The Green Collar Worker - Working From Home

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I support working from home. This would cut costs for the State of NJ. It is a win-win for everyone, NJ residents and State workers.

For a telecommuting alternative: the Department / work units must have remote access to program specific electronic databases; web based systems. The Department will need to be able to measure employee performance by using software: i.e. Customer Relations Management (CRM) tool or Teramind (employee monitoring software). Department (unit) must budget for laptops,telephones and software. In the end the benefits of the plan may out way the upfront cost associated to the implementation.

Working from home or remotely can have many benefits. The office can be anywhere. Saving money of course is key. Scheduling conference calls can be flexible. Video calls that won't take near as long as internal meeting and not to mention commuting to the locations. You can learn more and be more independent. If your sick, you are still able to be productive from home and wont be infecting your co-workers. You can avoid office politics and skip the gossiping within the office.

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 is a win for all stakeholders: the citizens we serve; the taxpayers; the environment; and the employees.

I SUPPORT THE IDEA OF WORKING FROM HOME.

Offering working from home is a huge benefit to the entire State of NJ. When we save money we can use that money for our children's school, books and all supplies. I TOTALLY SUPPORT THIS OPTION.

This ideal is good for ALL State employees and not only for "Green Collar Worker"

I would definitely support the idea of working from home.

While I support the idea I am also apprehensive of the misuses. May become nightmare for supervisors and managers.

Working from home is a huge benefit that can be given at no cost. Probably the biggest fear is employees will not be productive, but the truth is an unproductive employee will be just as unproductive in the office as at home. I see one comment that someone may see a neighbor's State car sitting in the driveway and wonder why he is not a work. That problem is easily solved. Take the car away and save money. Why would an employee working at home need a State car?

I support the position working from home. It would be greatly beneficial to work 1 to 2 days a week from home or whatever is finalized at the end if it becomes a reality.

I agree with a 2-3 day work at home workweek.

With proper oversight, this is a great option and will attract many other skilled professionals to NJ while providing a great cost savings to the State.

The productivity level would increase in most cases. Driving 45-60 minutes each way could be time spent working from home. It would also most definitely cut down illnesses spread in an office setting.

I'd like to be included in this team if the idea makes it to the top 20. I strongly believe in telecommuting. However, I know of a specific abuse of it, which I don't want to elaborate on here, and I would want to ensure we implement guards against it.

Cost per square foot of new office space is approximately $15-25. We can be saving a ton of money if we allow working from home or quit leases in remote locations of the state.

Having worked from home in a prior career, I can certainly attest to the fact that you are much more productive!

There are many field employees who are already outfitted with the technology (laptop, vpn, mobile phone) needed to do this right now but are still required to report to the office to complete work that could be completed from home. On top of that, they are usually using a state vehicle to make that commute. It just makes sense to allow these employees to utilize the resources they have already been provided to their fullest extent.

Great idea. Need to take counsel from the Feds on how they've implemented this, and dealt with issues of productivity, performance metrics, etc. We typically follow the federal model in other areas

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.

Currently working in an office where approximately 90% of the employees are field employees and only use the office for when they do not have appointments scheduled. The office also has about 30-40% vacancy. Many of the cubicles sit vacant. Eliminating an office and allowing those individuals to work from home would be a tremendous cost savings from one office's standpoint alone. If I as an employee can set up my equipment at a taxpayer/representatives office why not at home as well.

The only challenge is making sure that the computer software is current and compatible. Most of us have a compatible computer if we are doing this type of work because we bring it home make sure it is correct, especially the NJDOE If you assessed how many of us did work from home at night and on the weekends you will see that NJDOE professional have a 7-day work week.

Having the flexibility to telecommute would help retain the workforce and would be useful for employees who have sensitivities to noise.

Telecommuting is nothing new. The Federal government has been allowing many of its employees to telecommute since 2010. Statistics show benefits in many areas, from increased productivity to the use of fewer sick days from employees. In addition, employees who take advantage of telecommuting significantly decrease their carbon footprint. It is time for the State of New Jersey to take its government into the 21st century. Telecommuting is a great start to being a 21st century government.

