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Fortunately, I’m a participant in a Certified Public Management program and I’ve chosen this topic for my Capstone. I’ve done research on this topic and have created a policy on implementing this idea in the Field Audit Branch of Taxation. Please let me know if you would like to use it in support of your telecommuting proposal. I will gladly share the research and policy I’ve drafted.

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This idea is impactful and feasible, as it allows for State offices to enter the reality of the modern work week. Time commuting is wasted in addition to causing unnecessary stress. Trusting employees to get their work done without working a 9-5 in the office creates a better work environment, reduces stress, decreases call outs because it allows for flexibility, and increases productivity across the board. All work done in an office can be done from home.

The initial start up cost to issue laptops to personnel and or sending someone to the employees home to set up the computers.

Challenges with this in the past is abuse of privilege by a small number of individuals. To prevent this, on a date scheduled to be worked from home, and employee can submit a list at the start of the work day of work intended to be accomplished, and either provide the work via email at the end of the work day, or first thing the following morning in the office. Requiring field employees work from home one day a week would decrease costs of fuel and tolls associated with state vehicles.

If we are proposing a 4 day work week with one day from home, how will the staff ratio be balanced? Who will need to be physically in the office and on what days would they be there? Would staff be able to choose what day they would want to have as a work from home day?

Flexibility to work from home has been proven to be effective in both increasing productivity and providing incentive. Specifically on days where a meetings/site visits takes staff away from the office for part of the day, significant time is wasted commuting from meeting/site locations back to the office. Allowing staff to work part of their day, or specific days from home can reduce time in car, which positively impacts the environment and the health of the employee.

In addition to the personal benefits already mentioned, fewer cars on the road means fewer auto accidents and less pollution. Fewer on-site employees means the State could reduce the number and/or size of offices and cubicles, thereby reducing the number of buildings rented and maintained, thereby significantly reducing overhead costs.

In a technological age, tablets, mobile phones and high speed internet, it would make a huge difference in employee's accessibility and morale to be able to work from home. The commute in and out of Trenton is constant gridlock. meetings could be done by teleconferencing, facetime or skype. Paper waste would drastically reduce, as work can be done or submitted completely electronically from home.

Absolutely. In private companies employees have been more productive (less interruptions, concentrating on project, overproduce for better optics). The benefit for the employee is savings on commuting, comfort while working, less stress on weather related days. The state would benefit tremendously. Just strong managers are needed. If you have weak managers, there would be employees taking advantage.

I believe this is very feasible. I work in customer service and would greatly benefit if I could work on correspondence or answer emails at home. I can already approve timesheets at home, and my use of FMLA would be greatly reduced if I could work from home.

Workers benefit from reduced distractions, reduced commute time and job satisfaction. Employers benefit from reduced turnover, reduced office costs and frequently more productive employees. Everyone benefits from reduced transportation emissions. While not officially allowed, working from home takes place to some degree among state employees. There should be an official policy that allows and regulates it in the open, rather than forcing this to take place in an unofficial manner.

Allowing employees to work from home is a huge benefit the State of NJ can offer its employees that costs nothing. Morale will be given a big boost for anyone who is given a break from a long commute.

Managers looking to create a flexible work culture should avoid a one-size-fits-all approach; dictating exactly how these policies may be used can make them less effective. Talk with your team about your expectations, so there are no surprises later on. For example, if you set a policy that employees may arrive late or leave early when they need to, do you want them to give you advance notice? Of course, trust is going to be a big factor. you should trust them to get the work done.

This idea is impactful and/ feasible because there is no need for me to spend 2.5 hours commuting to do my current job. I can do 90% from my home. We have one mandatory meeting monthly and 98% of my correspondence is through email.

There are 4 or 5 of the same proposals and I hope the responses will be combined to form a cohesive picture. This idea will go a long way to moving New Jersey into the 21st century in regards to work practices and has the potential to increase employee morale, productivity and reduce the use of sick time.