Why can't the feds telework on extremely hot days?

Government

Why can't the feds telework on extremely hot days?

by Miles Grant • August 10, 2011 1:51 pm

Federal government workers in the DC area are allowed to telework when it snows. Why aren't they encouraged to do so on extreme heat days? Fortunately, there are signs of progress.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr.

During the worst of our record July heat, I asked Federal News Radio's Amy Morris about the federal government's heat wave telework policy. She tweeted that there's no broad policy, only that, "The office manager has discretion depending on office conditions, etc."

Federal News Radio posts this memo on the heat from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to agency heads, which advises managers to keep employees hydrated but says nothing about teleworking.

If federal government workers were allowed to telework in the most extreme heat (say, on days when the heat index is forecast to be over 105), there would be several real benefits:

Air quality. Extreme summer heat often goes hand in hand with unhealthy air quality in the DC area and commuter vehicles are a major contributor of pollution. With about 103,000 federal workers telecommuting in 2008 (PDF), that's potentially a large number of tailpipes off the road.
Easing transportation strain. On very hot days, the wait for a tow truck for a broken-down car can be a hazard and Metro cars without air conditioning become unbearable hot cars.
More productive workers. If you have to start your day drenched in sweat, you're not going to be at your most productive—you're going to be watching the clock until you can go home and drink a gin & tonic the size of your head. Teleworkers, on the other hand, are scientifically proven to be more productive than their commuting counterparts.

Last week, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) wrote to OPM asking for a renewed look at encouraging telecommuting on the hottest days:

Last year I wrote to you following the blizzards and nuclear summit to ask if OPM was using telework to mitigate congestion during extreme weather or events which cause widespread street closures. I appreciate your leadership to implement telework during these events.
This summer's weather suggests that extreme heat may also create a need for expanded telework. As you know, we have experienced nearly a month of consecutive days with 90 degree or higher temperatures, including record high temperatures and unusually high nighttime temperatures. This extreme heat is not only uncomfortable, but also exacerbates ground level ozone pollution and associated respiratory diseases.
I am aware that the Department of Homeland Security encouraged employees to take a telework day during the most extreme heat, and would appreciate your consideration of making such a practice more common across agencies. Reducing traffic and associated ozone pollution in our region will become increasingly important as extreme heat becomes more common in our region.

Adapting to DC's oppressive summer heat isn't a new concept. It's why Congress takes an August recess. But at some point our attitude shifted from taking summer siestas to trying to show nature who's boss. Anyone who's gotten a whiff of fellow passengers on Metro lately can tell you how well that's working out.

Of course, our climate is now even hotter than it was in DC's early days, and it's getting worse fast. Globally, June was 1.60°F hotter than the 20th-century average. And considering Congress hasn't curbed America's carbon emissions and the world has copied our inaction, we're hurtling towards the most extreme changes.

Letting feds telework on the hottest of hot days won't protect DC from global warming, but it would be an easy step to making it a bit more tolerable.

26 comments

Tags: federal workforce, Gerry Connolly, telecommuting, weather

Video: DC cyclists get used to record heat (Aug 9, 2011)
Should the federal government snowproof Metro? (Feb 11, 2010)
Is the federal transit benefit actually bad? (May 18, 2010)
Army chooses least transit-accessible site of three for 6,400 jobs (Sep 30, 2008)
The era of big commute is over (Aug 5, 2008)

Miles Grant grew up in Boston riding the Green Line, and has lived in Northern Virginia riding the Orange Line since 2002. Also blogging at The Green Miles, he believes enhancing smart growth makes the DC area not just more environmentally sustainable, but a healthier and more vibrant place to live, work and play.

Comments
Add a comment »

Why not telecommute when it is sunny or rainy or partly cloudy.

Good Grief.

by Burger on Aug 10, 2011 2:26 pm

Actually Burger: why not?

Telecommuting one day a week for every Fed office worker that can do so. Seems like a benefit to all involved: the worker, the employer and the region.

Make it so.

by greent on Aug 10, 2011 2:36 pm

Wouldn't lots of telecommuting on hot days tax the electrical grid (more AC in use) even more than it already is on those days?

by MLD on Aug 10, 2011 2:41 pm

For the same reason that workers in private industry can't telecommute: because telecommuters don't work.

by aaa on Aug 10, 2011 2:45 pm

I don't really see a comparison between a day on which it snows and a day in which it is extremely hot. In the former there is a multitude of safety concerns and a burden for employees when commuting and family arrangement in the snow that simply don't exist for the latter.

