Nonprofit Group Tries Telecommuting to Ease Employees' Shock at the Pump
By Fredrick Kunkle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 26, 2007
High price of gasoline got you down?
Then stay home from work once a week.
The boss -- at least at one Loudoun County nonprofit group -- says you should.
After hearing that the rising cost of gas was devouring the modest nonprofit salaries of their staff, officials at the National Recreation and Park Association said yesterday that they will experiment with a system, beginning next week, that will encourage their 70 employees to work a four-day week or telecommute instead of driving to the Ashburn offices.
"We started to hear some concerns about the impact of rising prices on folks. And there was also a sense that people always talk . . . and never do anything about it," said Executive Director John Thorner.
Thorner could be riding a trend by staying put. With gasoline prices now averaging $3.23 a gallon nationwide, many more drivers will be looking for ways to leave the minivan in the driveway this summer. Telecommuting once a week would cut fuel consumption by 20 percent.
Chuck Wilsker, president of the Washington-based Telework Coalition, said a 2005 study found that about 45 million Americans telecommute.
"We see that number growing tremendously," Wilsker said. He said interest in telecommuting sprang up in the early 1990s because of advances in technology and stricter environmental laws designed to reduce air pollution. Then, after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, it received another boost as government agencies and private companies looked into ways to continue operating during a disaster. Now, Wilsker said, with so much attention on the environment -- and higher gas prices to boot -- telecommuting is getting renewed attention.
A survey by the General Services Administration of 1.7 million federal employees found that 140,694 people had telecommuted in 2004, compared with 72,844 in 2001.
"I think it's kind of the wave of the future," said Lon Anderson, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "Because, really, the only way we're going to get any improvement in our fuel situation is to use less."
The U.S. Patent and Trade Office, considered a leader in the federal government's practice of telecommuting, will soon celebrate 10 years of doing it, spokeswoman Jennifer Rankin Byrne said. At the agency, headquartered in Alexandria, about 3,000 of its 8,500 employees telecommute regularly, she said.
Danette Campbell, senior adviser for telework at the patent office, said outsiders often wonder if it's not a invitation for employees to goof off.
"My response is, how do you know if they're working in a bricks-and-mortar environment?" Campbell said.
On the contrary, employees who work from home are usually very productive because they enjoy working from home and so are motivated to make sure the program is effective, she said.
The patent office does not just take their word for it, either.
"We track everything," Campbell said. "They can goof off if they want. But they still have a quota to meet every biweek."
Diane Bombard, 41, a meeting planner at the National Recreation and Park Association who has worked from her home in Centreville twice a week for more than two years, said she probably works more hours, not fewer.
There are fewer distractions at home. At the office, she is more likely to be pulled away from a task by the telephone, a co-worker, or meetings.
Of course, it can also get lonely at home, she said. Now and then, especially after she has been on the road a lot, she will go to the office to check in. But she feels as if working from home is a perk, and it also has the benefit of allowing her to park her 17-mpg SUV.
"I get more done," Bombard said.
Staff writer Stephen Barr contributed to this report.
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