History of Telework at Four Case Study Agencies

The act requires OPM to report agencies’ progress towards meeting  telework goals, such as telework participation rates; however, telework  had existed at federal agencies before the act’s passage. All four case study agencies require managers and supervisors to  complete telework training, but not all require it before signing telework  agreements. By not requiring telework agreements to be regularly reviewed, GSA,  Labor, and SEC cannot be assured that the agreements reflect and  support their current business needs. Of these agencies, Labor is most  vulnerable to the risk of having inaccurate data on current telework  agreements because it uses a largely paper-based manual system to  manage its telework agreements. Managerial Resistance and Technology Challenges Continue to Be Barriers to Telework Participation

Case study agency officials and some focus groups with supervisors and  teleworkers report that while managerial resistance to telework has gone  down, and telework technology has improved in the 6 years since the  act’s passage, they remain the key challenges to increasing telework  participation. For example, one focus group reported that some newly  issued laptops at GSA did not have webcams. Selected Agency Telework Policies and Supervisors’ Strategies Enable Agencies to Manage for Results

		Policies Include Internal Controls Designed to Maintain Performance and Consistent Performance Expectations

Consistent with the act, all four case study agencies have developed  internal controls designed to help ensure employee and organizational  performance is maintained with telework. The act requires that teleworkers and nonteleworkers be treated the  same for the purposes of work requirements, performance appraisals,  and promotions, among other managerial decisions. Supervisors Cited Several Strategies and Resources for Managing Teleworkers

Supervisors in our focus groups described numerous strategies and  resources they use to supervise and stay connected with their  employees, including teleworking employees. OPM and Case Study Agencies Face Challenges in Collecting and Reporting Accurate and Consistent Telework Data

		Agencies Faced Some Challenges in Collecting and Reporting Telework Data

Having robust telework data is important for managing and improving  telework programs. GSA and SEC use electronic systems for storing  and tracking telework agreements. Thus it may not be  included in the telework data used by senior department leadership for  decision-making and reporting purposes. OPM did not issue a fiscal year 2015 report. The overall  participation goal for fiscal year 2016 should have been 90 percent. For example, OPM did not contact Education to clarify why its  overall telework participation goal dropped from 85 percent to 5 percent. We have previously found that OPM may be missing opportunities to  improve upon data it reports by not following up with agencies on data  differences. Reporting  and using data that either do not comply with the act or are known to be  of questionable quality compromises these agencies’ abilities to  effectively manage their telework programs, and limits the usefulness of  OPM’s annual reports to Congress. Recommendations for Executive Action

To support the consistent application of agency telework policy  throughout the agency, the Secretaries of the Departments of Education  and Labor and the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission  should implement controls to verify that supervisors have completed  telework training prior to entering into telework agreements with their  employees and that completion of this training is documented. To help ensure that telework agreements accurately reflect telework  participation, and to further ensure the accuracy of telework data reported  internally and externally, the Secretary of the Department of Labor, the  Administrator of the General Services Administration, and the Chair of the  Securities and Exchange Commission should require documentation of  regular or periodic reviews of all telework agreements in agency telework  policies. To provide additional guidance to agencies and encourage the elimination  of barriers to increased telework opportunities consistent with the act, and  to ensure the accuracy of telework information OPM annually reports to  Congress, the Director of OPM should: develop tools to help agencies assess and analyze persistent barriers  to telework, including managerial resistance, such as a survey or  other feedback mechanism; and  strengthen controls for reviewing, validating, and reporting telework  data in annual Status of Telework in the Federal Government reports. Labor neither agreed nor disagreed with our recommendations but  provided comments on the report’s recommendations. OPM did not concur with the two recommendations directed to it. OPM  further states that the act does not obligate OPM to spend significant  resources to independently validate agency telework data. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report identifies and examines (1) how selected agencies establish  and monitor telework eligibility and participation, and comply with the  requirements of and expectations included in telework agreements; (2)  the internal controls and practices at selected agencies that affect  supervisors’ abilities to manage for results in the telework environment,  and hold employees who routinely telework accountable for achieving  results; and (3) the challenges selected agencies and the Office of  Personnel Management (OPM) face in collecting and reporting telework  data. We  selected these agencies using size and telework participation rates as  criteria. We also interviewed  OPM officials about OPM’s role in providing telework guidance to federal  agencies. To determine how supervisors at case study agencies manage for results  in a telework environment and hold employees who routinely telework  accountable for achieving results, we reviewed requirements of the act  and agency policies, reviewed OPM and agency specific training  materials on telework and performance management, and discussed  agency performance management policy with case study agency officials.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 required agencies to develop telework policies and OPM to provide guidance and report on telework use, among other things. GAO was asked to review agency telework programs.
This report examines (1) how selected agencies comply with the act's requirements, (2) the internal controls affecting federal supervisors' ability to hold teleworkers accountable for achieving results, and (3) the challenges selected agencies and OPM face in collecting and reporting telework data. GAO selected four case study agencies for review—Education, General Services Administration, Labor, and Securities and Exchange Commission—based on agency size and telework participation rates. GAO reviewed OPM guidance and reports, and policies and data at case study agencies. GAO also interviewed OPM and case study agency officials and held focus groups with case study agency supervisors and teleworkers.

