In the News

Congressman Gerry Connolly’s bill to encourage federal agencies to increase the percentage of federal employees who telework cleared a critical hurdle in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday when a key Subcommittee approved the legislation.

Connolly’s bill, which would require federal agencies to expand their Telework programs, set benchmarks to monitor their progress, and establish a target of 20 percent of the eligible federal workforce teleworking an average of one day per week, passed the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce. 

An amendment by Connolly to make telework a central element of federal agencies’ Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) in the event of a natural or manmade emergency was also approved by a unanimous vote the House Subcommittee.  “Every federal agency needs a COOP plan and telework must be a part of each agency’s plan,” he said.

Connolly said the bill he sponsored with Congressmen John Sarbanes, Frank Wolf, and Jim Moran could result in substantial savings to the federal government, result in a 5 to 6 percent reduction in traffic congestion in Northern Virginia and the Washington Metropolitan area, and improve the region’s air quality.

Connolly said his amendment directing federal agencies to coordinate telework plans with FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security “will ensure that federal employees can use telework to keep the federal government operational during severe weather or, God forbid, a terrorist attack or other incident.  The safety of our region depends upon the federal government’s ability to function even if the region’s transportation network is paralyzed.  We have to be prepared.”

“Recently, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry readjusted the cost of lost productivity due to the four-and-a-half day closing of the federal government during the February blizzards from $102 million per day to $70 million per day because more workers teleworked from home than was anticipated,”  Connolly said.  “The back-to-back blizzards were a great reminder for everybody how telework can work and should work.”

Connolly said telework is also an important incentive for recruitment and retention of federal employees, particularly when much of the federal workforce is nearing retirement age and will need to be replaced by new employees.  “Younger workers expect to have the opportunity to telework and we should provide it as a viable option.”

Connolly is optimistic about the expansion of telework in the federal government, citing the leadership and support of OPM Director Berry, a strong proponent of telework and an ally in Connolly’s efforts to push the issue in Washington.  “John Berry gets it and he is as enthusiastic as we are about the benefits of telework in terms of enhancing productivity, saving money, improving the quality of life for the federal workforce and air quality for the region, reducing traffic congestion, ensuring continuity of operations in the event of an emergency, and hiring the next generation of federal employees,” he said.

Connolly said it is also important that the federal government change the mindset of some managers who still believe that “if I can’t see you working, you’re not working.  In today’s high-tech world, it is very easy for managers to monitor the productivity of their employees, regardless of whether they are working in the office or teleworking.”

Currently about 6.5 percent of federal employees telework on a regular basis, a much lower rate than local governments and private sector employers in the region.  “

As Chairman of the Fairfax County Supervisors, Connolly championed Telework for government and private sector employers in the county of 1.1 million people.  He used his bully pulpit as Chairman of the Metropolitan Council of Washington Governments to increase telework across the region.  Now he is using his knowledge of telework to seek expansion of the program in the federal government.

Connolly Telework Bill H.R. 1722

Continuity of Operations Amendment