Transcript Teleworking

Teleworking Brown Bag Lunch
DENR Manager’s Forum
September 12, 2006
Introduction
 Bethany Rose Goodwin, Environmental
Specialist, Division of Environmental Health,
Public Water Supply Section, DENR
Sustainability Team Chair
 As our society evolves, Teleworking will be a
critical tool for ensuring DENR’s ability to fulfill
our mission statement of “conserving and
protecting North Carolina’s natural resources
and maintaining an environment of high quality,
for the health, well being, and benefit of all”.
 Teleworking is a flexible tool to aid in achieving compliance
with DENR’s Strategic goals such as:
- employee retention improvement.
- the flexibility and pollutant reduction aspects make it an
example of achieving DENR”s Vision through “innovation,
teamwork and partnership, -- as well as DENR’s Code of
Conduct for employee respect, communication,
accountability, innovation, teamwork and work ethics.
With thousands of DENR employees commuting everyday,
embracing teleworking will demonstrate that DENR is
willing to practices what it preaches.
History- How The Sustainability Team became involved
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From 1999-2000 DENR conducted a Pilot Study involving 5 agencies, 64
participants, and 14 job types
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Clean Air Rules of 2004 were signed into law revising the 8-hour Ozone
standard to 0.08 parts per million (ppm).
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The Clean Air Act requires EPA to designate as Non-attainment, any area
that was violating this standard based on the 3 most recent years of
ambient air quality data. Unfortunately, 32 counties in NC were designated
as non-attainment areas. Hat’s off to Air Quality, as their Specialists report
that most areas will reach attainment by their scheduled date! The data
shows that the Triangle should reach attainment this year!
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This encouraging news has not occurred by LUCK, by cooperative
weather conditions, or by doing things “the way we’ve always done
them”, but by promoting and educating industry, government
agencies, and the public on Best Management Practices and about
fuel and commuting alternatives.
Response to Non-attainment
Designation
 NC legislature passed bills that enhanced and
expanded auto emissions testing in 48 counties by
2006.
 2004, DENR became a formal member of the
EPA/USDOT-Best Workplace Practices for
Commuters program, (of which teleworking is an
option)
 DENR Sustainability Team creates a sub-team to
explore implementation of a formal teleworking
policy and procedure for DENR
Sustainability Team Report-1
 The need to reduce emissions by 20% is discussed at May 2004
team meeting.
 Discussion led to a simplistic solution; to Telework 1out of 5 days a
week for all DENR employees to help reduce emissions 20%. Now,
bearing in mind that the solution is more complex than that since Air
Quality specialists state that only 50% of emissions are due to
mobile sources; efforts by DENR to set an example by employing
alternative work practices will not solve the emissions problem
entirely, but it represents one innovative approach that can
immediately impact our environment in a positive manner.
 DAQ and DWM have already successfully implemented teleworking
within their divisions.
 Joe Stroup DENR-HR was consulted about a proposed DENR
Teleworking Policy from previous years that he had researched.
Sustainability Team Report -2
 The telework subteam revised the preliminary
report and consulted with HR for final review.
 HR presents final draft to Deputy Secretary
Benton
 Secretary Ross signed the DENR Teleworking
Policy and Procedure, effective July 1, 2005.
What Can Teleworking Do For You
 Teleworking will provide managers with a program
for enhancing employee productivity, realizing
potential utility savings, and improving employee
morale and retention.
 Enable managers to meet programmatic goals,
through a formal, systematic and flexible structure
based on measured performance.
What can this do for you
 Public Employers have a special obligation to
insure that employees and resources are being
used efficiently and productively; teleworking has
proven to increase both efficiency and productivity
and also has the potential, if instituted proactively,
to provide vital continuity of operations during
emergency situations or pandemic outbreaks. Our
citizens expect us to be on the job, particularly in
an emergency; we are the “they” people are
talking about when they ask “What are “They”
doing to fix this problem.
What Can Teleworking Do For You
 Housing and Urban Development Chief Information Officer
(CIO) Lisa Schlosser credits teleworking with allowing her
operations to continue following the devastation of Hurricane
Katrina. She states that
 “Fear of Change and of introducing new ways of
doing business are the main barriers to teleworking
today.”
 Studies have found improvement in recruitment, leave usage,
productivity, as well as reduced overcrowding and office
space costs. As we look toward new DENR facilities
teleworking could benefit us in reducing the age old parking
problem that we continue to struggle with.
 The American Management Association reports cost of
absenteeism were reduced by 63%, an average of
$2000 saved per every employee.
 Linda Koontz, Director of Information Management with
the General Accounting Office reports that the US House
Committee on Government Reform recently made clear
that “ the threat of a pandemic underscores the
importance of agencies having robust telework programs
that can facilitate the social distancing needed in such an
event. Agencies must, however make the necessary
preparations to enable them to use telework effectively
during an emergency, including testing their capabilities.”
Who Teleworks
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US Dept of Justice
US Dept of Labor
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Housing and Urban Development
Social Security Administration
Federal Aviation Administration-22,000 telework
Securities Exchange Commission-30% telework, all
employees are eligible
NC DENR- telework allowed with supervisor discretion
States of Arizona, Florida
Georgia, Virginia-offer businesses tax incentives to allow
their workforce to telework
US Patent Office
 Just to name a few!
Telework Info Sources
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Telework success stories
www.telecommuteexchange.com
www.midatlantictelework.org
www.itaa.org
http://bestplacestowork.org
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06713.pdf
www.teleworkva.org
www.gms.state.ga.us/employee/telework.asp
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Telework Security Info
www.csialliance.org
www.actweb.org
www.workingfromanywhere.org
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-46/sp800-46.pdf
https://www.csialliance.org/resources/pdfs/CSIA_Telework.pdf