President Obama, the self-titled Teleworker-in-Chief, declared at a recent workplace flexibility forum that "work is what you do, not where you do it."

It's no wonder then that out of every possible work sector, the Federal Government takes the crown for workshifting. Although they don't have the most remote workers, their numbers have been growing the fastest, and to top it off, they have the highest participation rate among their employees.

The Feds have the Telework Enhancement Act to thank for this surprising growth. Passed back in December, the Act just had its first deadline recently: all government employees were to be told of their eligibility status for workshifting.

That's quite the step. Imagine if your employer told everyone who could workshift (around 45 percent of the total workforce) that that they could now do so? We'd likely see change just as fast as what the government is experiencing.

To make things easier for everybody, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently released a guide to teleworking. The 40 pages of light reading explain just what the agencies should do to fully implement workshifting policies of their own.

For everyone else, the guide is an excellent resource for what you can expect from a comprehensive workshifting policy. It covers all the bases, from explaining how to workshift regularly to describing the specifics of manager-employee agreements.

Since the government has already done the work for everyone, both current and prospective workshifters should take advantage of this manual the best they can. Here are a few quick tips from the guide.

Clear and usable policies

A teleworking policy should be written simply with familiar words, so staff across every department can easily understand it. The policy should also explain the steps to implement workshifting, the responsibilities of those involved and the day-to-day operations themselves.

Eligibility and participation

Instead of suggesting a generic one-size-fits-all category for who is eligible to workshift, managers should base their decision on employee performance - and refuse poor performers.

Training

A training website has been provided by OPM to help both employees and managers understand the new practice. And fortunately, Telework 101 is open for everyone to use.

Agreement

Make the agreement renewable, and include items such as the work schedule the employee will follow, responsibilities, information security and equipment needed. A signed agreement should be mandatory.

Good communication

Managers and employees should have an actual face-to-face discussion before starting a workshifting arrangement to settle each other's expectations. And while workshifting, both managers and employees must keep each other informed of any progress or changes. Also, workshifters should not be excluded from discussions simply because they are not physically in the office.

The manual is quite long, but don't let that stop you from using it. Even the most experienced workshifter might learn something new. And if you've come across any other helpful guides to workshifting that you think can help others, be sure to include them down below in the comments.

Last month, President Obama signed into law the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010. This law means that Federal agencies must create telework polices for all eligible employees as well as training programs for teleworkers and telework managers.

While you might be saying to yourself, this law really doesn't apply to me because I don't work for the Federal government, the law has a broader meaning for business. Government recognizes that working outside of the office is valuable.

Now pair this with the idea of flexible hours. According to a study by the Families and Work Institute (Report-The Impact of the Recession on Employers.pdf), firms are adding flexible work options such as working from home along with evening and weekend work as a way to attract and retain valuable employees. Bill Driscoll, district president for Robert Half International, was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying more firms are offering flexible hours in lieu of extra pay.

So paying attention to how this new law is implemented could be very valuable in many ways: for the business who wants a positive impact on the bottom line, for managers who want to find and keep talented employees, and for employees who are looking for some flexibility and balance.

The Telework Exchange published a report in conjunction with the new legislation providing some interesting history. But, more interesting was the section identifying the five key challenges to implementing a telework environment. The areas they sited were:

• Building Management Support
• Resistance to Change
• Measuring Productivity
• Supplying Telework Technology
• Demonstrating Return-On-Investment (ROI)

I'm not going to reprint the report here but I encourage you to check it out: Report-From Bill to Building-Next Steps for Federal Telework.pdf  The report also included some recommendations to overcome these challenges. They include management training to understand a virtual workforce, enhancements to existing technology, employee training for self-management and personal accountability.

Workshifting has covered several of these topics as well. Here are some additional resources to consider as you're putting together a flexible work plan.

Results-Based Management: Don't Workshift Without It
Looking for a Workshifting Occupation
7 Considerations for Setting Up a Home Office
4 Tips to Jumpstart Your Work Day
Project Oosouji: Clearing the Queue

And this is just a sampling of all the resources available.

The conversation about flexible time and workspace is only just starting. As more organizations recognize the value: both in cost savings and employee satisfaction, it's sure to become more common. Having the resources available to create and maintain a positive virtual workforce should be on everyone's agenda. 

Okay, maybe I'm a cheap date about anything that promotes remote work, but this video by WorkshiftCalgary brought tears to my eyes.

If you can't view the below video, go watch it over here.

Robyn Bews, the project manager for WorkshiftCalgary, and her team have put together a truly impressive program to help Calgary businesses "think outside the office." With funding from Transport Canada and the Government of Alberta, WorkshiftCalgary offers the tools, best practices, and resources that make it easy for companies to participate in their pilot.

"We're already working with over a dozen companies ranging in size from a couple of hundred employees to several thousand," says Bews. "It requires a real culture change to overcome the how-do-I-manage-them-if-I-can't-see-them mentality, but we're making headway."

In the U.S., only a handful of states have programs that aggressively encourage workshifting in the private sector. My own state, California--where traffic and smog continually plague its top cities--had one of the first telework initiatives in the country. Note the word "had," as we no longer do. What's with that? Meanwhile, thirty-seven states, are actively discouraging it with predatory tax and labor rules.

Let's take a lesson from our friends to the north, eh? It's time to make the road less traveled the way to work.

Help promote the good work that WorkshiftCalgary is doing by sending the video to all your workshifting blogger friends.

It's time for state lawmakers to wake up to the fact that we live in a mobile world--one where work is a verb, not a place. Sadly, short of federal intervention, most states aren't likely to change their ways anytime soon. According to the Survey of State Tax Departments, thirty-five states currently have laws that could lead to double taxation if an employee doesn't work in the same state as his or her employer.

What lawmakers don't seem to understand is that laws that discourage mobility, discourage people from living there, businesses from locating there, and out-of-state businesses from hiring there.

Several large all-virtual employers already choose not to hire in states--such as California, West Virginia, and Rhode Island--where the regulatory environment makes it difficult to operate.

Where does the stupidity stop? If a plumber from Bucks County (PA) drives across the river to fix a leaky sink in Lambertville (NJ), does he have to file a New Jersey tax return? How about the Maryland accountant who spends a week on-site during a NJ company audit? What about an employee of a NY company who works from their NJ home on the weekend?

Workshifting strategies allow companies to hire the best and the brightest. They offer the disabled and those living in rural areas a way to increase their standard of living. They allow stay-at-home parents and caregivers continue to earn a living. They support the mobility needs of military families. And they provide the 80% of retiring Baby Boomers who want to continue working, a way to do so flexibly.

But double taxation isn't the only burden for companies that operate in mobility-challenged states. Once you're an 'employer' in a foreign state, you'll need to make sure that one-day-a-month teleworker is in compliance with that state's labor laws, workers compensation rules, ERISA regulations, and a rat's nest of complex, expensive, and impossible-to-track / impossible-to-comply-with regulations.

The easy decision, of course, will be not to go there--literally and figuratively.

Now if I was in charge of economic development in one of those few states that 'gets it,' I'd be actively seducing companies with my 21st century tax laws. And I'd be luring the best and the brightest employees who choose not to be tethered to a cubicle for the rest of their life.

For those state legislators who continue to bury their collective heads in the sand, the wake up call may just come after taxpayers have left the commonwealth.

Additional Reading on Telecommuting and Taxes:

Why You Need to Know About the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act

Telecommuting: Don't Allow State Tax Issues to Disrupt the Connection

Photo Credit: shovelmonkey1