Post-Pandemic, FCC CoS Expects Increased Employee Telework

Workplace experts told us telework was already modestly gaining popularity before the pandemic. They said it's likely to become more commonplace in U.S. offices afterward, though the federal government could be slower to embrace telework than the private sector.

National Treasury Employees Union President Tony Reardon said in a statement FCC employees "are understandably concerned about the conditions for their eventual return to their offices in light of the recent COVID-19 death of a contractor who worked at FCC HQ offices." He said the national union and its Chapter 209 "will closely monitor the cleaning and disinfecting of agency workspaces, the safety protocols for field agents, and insist that employees not return until the threat to their health has fully subsided." He said the labor union is discussing a return to work process with the FCC, but there's no time frame for when employees might be called back.

Mandatory telework through June doesn't mean it's ending July 1, as the reopening of the 12th Street SW headquarters will be gradual and based on public health agency guidance and recommendations and local governments' reopening plans, Berry said. "It's something we continue to look at," and the agency will be guided in large part by how COVID-19 develops this month and what local governments do, he said.

What the agency will do in the fall is unclear, as is what kind of permanent policy changes it might incorporate for telework, Berry said. A full review while still in the pandemic would be premature, he said.

After the pandemic, American offices will reopen but with a "large, very long-term permanent increase" in telework, said Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter labor economist. Companies "have tried and it actually works better than they thought," she said, noting employers are learning that without commute times their employees' ability to multitask at home makes them more productive and frees up more time for work. Telework also could be a cost-savings route for industries as they reduce office footprints and the associated costs of maintaining them. She said after the virus becomes manageable, companies are likely to maintain less office space and to give employees more flexibility about working from home.

Government employment will be the last to make the telework shift in part because data and privacy concerns are often bigger than in the private sector, Pollak said. “I imagine people will be right back at their offices” in the federal government, she said. Money is budgeted for increasing federal telework, but "nobody's tapping into that," said Laurel Farrer, CEO of remote work consultancy Distribute Consulting. The public sector is "comfortable and secure and tied to their traditions," while the private sector is far more flexible, she said.

Management historically has been reluctant to permit telework for fear of loss of control and less ability to monitory employee work and productivity, said Timothy Golden, telework expert and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Management professor. With those preconceptions breaking down, the pendulum will swing partially away from telework after the crisis, but not fully, he said. More near term, companies needing to accommodate social distancing might use telework as a tool for less employee density, he said.

Industry In Flux

Organizations in the communications universe told us their future telework plans remain in flux.

Communications lawyer Michele Farquhar, who will be managing partner of Hogan Lovells' D.C. office starting in July, said the firm is eyeing mid-June for a pilot effort of a limited reopening of that office involving no more than 10% of the staff. She said there will be a long, slow phase-in of months before the office fully reopens. She said smaller Hogan Lovells offices in Miami, Houston, Colorado Springs and elsewhere are in early reopening, too. She said the pace of the phased reopening of the D.C. office will depend on government guidance and feedback from staffers.

Hogan Lovells was already "pretty liberal" with telework policies before the pandemic, Farquhar said: Law firms "are used to being on the go, meeting with clients, going to conferences." She said the firm started giving support staff a part-time telework option two years ago, which made going to mandatory telework in mid-March for the D.C. office "almost seamless."

NTEU's Reardon said the commission's current telework policy grew out of a telework program that's part of the union's contract with the FCC. He said the union "commends agency leaders for providing additional scheduling flexibilities such as extended hours and reduced core hours, which allow for employees to successfully work from home and manage their family responsibilities."

"The success of the expanded telework program is proof that even when the current public health crisis subsides, FCC should consider retaining an overarching, strong and flexible telework and work hours policy equally applicable to all FCC bureaus and offices," Reardon said: Telework improves productivity, reduces commute times and costs, and helps recruit and retain skilled employees.

Editor's note: This is part of an ongoing series about how communications regulators and other stakeholders are addressing the novel coronavirus. Another story in this issue is about how the FTC is addressing the virus (see 2006050056). For past stories about how the FCC is dealing with the crisis, see 2004140048 and 2003120063. For a recent report about Capitol Hill going virtual for some hearings: 2005180042.