Telework and Alternative Work Schedules

The State of California Telework – Telecommuting Program: 1983 – 21st Century (pdf) 25p document explaining the mission, history, process and resources available for the State of California telework program.

Making Telework Part of Your Workplace This 1 hour 25 minute video presentation provides an overview of telework by Stuart Anderson, President of UrbanTrans, to a group of employers in Tampa hosted by Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and Bay Area Commuter Services. (Windows Media Player™required)

• For more information about Telework Tampa Bay, please go to http://teleworktampabay.com

Telework Case Studies

Telecommuting Policies at Colleges and Universities

Flexible work schedules: what are we trading off to get them? by Lonnie Golden (Bureau of Labor Statistics' Monthly Labor Review Online)

Abstract: "The 1990s economic expansion not only whisked away decades-long stubborn labor market problems such as unemployment and stagnant wage rates, but also hosted the spread of flexible work schedules. By 1997, in the May Current Population Survey (CPS), more than 27 percent of full-time wage and salary workers reported that they had some ability to vary either the starting or ending time of their typical workday, more than double the rate observed in 1985. Workers tend to regard flexible work-scheduling practices as a valuable tool for easing the chronic pressures and conflicts imposed by attempting to execute both work and nonwork responsibilities. The growing value of such daily flexibility to workers may reflect increases in labor force participation rates of parents, dual-income households, family annual work hours, weekly overtime hours, the premium for additional hours of work, college enrollment rates, and the aging of the workforce. Moreover, employers are likely to be turning to flexible scheduling as an instrument for recruiting and retaining employees (particularly those facing a labor shortage climate) and for boosting job satisfaction and labor productivity. Yet, the demand for such flexible work schedules on the part of workers appears still to exceed the supply provided by employers."

Flexible schedules and shift work: replacing the '9-to-5' workday? by Thomas M. Beers (Bureau of Labor Statistics' Monthly Labor Review Online - June 2000) 

Abstract: "Traditionally, much of the American labor force has worked in a structured environment, with the work schedule following a set pattern—what many people have termed the "9-to-5" workday. Recent studies show that employers are beginning to recognize that many workers prefer schedules that allow greater flexibility in choosing the times they begin and end their workday. Consequently, increasing numbers and proportions of full-time workers in the United States are able to opt for flexible work hours, allowing workers to vary the actual times they arrive and leave the work place. For some workers, however, the nature of their jobs requires that they work a schedule other than a regular day shift, what may be termed an "alternative shift." Examples of such alternative shift workers are police officers, emergency room physicians, and assembly-line workers at a factory. In contrast to the increasing proportion of workers with flexible work schedules, the incidence of shift work has not changed since the mid-1980s. If not for the sizable job gains in service occupations, the overall proportion of workers on shift work would have edged down in recent years. Recent data on flexible work hours and shift work are from information collected in the May 1997 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). This article uses that supplement to examine both the incidence and trends in flexible work hours and alternative shift work and, also, the relationship between the jobs in which people work and the prevalence of these digressions from the more traditional "9-to-5" workday."

Transportation Implications of Telecommuting
This report addresses the potential cost and benefits of telecommuting and was prepared by the Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, as required by section 352 of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1992. The report focuses on future impacts of telecommuting on transportation, environment, and energy use. Despite the existence of many telecommuters and numerous pilot projects and studies, telecommuting is still in a very early stage. The projections of future telecommuting and transportation impacts provided here could change substantially as technology continues to develop, and experience is gained in understanding employer and employee response to this new form of working. Principal Conclusions 

• Telecommuting is now practiced by approximately 2 million workers and could reach 7.5 to 15 million within a decade.

• Estimates of the future level and impacts of telecommuting are highly uncertain. 

• Telecommuting has the potential to provide significant transportation-related public benefits in this decade. 

• The actual amount and impact of telecommuting in any particular region will depend strongly on the local transportation environment and travel demand measures. 

• The congestion and air quality improvements potentially attainable through telecommuting could be substantially diminished if telecommuters removed from the highways are replaced by the emergence of latent travel demand. 

• Direct energy, air quality, safety, and time benefits of telecommuting will be increased as the degree of congestion is reduced. 

• Telecommuting could stimulate urban sprawl and have other adverse impacts on land use and public transportation. 

• Factors which will impact the rate of growth of telecommuting include uncertainty of benefits for employers and the considerable time and effort inherently required to bring about major changes in workstyles and ways of doing business. 

• Telecommunication services and equipment are adequate for most current telecommuting, but high-bandwidth capabilities will be needed in the future and would be beneficial now. 

• Government agencies can play a significant role in facilitating and encouraging telecommuting. 

• Telecommuting can be an effective tool for travel demand management, but cannot be mandated. 

• Continuing research is needed to clarify telecommuting costs, benefits, and future impacts.

Telework and the Environment White Paper

Handbook on Alternative Work Schedules  
The purpose of this U.S. Office of Personnel Management handbook is to provide a framework for Federal agencies to consult in establishing alternative work schedules and to provide additional information to assist agencies in administering such programs. This handbook, with its appendices, provides detailed information on the administration of flexible and compressed work schedules.

Effects of Compressed Work Week on Employee Travel
The objective of this 1995 study for the California Air Resources Board was to estimate the net trip and mileage benefits of the compressed work week, taking into account the possibility that employees engage in driving activities on their days off. Results showed that employees on compressed work week reduce their number of trips by 0.5 to 0.8 and their miles traveled by 13 to 20 per week as compared to employees on regular five-day work weeks. This study was performed by the University of Southern California.

Variable Work Hours
This Federal Transit Administration summary of compressed work weeks, flextime and staggered work hours provides examples of the transportation impacts of these strategies. It describes cost benefit considerations.