table III.5
                     
                       Flexiplace Policies Implemented at a
                               Single DOD Facility

                                Types of
                                employees                       Types of
                Types of        allowed to      Types of work   arrangements
DOD facility    policy          participate     permitted       permitted
--------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  ----------------
Naval Surface   Written policy  Port Hueneme    Site            Up to 3 work
Warfare                         employees       independent     days per week
Center, Port                                    work            for a renewable
Hueneme, CA                                     assignments     1-year period
                                                that won't
                                                unduly impact
                                                work
                                                performance of
                                                other
                                                employees or
                                                the
                                                organization's
                                                mission

Naval Air       Written policy  Point Mugu      Jobs that can   Established work
Weapons                         employees       be conducted    schedules that
Center, Point                                   independently   provide for
Mugu, CA                                        of the work     minimum work
                                                location for    time in the
                                                at least a      traditional
                                                portion of the  office, such as
                                                week            2 to 3 days per
                                                                week
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  GAO analysis of agencies' policies. 


FLEXIPLACE USE REPORTED BY AGENCY
OFFICIALS WITHIN LOCATIONS VISITED
AND CONTACTED
========================================================== Appendix IV

                                                                      Percentage
                                                                       of agency
                                        Total number     Number of     personnel
                                        of personnel    flexiplace  participatin
Agency location                          at location  participants             g
--------------------------------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
Forest Service, headquarters                     677             0          0.0%
 (Washington, D.C., area)
Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region          1,632            13           0.8
Forest Service, Pacific Southwest              5,200            95           1.8
 Region
Navy, headquarters (Washington, D.C.,         30,995           110           0.4
 area)
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port             2,300            25           1.1
 Hueneme, CA
Naval Air Weapons Center, Point Mugu,          3,119            60           1.9
 CA
DOD Finance and Accounting Service             4,000             2           0.1
 Center, Denver, CO
EPA, headquarters (Washington, D.C.,           6,000            50           0.8
 area)
EPA, Region 8                                    600           160          26.7
EPA, Region 9                                    850           325          38.2
GSA, headquarters (Washington, D.C.,           5,288           160           3.0
 area)
GSA, Region 8                                    400            60          15.0
GSA, Region 9                                  1,400            65           4.6
DOL, agencies' headquarters                    5,316         1,047          19.7
 (Washington, D.C., area)
DOL, field units                               9,970         2,379          23.9
Federal Highway Administration,                1,040            20           1.9
 headquarters (Washington, D.C., area)
Federal Highway Administration, Region           305             4           1.3
 8
Federal Highway Administration, Region           189            15           7.9
 9
HUD, headquarters (Washington, D.C.,           3,085            15           0.5
 area)
HUD, Region 8                                    475             5           1.1
HUD, Region 9                                    900             0           0.0
SSA, headquarters (Baltimore area)            13,305            25           0.2
SSA, operations, Region 8                        870             1           0.1
SSA, operations, Region 9                        300             1           0.3
SSA, OHA, Region 8                               162            32          19.8
SSA, OHA, Region 9                               707            40           5.7
================================================================================
Total                                         99,085         4,709        4.8%\a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Figure represents the overall percentage of employees
participating in flexiplace at the 26 locations we visited. 

Source:  Agency officials provided the total number of personnel and
the number of flexiplace participants at their locations.  We did not
verify the accuracy of these data. 


MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS REPORT
=========================================================== Appendix V

GENERAL GOVERNMENT DIVISION,
WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Larry Endy, Assistant Director, Federal Management and Workforce
Issues
Nancy A.  Patterson, Assignment Manager
Marlene M.  Zacharias, Evaluator Assistant
Thomas Beall, Technical Advisor

DENVER FIELD OFFICE

Ronald Belak, Evaluator-in-Charge


*** End of document. ***