Letters to the Editor for June 22, 2022: Working from home - Richmond Times-Dispatch

Summary

Working from home

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Working from home

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I read Jeff Schapiro’s recent column discussing Virginia state employees working from home. Another recent article on telework policy, this time focusing on state employees with disabilities, ran in the June 19 edition of the RTD.

These pieces led me to some questions: What were the written criteria for working from home during the prior gubernatorial administration? What is the current administration’s written criteria? What safeguards are in place to make certain the work is correctly accomplished?

I have seen child care and elder care among the reasons given for working from home. Is a full-time remote employee expected to work eight hours per day? Or can that person take time off during the day for other responsibilities, and really work six hours but be paid for eight?

Is there a system to measure the quality and quantity of work done from home, or to assure similarly situated employees are treated equally when remote work is approved? Is the work confidential and, if so, are there safeguards in place to keep it confidential?

Can the employer inspect the home worksite? If saving office space is a reason for approving work from home, does this then require employees to share desks when working in the office? If so, and if unions are involved, is this a change in work conditions that must be negotiated?

Jim Landrum.