October 10, 2022 – Richmond, VA
DHRM Telework Report: 2019 vs. Now
Item 86, Section K of the 2022 Special Session I, Virginia Acts of Assembly, Chapter 2 required the Department of Human Resources Management (DHRM) to provide data related to teleworking no later than November 1, 2022.
The report was to include the following:
- Number of days per week employees teleworked
- Number of employees who teleworked
- Percentage of employees represented
The numbers above were to be provided for three timeframes:
- Pre-COVID: 2019
- COVID: March 2020 through July 4, 2022
- Post-COVID: Effective July 5, 2022
The DHRM released the results of their research on September 30, 2022.
VGEA Response
The VGEA analyzed the DHRM’s telework report and found the following:
- Pre-COVID telework data was collected in categories (full-time, hybrid, and limited) vs. number of days
- Accurate COVID-era telework numbers are unavailable because reporting was less of a priority during COVID
- Post-COVID data under the new policy was collected as a snapshot on September 7, 2022
The differences in data collection for each timeframe means that an apples-to-apples comparison is impossible.
Additionally, the report calculated the Percentage of Current Teleworkers (September 7, 2022 snapshot) as a percentage of eligible employees. The VGEA believes that it’s also helpful to view it as a percentage of the total number of classified employees:
Summary of Report Findings
- The number of eligible employees increased: 2019 (26%), 2021 (29%), post-COVID (42%)
- Of 55,558 classified employees, 32,403 remain ineligible for telework (58%)
- Another 7,847 employees are telework-eligible but have chosen not to telework
- 72% of all classified employees aren’t teleworking
- 66% of telework-eligible employees are teleworking either 0 days (34%) or 1 day (32%)
VGEA Thoughts & Questions
Why have a third of eligible employees declined to telework?
58% of classified employees remain ineligible for telework. Can we lower that number further?
How satisfied are employees who are limited to and/or were granted only 1 telework day per week?
How do these numbers compare with other states and other competing, private-sector jobs?
VGEA Conclusion
COVID reshaped the way employees work and proved that telework is a viable option for a broad range of employees and roles. It also gave state employees who hadn’t previously teleworked a taste of work-life balance and lowered their costs. As a result, Virginia was forced to reevaluate telework eligibility.
Despite the increase in eligibility noted in the report, the VGEA’s focus on helping improve the current telework policy remains unchanged for multiple reasons:
1. 58% of state employees who responded to our most recent telework survey indicated that they would consider private-sector jobs or retirement rather than remaining in state jobs because of the new telework policy.
2. At the 2022 VGEA Annual Meeting on September 10, 2022, employees continued to express the impression that telework has been applied inconsistently. That impression has led to the perception that some state agencies are boasting about their generous telework implementation in order to lure workers from other, less generous agencies. The administration had hoped that the new telework policy was one-size fits all, but many employees we’ve surveyed and spoken with haven’t experienced that as reality.
The VGEA continues to look at the data, and we will continue to advocate for a flexible telework policy that is implemented fairly and consistently. We know that’s what workers want, and we know that Virginia could continue to lose excellent talent due to a telework policy that is too rigid and/or inconsistent.
Share your thoughts, comments, and concerns about telework with the VGEA team at vgea.org/contact or info@vgea.org.