What's unique about this idea is that you have included the word flexible. While telecommuting is an great work opportunity the flexible part makes it second to none. In the past I have needed more time to get my children off the bus or run an errand this idea would've allowed me to do that. The perk would be very valuable to a system that often times cannot reward financially.

I absolutely agree with this initiative. It will increase employee productivity, retention and most importantly save the state money.

I support this initiative and feel it can add not only to productivity but also availability of our staff.

With employees working from home there will be less cars on the road leading to less traffic and less emissions into the environment. With employees being able to work from home there will be less presenteeism and less chance of other employees getting sick. As mentioned above the state will save on reimbursements for mileage, tolls, parking and meal reimbursements (if any). Additionally working from home would create less distractions.

I support working from home...

I fully support this idea. The unproductive people in the office will remain the same; however, the productive workers will increase productivity due to the absence of the distraction of the unproductive workers. It will also decrease the number of vehicles on the roadways, thereby decreasing wear and tear on the roads, decreasing the carbon footprint, and save the State money on roads, office space, fuel (whether it be from the State gas stations or reimbursement), and retain staff.

This makes sense. With technology, working from home is easier-- employees can be reached via phone or email. There are a lot of ways to measure productivity and this takes into account different working styles by allowing employees to optimize their productive times of the day. Plus it reduces commuter costs to employees and traffic and emissions.

I fully support the idea of working from home. In my particular department, most people work in the field, everything is electronic, and there really isn't much use for an office. The office that is available for employees is over an hour drive for many employees.

I would definitely support working from home

This will lower the cost for the State, increase productivity, and improve staff retention

The first of seven "work from home ideas" in the top 20 XD

Measuring productivity could be an issue. I do however suggest this is made available to employees who receive a 3 rating on their PAR. These are employees who go above and beyond and that work should be rewarded. It would also motivate employees who just do the minimum to work harder if they would like to work from home.

I fully support this position for a big reason - money saved! Just in LWD alone, many $100K are spent each year to maintain "remote offices" for the field personnel with various Bureaus. This is real money! But, sadly, it will probably never be adopted because top management fears calls from the taxpayers like "it's a workday, why is my neighbor's State car sitting in his/her driveway one day every week?" Pity.

Telecommuting will allow to maintain a better work-life balance! Reduces attrition- reduces unscheduled absences and will increase productivity. Most importantly it will help employers & employees save money.

Telecomm: Effective use of building space & facilities.Preserve our environment: environmental damage is inflicted by auto emissions & the unnecessary use of land for highway expansion.Promotes safety: by reducing highway use by people rushing to work. Improves Health: by reducing stress associated w. commuting. Improves Productivity:Time saved can be used to improve productivity.Employee turnover will decrease: Skills retention. A positive impact on Energy, Environmental, Safety & Health issues

In terms of state service, the State of NJ should consider implementing a new policy that allows employees to do telework when work is of a nature that it could be done from a computer. Many of us spend 2-4 hours traveling to work that can be applied more efficiently to getting the work done. If you are reviewing complex grants, or preparing reports it is less distractive and more effective. Most of the professionals at the NJDOE work at nights and on the weekends to go over what we do.

I support this position of working from home

I fully support this proposal!

We note that our proposal "App-Based Employee Management System" is designed to be an enterprise solution to address some of the technological and management issues attendant with employees working off-site

There are currently 4 versions (and counting) of this proposal on the Smarter.nj.gov site. Recommend bringing together the authors of the 4 proposals for collaboration purposes.

How easily this can be implemented is going to vary from state department to state department, however that should not stop something like this from moving forward. Currently all state departments do not offer employees the same programs (e.g. some have alternative work week programs, while others do not) and I expect that the telecommute option will be no different. That being said, for those departments and offices where it makes sense, it should occur.