VSEA Issues Press Release On NMU & Supervisory Units’ New “Teleworking” Policy!

"It was a great cooperative effort between VSEA members and the State," said VSEA NMU Executive Committee Chair Lucas Herring.

            Thanks to an agreement on Tuesday between state employees belonging to the Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) Non-Management and Supervisory Units and the State, these employees now have a “teleworking” policy (No. 11.9) that “establishes the basic principles and conditions regarding an employee’s voluntary request to work remotely from an alternate worksite.”

          
  “For years, VSEA members belonging to the union’s Non-Management Unit have been asking about the possibility of telecommuting, and I’m pleased that we now have a policy in place to try and accommodate state employees who voluntarily—and with an appointing authority’s permission—want to work from an alternate location, ” said Lucas Herring, who chairs the VSEA NMU Executive Committee. He explained that, “A lot of the discussion about Vermont’s lack of a telecommuting, or teleworking, policy was generated in the months following Irene because, for a lot of state employees, working from home or elsewhere was really the only option they had to continue providing services to Vermonters. We’re very pleased, as are VSEA members belonging to the union’s Supervisory Unit, to now have a formal teleworking policy in place and ready to go. It was a great cooperative effort between VSEA members and the State.”

            The new policy, which was effective February 8, contains several parts, including: eligibility guidelines; wages, benefits, job responsibilities and performance expectations; work hours; holidays/leave time; equipment/office supplies; security and confidentiality; health and safety; and termination of telework.  A “Telework Request Form” is also included.