• Teleworking allows employees to work part of the time at other than their "official duty station.""
• Teleworking may be on a schedule of from several days per week to as little as one day a month, or on an as-needed basis for reasons such as special projects, illness, or unavailability of your regular office.
• You normally do telework in your home or at a special telework center.
• You are still on official duty when you are teleworking, and are expected to be in a situation where you have the resources necessary to do your job, and are able to concentrate on that job without interruptions from other family members. You normally cannot expect to care for any other family members when you are teleworking. However, teleworking will probably free up time that you would otherwise spend commuting that you can devote to your family.

In recent years, both Congress and the Executive branch have increasingly promoted telework to help achieve important public policy goals. Among these are: improving the Government's ability to recruit and retain a high-quality workforce in a competitive job market, protecting environmental quality and energy conservation by reducing traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, improving employees' work lives by allowing a better balance of work and family responsibilities, and reducing work-related stress.

Over the past several years, Congress has increasingly sought to encourage widespread use of telework. A 1990 telecommunications bill authorized Federal agencies to spend Federal funds for extra telephone lines, related equipment, and computer connection fees for Federal teleworkers. This temporary authorization was re-enacted annually thereafter and made permanent in 1996.

Section 359 of Public Law 106-346 requires each Executive branch agency to establish a policy under which eligible employees may participate in Telework to the maximum extent possible without diminished employee performance.

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