There are some reasons that merit the expansion of teleworking but I don't think the extremely hot days scenario is one of them.

by Fitz on Aug 10, 2011 2:47 pm

Depending on the individual federal agency's policy, there is nothing that would prohbit this. If you have what most agencies call an "episodic" telework arrangement this would probably be allowable depending on job responsibilities and so on.

One concern about making this a policy this limited disgression is that some people seem to have forgotten the requirements for being available to telework. Under non-emergency conditions (and I don't consider it being really hot in DC an emergency of this type), I get very frustrated trying to connect with co-workers who are supposed to be available but then tell me their spouse or kids need the computer/phone so they need to cancel the meeting.

(And before anyone jumps on me, I'm on vacation today.)

by Kate W. on Aug 10, 2011 2:50 pm

Of course, everybody realizes that this only affects half of the federal workforce, right? The other half is contractors who (with rare exceptions) are not allowed to telecommute at all.

by Pam B. on Aug 10, 2011 3:18 pm

@MLD - You're assuming that workers would otherwise turn off their AC at home.

by ah on Aug 10, 2011 3:22 pm

Seriously? Teleworking is a joke in the first place, and I see it constantly abused. I would have to agree with the first comment that asks why not when it's too cold? Or stormy? Or windy? Or a million other reasons?

by MJ on Aug 10, 2011 3:33 pm

I have no idea what industry you guys work in, but the contractors (and company folks) that I work with (as a govt employee) telecommute a hell of a lot more than any of the people in our office.

by Eric on Aug 10, 2011 3:34 pm

Kate W, even in the private sector, there are those who abuse their company's telework agreements.

However it's been my experience that the periods of time a teleworking employee is not available is only slightly different from their time in office. I think the assumption is that when you telework that you are ALWAYS available. IMO, the assumption is wrong because people are not always available in their own offices.

by HogWash on Aug 10, 2011 3:36 pm

MJ, it's clear you don't understand the purpose of teleworking and the benefits it provide to the employer, employee and the environment.

Frankly, (as has been stated) I believe the federal gov't has its own telework policy that allows its employees to do so on any day the employee and employer agree upon. Contrary to popular perception, there is a mutual benefit to these policies.

by HogWash on Aug 10, 2011 3:45 pm

For the same reason that workers in private industry can't telecommute: because telecommuters don't work.

Huh? Really? News to me. Cause all my friends who work for the private sector telecommute a heck of a lot more than I do!!

We are allowed to telecommute 2days a month, and I always produce MORE on those days than days I come into the office. Why? Less interruptions and more time to focus.

I think it depends on the type of work you do--my job is 90% on the computer, so no reason why I couldn't telecommute 90% of the time.

And less cars on the road means less exhaust and less traffic.

by LuvDusty on Aug 10, 2011 4:56 pm

@Eric My contract specifically forbids me from teleworking (and I'm the only one in the office with that restriction).

by andrew on Aug 10, 2011 5:02 pm

@andrew

That sucks. Seems rather archaic. The consultants we work with arent exclusive and have other projects, so they are pretty much always somewhere else other than their office. I know my friends who do secret and top secret work cant telecommute much because of the security issues around that information. I think there is some ability to dial-in to work computers but varies agency by agency.

by Eric on Aug 10, 2011 5:07 pm

There are tens of thousands of us who work around DC for the DOD or intelligence agencies that by the nature of our work involving classified information, teleworking is merely a dream.

by Dino on Aug 10, 2011 5:26 pm

I'm with Dino. Nevermind that being active duty, telecommuting is verbotten to begin with...

by Froggie on Aug 10, 2011 9:26 pm

Ditto what Dino said. Unless you have a SCIF at home and a secured communications line to the office, telecommuting simply isn't an option for a lot of government employees and contractors.

by Arlingtonian on Aug 10, 2011 9:32 pm

According to Fortune magazine, 79 of the 100 best companies to work for allow telecommuting at least 20% time. Maybe not everyone in the private sector allows but the best companies do.