What GAO Found

The telework policies at four selected case study agencies GAO reviewed met select requirements of the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 (the act) for telework eligibility and agreements. These agencies followed similar processes for approving telework agreements. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) guidance recommends managers complete telework training prior to approving telework agreements, but three of the four agencies did not have a mechanism to help ensure managers have completed this training before approving employee telework agreements. Because managers in these agencies may not have completed the training before entering into agreements, they may not be familiar with telework policies. Further, three of the four agencies did not require a periodic documented review of telework agreements. By not requiring regular review of telework agreements, these agencies cannot be assured that the agreements reflect and support their current business needs. Consistent with the act, all four agencies described efforts to encourage telework participation and provide for the technology to enable it. However, GAO's focus groups with teleworkers provided some examples of how supervisors may discourage telework participation and reported that some level of managerial resistance to telework remains. Managerial resistance to telework can undermine reviewed agencies' ability to meet telework participation goals. In its leadership role for telework matters, OPM can assist agencies with tools to assess and resolve these types of concerns.
Consistent with the act, all four case study agencies have controls to help ensure that telework does not diminish employee and organizational performance. These four agencies' policies followed the act's requirement that teleworkers be treated the same as nonteleworkers for the purposes of work requirements, performance appraisals, and other managerial decisions. Agency officials and focus groups reported that telework status did not impact performance expectations. Focus groups with supervisors described numerous strategies and resources they use to supervise and stay connected with teleworking employees.
The four agencies used varied methods to collect and report telework data to be included in OPM's annual telework reports, but all cited challenges to ensuring that employee-reported telework data were accurate because employees may not know or follow policies for recording telework. While three of these agencies use electronic systems to track telework agreements, the Department of Labor (Labor) uses a manual system which limits its ability to access accurate, real-time telework agreement data that management uses to assess compliance and for resource allocation decisions. Further, GAO found that the Department of Education (Education) had not been reporting telework eligibility data compliant with the act. OPM also faced challenges in reporting accurate agency telework data and GAO identified errors in OPM's annual reports to Congress. For example, OPM's report cited Education's fiscal year 2016 telework participation goal as 5 percent, reflecting Education's goal for increasing its participation rate, instead of its overall participation goal of 90 percent. OPM may be missing opportunities to improve its data because it does not always follow up with agencies on significant data differences or outliers. The errors and invalid data in OPM's annual reports to Congress reduce the usefulness of these reports.

What GAO Recommends

GAO makes recommendations to each of the case study agencies, including ensuring supervisors complete telework training in a timely manner and improving telework data. GAO also recommends that OPM develop tools to help agencies assess telework barriers, and to improve telework data reported to Congress. Three agencies agreed with the recommendations. One did not comment. OPM disagreed with GAO's recommendations citing limited resources to expend on efforts not specifically required under the act. GAO maintains that OPM should implement these actions as discussed in the report.