Telework policy clarifies rules

  • Published
  • By Daryl Mayer, AFLCMC Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFLCMC) – As the COVID pandemic continues to rage, personnel in the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center can expect continued reliance on telework where mission execution allows.
 
Sherri Artuso, AFLCMC Director of Personnel, Jennifer Bauer, Chief of Personnel Programs Division and Angie Benito, Personnel Program Division Telework lead, joined for an episode of AFLCMC’s Leadership Log podcast to help foster better understanding of the center’s telework policy. 
 

Sustained remote operations created the need to revise some elements of the telework policy.  The current policy now clearly states the process to determine if telework is appropriate for a particular duty position and how to determine the right category. 
 
“At the most basic level,” Artuso said, “telework is a voluntary work arrangement that allows an employee or a service member to perform all of their assigned official duties and other authorized activities from an approved alternate work site, either on a situational basis or a regular recurring basis.”
 
There are four primary types of telework that impact factors like the number of days required in office and the location of the work.  In some cases, whether the telework will occur within or outside the local commuting area of the installation where the employee’s assigned to will help to distinguish whether or not the arrangement should be one or the other types, according to Bauer.  Specific information is available on the DP SharePoint site: https://usaf.dps.mil/teams/22005/telework
 
“We also host a variety of other resources regarding things like telework, hybrid work, communicating in a virtual environment and more on our AFLCMC Learning Resource Center, which is currently available online off of the AFLCMC public website,” Bauer said. [https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/WELCOME/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/2123006/aflcmc-learning-resource-center/] “This is such a great tool and resource, because you don't need to be connected to VPN in order to take advantage of all the great information that we found and that we've posted.” 
 
There are also instances where telework isn’t appropriate such as positions that require access to classified or jobs that require face-to-face contact, Benito said. 
 
“Additionally supervisors also have to consider the employee themselves.  Sometimes we have new employees coming in, maybe they're on a training position or are brand new off the street and they just don't have any experience under their belts,” Benito said.  “In some instances, telework may not be a suitable option right away, but after they’ve become proficient in performing tasks, they may be suitable to participate in various forms of telework.”
 
Quality of life, workcenter logistics and other factors are all part of the conversation between employees, supervisors and unit leadership -- provided the mission can be successfully completed.  
 
To hear the full conversation, you can watch Leadership Log on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zRpKTDCL7Pk.  You can also listen by searching “Leadership Log” on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Overcast, Radio Public or Breaker.