Because telework will continue to play a role in the future of work, the Office of Personnel Management has provided federal agency leaders with a checklist of criteria to consider when setting their policies for this practice.

OPM Deputy Director Robert Shriver said in an Aug. 7 memo that the federal government’s human resources agency has been trying to identify best practices to help agency leaders take advantage of the potential benefits of telework as it becomes a more conventional business practice after the pandemic.

“When implemented thoughtfully and intentionally, remote work can be a significant benefit to employers in certain role types under certain circumstances. In addition, remote work has the potential to facilitate some workers’ access to remote-work-ready federal roles,” he said. “At the same time, remote work is not appropriate for all role types. Finding the right balance between working in person and leveraging workplace flexibilities like remote work is critical to supporting the long-term organizational health of federal agencies.”

OPM defines remote work as an arrangement in which an employee works at an alternate work location on a regular and recurring basis without the expectation of performing the work at an agency location, while telework is defined as an arrangement for the employee to work from a location other than where he or she normally works.

Shriver added that the guidelines build on policies OPM established three years ago in its updated remote work and telework guidance. He stressed that agencies must develop current and clear policies outlining their specific use of remote work, the role of supervisors in ensuring accountability, and performance metrics to measure productivity.

To this end, the memo calls on authorities to consider factors such as what remote work arrangements will look like for managers, how to balance the onboarding of new employees with remote work, how to define local commuting areas from which employees can reach their workplace, when to form teams that work mostly or entirely remotely, and what equitable decisions should be made when setting remote work policies.

Other factors that agency leaders should address, according to Shriver, include developing a formal cost-benefit analysis of the telework policy, including potential benefits in recruiting and retaining employees, appropriate accommodations for employees, how agencies use data collection to measure performance, and developing mobile work policies for employees in alternative work locations not covered by telework arrangements.

“Certain flexible work arrangements may not make sense for every agency, function, or team, or be appropriate for every position or individual,” Shriver said. “Agencies must ensure that all work arrangements, including remote work arrangements, facilitate and do not hinder the completion of work and the long-term success of an agency’s mission. This memo provides agencies with additional considerations for evaluating and determining their current and future remote work postures.”