by Falls Church on Aug 10, 2011 10:42 pm

You could pay many govt. workers to stay home and do nothing and nobody would know any difference. So might as well just pay them to stay at home and keep them off of the roads so productive people can get to work more easily.

by Kaleel on Aug 10, 2011 11:05 pm

We used to get out of school if both the temperature and the humidity wer 85 or higher, of course that as back before AC in all the schools. In a normal year we had 3 or 4 heat days and 5-7 snow days.

by dcseain on Aug 10, 2011 11:31 pm

This assumes that feds are clerks sitting at PCs all day. many of aren't. Ad hoc teleworking would create all kinds of organizational inefficiency. there are many things which are easier and quicker to do face-to-face and urgent matters are more easily dipsosed. A great deal of communication occurs in the non-verbal interaction between people, which is helpful in dealing with sensitive situations. And if you think, I'm a Luddite, I happen to be teleworking right now. Teleworking would not eliminate the need to climate control buildings; indeed, radical shifts in internal climate are costly in terms of energy waste and wear/tear on HVAC equipment. Emptying out buildings and raising the temp probably wouldn't save over keeping the a/c on doing what people normally do, like close the blinds.

Enough people have proposed teleworking as panacea and enough people are able to do it that I think it's pretty evident how little money or environmental quality is saved.

by Rich on Aug 11, 2011 9:32 am

BTW--one study with a relatively small sample doesn't "scientifically" prove anything. Give me about 10-20 minutes and I can cherry pick any topic you want.

by Rich on Aug 11, 2011 9:34 am

Wow...how did the readership of Greater Greater Washington come to encompass the oldest of the old fuddy-duddies who can't set up call forwarding and/or inexplicably don't have a greater number of computers and phones in their home than people (we have 3 computers and 4 phones for 2 people)?

Look, if you have an important meeting, or a deadline on something for which you don't have the necessary resources to do the work at home, or handle classified information, then you trudge to work. Been there, done that...it sucks but that's how it works.

However, had I not been on vacation that week (and I went someplace COLD...suckers), I would have, under the misguided comments here, trudged into my desk to sit around a write up a document that I would have then emailed to a number of people for their approval and editing and consulted with said people regarding the document by phone. Um, I can actually do that MORE efficiently at home because I have a better computer and my internet is faster (not the actual speed, but the throughput simply because of having so FEW devices on the network compared to my office). And because I won't be dreaming of a margarita the size of my head (sorry, not a G&T girl). And you know what...that's exactly what I would have done. In fact, I hardly ever "show up" to work on days when I know I'm going to be doing exactly nothing that will lead to face-to-face interaction. I gather my stuff up the evening before, and drop by to tell my supe that all day tomorrow will be spent on project A, which is just production of documents B, C, and D, so I'll be doing that from home. If they need me, they just call...and if they mistakenly dial my office number, no biggie...I KNOW HOW TO USE CALL FORWARDING!

by Ms. D on Aug 11, 2011 5:27 pm

Great information - I tried a number of video conferencing services, and ended up going with VIA3 - no big hardware sink for us, and we were up and running in 15 minutes. I think they have a free trial at www.via3.com, if you are looking for a good solution. It also seems to be the most secure of all of the software based solutions.

by Julie Kay on Aug 15, 2011 5:19 pm

The overwhelming reason my leadership has given for resisting telework is that they have to visually supervise me to verify that I'm working. I assert that with the capabilities of the Internet, if someone has to watch me to verify that I'm working, they in fact do not know that I'm working: they've only verified that I can visually portray work performance.

This work environment also encourages hiring supervisors who impose a 19th-century shop-boss method of supervision on 21st century knowledge workers. I could outsource much of my work online to a third party and browse the Internet all day on my personal laptop and no one would be the wiser. I do all my own work, not because I couldn't outsource my work to Bangalore, but because I love my country and I have an intrinsic ethic of performance that drove me to seek Federal employment in the first place.

Without visual supervision of workers, supervisors have to create tangible, traceable criteria for delivering work. The upshot of these traceable criteria is that employees deliver more tangible work, and everyone wins.

Why isn't telework a requirement for employees under COOP? In September 2001 some bad people flew planes into our buildings, demonstrating our need to maintain an ongoing ability to work from home. I have found no better way to assure ongoing capability of remote work in crisis than to require delivery of tangible work once or twice a week from home.

by Basil White on Sep 1, 2011 9:11 am