Teleworking from your home or from a convenient Telework Center may be the right option for you and your employer.
Alternative work schedules such as flextime, compressed workweeks, and job sharing are other progressive options for reducing traffic congestion, lessening workplace stress, and increasing efficiency.
Employees work out of their homes or in a satellite office or “telecenter” one or more days a week – using computer, phone, fax, and/or teleconferencing
Benefits
May reduce office space and parking needs – improving business bottom line
Helps businesses maintain continuity of operations during emergencies, such as weather-related events
Helps employers recruit and retain the best employees
Decreases traffic congestion, energy consumption, and air pollution
Enhances employer reputation as “good corporate citizen”
Types of Jobs
For information, check out www.commuterconnections.org, and go to teleworking. You may also call 202-962-3286 for the Telework Resource Center, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Ask for a free Teleworking Starter Kit.
Maryland Telework Partnership with Employers
The Maryland Telework Partnership with Employers (TPE) offers free professional telework consulting services. Interested employers in Montgomery County who wish to start or expand telework programs should contact CSS at 301-770-POOL (7665).
Sites are selected on the basis of location, nature of business, and expressed level of commitment. Each selected TPE site will designate a telework coordinator and an internal telework team to work with the consulting on developing and implementing the program. Teleworkers are expected to telecommute at least two days a month during a one-year period. Sponsoring agency is the Maryland Department of Transportation.
Telework Resource Center
The Telework Resource Center (TRC) is a Commuter Connections program, coordinated through the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), which offers free one-day seminars throughout the region.
TRC can show employers how to:
Establish a telework policy
Form an in-house advisory group
Identify a telework program coordinator
Select, manage, and evaluate telework employees
Set up ground rules for work space, security issues, and regularly scheduled work hours
Provide for telework equipment
Understand tax implications and compensation issues
Telework Centers
Telework Centers offer optional workspace located closer to the employees’ homes. Equipment includes computers, modems, photocopiers, fax machines, voice mail, and Internet access; meeting rooms and videoconferencing. There are 17 facilities in the greater Washington region.
Telework Centers in Maryland include:
Central Maryland Telework Centers
Bowie Telework Center Bowie State University, Thurgood Marshall Library 14000 Jericho Park Road, Room 082 Bowie, MD 20715 (301) 352-4390 (301) 352-4513 (fax)
Frederick Telework Center 7340 Executive Way, Suite M Frederick, MD 21704 (301) 698-2700 (301) 696-2848 (fax)
Hagerstown Telework Center 14 North Potomac Street, Suite 200 Hagerstown, MD 21740 (301) 745-5601 (301) 745-5700 (fax)
Southern Maryland Telework Centers College of Southern Maryland 8730 Mitchell Road, P.O. Box 910 La Plata, MD 20646 (301) 934-7628 (301) 934-7625 (fax)
Calvert TeleWork Center 110 S. Solomon's Island Road Prince Frederick, MD 20678 (410) 286-2807 (410) 414-2637 (fax)
Laurel Lakes Telecommuting Center Laurel Lakes Corporate Center 13962 Baltimore Boulevard Laurel, MD 20707 (301) 470-0560, (301) 362-7345 (fax)
Waldorf TeleWork Center 128 Smallwood Village Shopping Center Waldorf, MD 20602 (301) 893-6713, (301-705-9834 (fax)
For more telework information, go to www.commuterconnections.org, click on teleworking/telework centers. Or call 301-770-POOL (7665).
Alternative Work Schedules
Flextime, Compressed Work Schedules, and Job Sharing are progressive options to reducing traffic congestion at peak travel hours, lessening stress in the workplace, and fostering efficient use of time at the office. CSS can help you determine which job types are best suited to these schedules as well as recommend program policies and procedures.
CSS will work with employers to set up Flextime programs featuring adjusted arrival and departure times for employees. Compressed Work Schedules, such as 4-day/10-hour-a-day work weeks, eliminate commuting for at least one day a week for those who participate. Job Sharing also cuts down on commuting.
Other advantages:
Flextime employees can work during their most productive hours
Employees may use less leave time because they have greater flexibility in planning medical and other appointments.
Companies gain increased coverage, especially when they communicate across time zones and have customers requiring extended hours
Flextime can help reduce spot congestion at work site entrances.
Seniors
