What are the general considerations for telework and dependent care during emergency situations?
Agencies should address in their telework policies potential situations that may prevent or impact an employee’s ability to effectively perform their duties at home. This includes policies regarding the conditions under which employees may telework when they have a young child or other person requiring the presence of a caregiver in the home.
An agency that has a general bar on teleworking when there are young children or other persons requiring care and supervision by the employee in the home should reevaluate that policy in light of its experience during the pandemic. In many instances, these policies assume a rigid adherence to specific work hours. Agencies may want to consider offering teleworking employees with dependent care responsibilities a maxiflex work schedule, which is a type of flexible work schedule(FWS) that, when combined with telework, provides the most flexibility to employees who need to address the dual demands of work and caregiving, as well as other personal responsibilities. Providing teleworking employees with flexibility concerning their hours of work may allow them to meet the obligations of their job while teleworking even while also having child care or other family-related responsibilities. Where the agency mission requires more rigid work schedules (for example, where coverage of specific customer service shifts is required), agencies may choose to adjust their policies to allow telework on an exceptions basis, such as when normal caregivers are not available (due to a short-term illness or school closure). Under such an exception policy, a teleworking employee would be expected to account for work and non-work hours during their tour of duty and take appropriate leave (paid or unpaid) to account for time spent away from normal work-related duties (e.g., to care for small children).
For additional information, Options for Telework Eligible Employees with Caregiving Responsibilities provides information specific to the current COVID-19 pandemic that can be used in conjunction with the general principles detailed in Telework and Dependent Care Guidance.